And when they all come together, it's gorgeous!
All we needed was some decent weather. It's been raining on and off most of the week. So we checked the weather forecast yesterday morning and they were calling for showers in the morning and clearing in the afternoon. So we kind of hung around the house in the morning.
We had made lunch plans with Sean and Ryan, a couple of friends from New York City who we met in Namibia. Sean lives in Cape Town now, and Ryan is here visiting him.
Sean, Ryan, Ruth, Kevin
From our lunch spot, we were thinking of walking to the starting point for the hike up Lion's Head Mountain. But Sean quickly straightened us out, saying it was a long boring walk just to the starting point and that we were better off saving our energy for the hike itself. Ryan stopped a metered cab, and it cost us R55 ($5.80) to take a taxi to the base of the hill.
Doesn't take long and you start to get a nice view of the city.
The first part of the trail is easy and wide and has a few benches where you can sit and enjoy the view.
But that doesn't last long.
Soon, there are ladders.
And climbing, and chains to hold on to! This reminds us of some of our hikes in Slovakia!
Great views of Cape Town. Sure makes you wonder how a tree manages to grow up here!
Ruth, looking very brave!
There was quite a bit of scrambling over the rocks to get to the top. We really enjoyed the moment though, and we thought it was amazing that there was a hiking trail that even went to the top!
Kevin, at the top of Lion's Head Mountain.
The view over the west side of the mountain. You can see Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela spent 18 of his 27 years behind bars.
The clouds make for some great photos!
Some more pretty flowers along the way.
And then we hiked back to the bottom, took a cab to the train station, and used our return train ticket to get back home. But, no more cabs and trains for us! We picked up a car this afternoon...we'll tell you that story tomorrow!
excuse me but you were higher than the clouds beautiful view sorry am waiting for my stomach to turn back over
ReplyDelete:-)
We weren't really higher than the clouds, they were pretty low. We have actually hiked much higher, especially when we were in Slovakia and in Guatemala.
DeleteGreat photos except those of you guys near the edge....be careful!
ReplyDeleteThanks Randy. Trust us, we were being careful!
DeleteSee now, I would never get away with taking a picture of my wife's "good side" like that. Just sayin'.
ReplyDeleteKevin was lucky to get away with it, but really it was the only way to get an idea of what we had to deal with on the trail.
DeleteAwesome photos and looks like a great hike.
ReplyDeleteThanks George, it was nice to be out hiking again.
DeleteHow many other people did you meet on the hike?
ReplyDeleteLOTS, almost too many for our liking, but we still enjoyed the hike.
DeleteAll we can say is BREATHTAKING!!!
ReplyDeleteIt really was breathtaking. It took away my breath every time I looked down! ;-)
DeleteI knew almost nothing about NAMBIA nor South Africa before getting hooked on your site. Yesterday, I saw my friend MelVe's documentary THE LAST OF THE BOERS that gives a very balanced view of the history of South Africa/Nambia from her perspective as a descendant of the Boers. It will add immensely to your understanding of the countries you are visiting if your internet can stream it anytime soon. Here's a link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHJWJusV0pQ Enjoy! Rebecca in SW Fl in our Safari Zanzibar
ReplyDeleteThank you Rebecca, when we have good internet we will download this and watch it. We love seeing films or documentaries on places we have been or are going to see, it gives you better understanding into the area and the people.
DeleteI didn't do the Lion's Head hike and instead rode through the table cloth clouds on Table Mt. That sure looks like a challenge.
ReplyDeleteBelieve it or not, Kevin found a number of references to this being a family friendly hike. We actually saw a little girl who was probably only 4 or 5 hiking up with her family and she was barefooted and was smiling away with no concerns. There was an alternative route that took you around the part with the chains and staples on the very steep bit and that was the way we came down. Overall it wasn't a terribly difficult hike and it took us about 3 hours in total, up and down including admiring the view at the top for about 15 minutes.
DeleteI didn't know you were part mountain goat! :c)
ReplyDeleteNeither did we but after that I guess we are!
DeleteStunning pictures, great hike, now if only you could fly down with a hang glider!
ReplyDeleteWe did see some hand gliders that were taking off from Signal Hill which was the smaller hill you can just see to the left in the fourth picture from the bottom with Kevin standing on the rock overlooking the city.
DeleteWonderful pictures and views, Ruth and Kevin!
ReplyDeleteps Sherman says hola!
Thanks Paula, missing Sherman and all of our friends there. Say hi to everyone and give Barb and Sal a big hug for us.
DeleteDon't think I could do that hike any more. What a view!
ReplyDeleteYou could always take the cable car up to Table Mountain for some beautiful views. We want to hike it but the mountain has been covered in clouds since we arrived. It was the higher mountain in the picture of me standing at the edge. You can see a road that has a couple of switchbacks which leads to the cable car launch.
DeleteStunning is exactly the word! You look amazing up there.
ReplyDeleteI wish we could have had blue skies, it would have even looked more beautiful then.
DeleteThere is no way no how you would get me up there!
ReplyDeletebut glad you guys did so you could share the view with us------
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Karen and Steve
(Blog) RVing: The USA Is Our Big Backyard
http://kareninthewoods-kareninthewoods.blogspot.com
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I was surprised that I managed to do it in a couple of tricky spots, so I can understand you not wanting to do it. Glad we were able to take you along with us through our pictures.
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