27 August 2025
Today we have booked a full day tour to take us to Table Mountain, the Cape of Good Hope and the African Penguins at Boulders Beach. Our guide for the day is Jean, who picks us up from the hotel and gives us a brief tour of the city on the way to Table Mountain. We have a half day city tour booked for tomorrow so know that we will get more detail then.
We have purchased our tickets for Table Mountain in advance as advised, but as it turns out we could have walked straight up to the ticket window – and there is no queue for the cable car. At peak times you could have to stand in a queue for 3 hours. We are so pleased that we are not here in the busy season. It is absolutely perfect weather for sightseeing: clear and sunny, and not too hot.
Table Mountain was named one of the new Seven Wonders of Nature in 2011 and is one of the best known and recognisable natural features in Southern Africa. Its main feature is the level plateau approximately three km from side to side, edged by steep cliffs. The plateau, flanked by Devil’s Peak to the east and by Lion’s Head to the west, together with Signal Hill, forms a natural amphitheatre that contains the city and harbour.
The Table Mountain Aerial Cableway takes passengers from the lower cable station (302m asl) to the plateau at the top of the mountain (1,067m). The original cableway opened in 1929 but has been refurbished several times and now takes 65 passengers per trip to the summit, travelling more rapidly. The gondolas rotate through 360 degrees during the ascent or descent, giving a panoramic view over the city.
From the top we have views overlooking Cape Town, Table Bay, Lion’s Head, Signal Hill, and Robben Island to the north, and the Atlantic seaboard to the west and south. We were very disappointed to learn that we won’t be able to visit Robben Island (where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for 18 years) because it is closed for refurbishment. We walk around on the plateau admiring the views in all directions, and hearing stories of how Devil’s Peak and other features got their names.
The vegetation on Table Mountain plateau is referred to as ‘Fynbos’ – a unique type of heathland vegetation known for its high biodiversity, featuring thousands of plant species, including the king protea, ericas, and reeds, many of which are endemic to the region. Up the top there are mainly small shrubby plants that are adapted to the wind and drought – many have evolved to utilise the mist or low cloud that often shrouds the mountain top. The only animal we see is the Dassie (Rock Hyrax) – sleeping in the sunshine on the rocks.
I had always just associated Table Mountain with the distinctive plateau, but everywhere we visit today is part of Table Mountain National Park. Table Mountain is the northernmost end of a 50km long and 6-10km wide Cape Fold Mountain range that forms the backbone of the Cape Peninsula, stretching from the Cape of Good Hope and Cape Point in the south to Table Mountain and its flanking Devil’s Peak (to the east) and Lion’s Head and Signal Hill (to the west) in the north. Table Mountain forms the highest point of this range. The range runs parallel to the other Cape Fold Mountain ranges on the mainland to the east.
To the south is another lower plateau called the “Back Table” and the Atlantic side of this is known as the Twelve Apostles. When we come down from Table Mountain we drive through the scenic beachside areas of Maidens Bay (where we are able to get good views of the Twelve Apostles) and Camps Bay (which has some of the most expensive houses 400M Rand). From there we continue along the coastal road to Hout Bay, a fishing village where we stop for a break before continuing along the popular Chapman’s Peak drive.
Then we head down the Cape Peninsula to the Cape Point – Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve. The Cape of Good Hope is mistaken by many as being the southern-most point of Africa (actually Cape Agulhas) but in fact it is the most south-western point. It is historically significant as it symbolized the new sea route to the East ‘discovered’ by a Portuguese explorer in 1488. We stop at the restaurant area for lunch. Anne and I have brought sandwiches with us so we sit outside and take in the view. We are joined by some birds that are very determined to share our food and a four-striped grass mouse that didn’t seem particularly concerned about our presence.
After lunch we walk up Cape Point walkway to get spectacular views from the cliffs out to the lighthouse at the end of Cape Point and also back to the Cape of Good Hope.
We learn more about the wildlife that are present in the National Park, and saw ostriches, dassie, and eland. There are lots of signs to warn about baboons – apparently they can open car doors and take phones, wallets, bags, and anything else they might find – but we didn’t see any. We didn’t see mountain zebra or tortoises either.
Once we had our fill of the spectacular environment, we headed back up the eastern side of the peninsula towards Simon’s Town. It has been a naval base and harbour for more than two centuries and is named after Simon van der Stel, an early governor of the Cape Colony. Our main reason for going there is to visit the colony of African Penguins at Boulders Bay.
On our way back to Cape Town we get a view of Pollsmoor Prison where Nelson Mandela spent the last 7 years of his imprisonment.
Since learning about sapphires in Madagascar and hearing about tanzanites, Anne has been trying to get an appointment with a diamond wholesaler in town. It turns out that Jean is able to arrange for us to visit that evening. Tanzanite is a type of diamond, found only in one place in Tanzania. Is a bright blue like a sapphire (caused naturally by heating as a result of a wildfire in the area). Currently the stones are fairly reasonably priced but expected to increase markedly once mined out. We saw a 42 carat stone worth USD42,000. Anne bought a much smaller stone as an investment piece.
It was quite late when we got back, so decided to have dinner at the hotel again.
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