We arrived in Cape Town at 2 pm on Saturday and were greeted by a wonderful gentleman at the airport. He delivered us to our accommodations and on the way explained the many sites we passed. This included several townships, the first housing built by Mandela for the blacks following his election to office, and the hospital where the first heart transplant in the world had been performed. He also pointed out Table Mountain, not that you could miss it, and the various other peaks surrounding the mountain.
He suggested that we make the trek to Table Mountain on Saturday because it was such a nice day. He explained that very strong winds can pick up rather quickly and force the operators to stop the cable cars so it's best to take advantage when you can.
So, we checked into the hotel (into our upgraded suite thanks to Rob's super-travel status, which included a complementary bottle of wine) got changed, and headed out. We were told that the last cable car went up at 5 pm and given that it was 4:30, and we certainly didn't have the energy to hike it, we grabbed the first cab we saw. We arrived just in time and took the 2nd last cable car up the mountain.
The views are amazing, providing a view of the entire Cape Town bowl as well as views to False Bay and almost to the Indian Ocean.
There are several planned walks and given that there was one for 15 minutes, one for 30, and one for 45, we chose the 45 to get the best view from the mountain and still be back for the sunset.
As we made out way through the trails -- some well marked, and some not -- a fellow hiker explained that we should go to McLean's point, approximately a 20 minute walk. We were game and so we followed his suggestion. Katie likes to half walk, half run through trails and it took us at least 30 minutes to get to the point so we're not sure if he owned a watch. We were rewarded with great views but also with the realization that we had to make our way back to the cable car rather quickly or we would not only miss our sunset but be stuck on the mountain with no flashlight or understanding of the trails down.
Three other people had come out to the point after us and were stuck in the same situation so we all quickly made our way back the 3-4 km, the sun dropping with each step. We made it back with less than 5 minutes to spare but in time for Rob to get some fantastic pictures of the sunset.
We were on the last cable car down from the mountain and to our surprise there were no taxis to be found. The taxi stand was empty and the top of the mountain cleared out pretty quickly. Rob and I walked down to where private cars were parked and realized that it was much too dark to walk down on our own. So, here we were at the base of Table Mountain on our first day in Africa with no way to get down. We decided to call the hotel and ask that they send a taxi up to the drop off point for us. While we waited, we had some magnificent views of the city.
Rob's super-travel status to the rescue -- less than 10 minutes later a Mercedes with "Westin 1" plates arrived to pick us up. So, a few minutes of panic....but all great in the end. And, a free ride home.
We ended our evening with a dinner on Alfred & Victoria waterfront and then had some very well earned sleep -- Katie slept until noon!
On Saturday, we jumped on Cape Town's hop-on hop-off bus and learned more about the city.
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