It’s a beautiful Sunday morning, and we’re going to hike Table Mountain. We’re doing it the easy way. There’s a tram to the top, and we’re taking it, as are many others. This is the last day the tram will be open before a two week maintenance shutdown. Kyle picks us up at 9:00 and we get to the tram station in about twenty minutes. We have fast track tickets, so skip the queue.

The tram holds about sixty passengers, and it rotates as you ascend, giving everyone a chance to enjoy the view. At the top we disembark and set off on our hike. Our objective is the Maclear Beacon, a fifteen foot high pile of rocks built in 1844 to help Capetown’s Royal Astronomer Thomas Maclear in calculating the circumference of the earth.

The view from the top of the mountain is spectacular, with all of Cape Town spreading out below us. The beacon is a two mile hike from the tram station. We spot a football sized mammal sitting on a rock just off the trail. This is a Dassie, or Rock Hyrix, which Kyle tells us is the closest living relative of the elephant. I really can’t see any resemblance.

The ecosystem of the mountain is unique, with over two thousand species found nowhere else. Most are moisture loving plants, and the orographic clouds created as warm moist air meets the cooler air on the mountain often create a “tablecloth” cloud that sits atop the mountain. Protea species are an ancient form with leathery leaves and beautiful flowers. The King Protea is South Africa’s national flower.

As we hike down the trail we pass marshy areas with reeds and hear the chirping of Cape Peninsula moss frogs. There are several species of venomous snakes on the mountain, including the Cape cobra and the Boomslang, but it’s winter here and the snakes are in hiding.

A last scramble up a rocky slope and we can see the Maclear Beacon; a pile of rocks with a bronze plaque affixed to one side. This is the highest point on the mountain. And visible from below.

After a short break to enjoy the view, we head back toward the tram. There were few people at the beacon, but numbers increase as we approach the tram. Some hikers have taken one of several trails from the bottom- a serious trek.

We stop for lunch at the Old Biscuit Factory, and then we’re off to the Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens for a tour. We wander the trails inspecting the gardens, many of the flowers in bloom even in the winter. The highlight of the gardens is the Boomslang trail, a steel and timber walkway elevated above the tree canopy to allow close up views of the many trees in the gardens.

The sun is setting by 6 PM, so we wind our way out toward the car park. A very enjoyable day in Capetown. We eat pizza from a shop around the corner for dinner, and it’s pretty good. Tomorrow morning we’re going to see the Cape of Good Hope and some African penguins.