Sunday 6 June 2010
Sunset from Signal Hill
Thursday 3 June 2010
Table Mountain and Signal Hill - why you should visit them both
How time flies. A few months since my last post and since I returned from wonderful Cape Town. My plan to do posts every day didn’t quite work out. Back to retrospectives and it is logical to pick up where I left off.
Almost every set of pictures you see of Cape Town in a brochure will include one of Table Mountain and it is certainly high up on any list of must visit sites. A less obvious site, but one where you can get some of the best pictures of the mountain from is Signal Hill. It is just a short drive (less than ten minutes) from Table Mountain and a good option to do on the same day.
Table Mountain is just a short drive or taxi ride from the main tourist hotspots of the city. The best advice is go up on the first clear day. Even on a nice sunny day the mountain is often covered in cloud or as it is sometimes referred to, ‘the table cloth’. The vast majority of people go up and down on the cable car. Queues can be quite long, so you need to be patient or be lucky; there are times when there isn’t much of a crowd, it isn’t a precise science though. The cable car revolves so be sure to get to the edge and enjoy the 360 degree panorama. The more energetic can walk up and it takes a couple of hours. Stick to the advice in guide books and stay on well established paths. An alternative for walkers is to tackle the walk from the Kirstenbosh Botanical Gardens side, this means a thirty minute drive out of the city, but the gardens are wonderful and I will cover them in a future post. Some friends did this walk a few years ago and rate it highly, particularly good as you are in the shade much of the time.
Once on top of the mountain you may find the weather is drastically different from what it was like at the bottom. I have been up on days when it has been cold and extremely windy on top and glorious sun bathing weather at the bottom. This isn’t always the case though and the weather up on top of the mountain can be just as good as below. Up on top you can walk an easy loop among guided paths and clouds permitting get city and seascape views. There is of course a gift shop and cafe. A few years ago there was a bar up next to the cable car station, which could be reached up some steps. It has floor to ceiling windows and balcony so the views are amazing. Inexplicably it is now closed. What are they thinking of? Unless you want to do some serious exploring an hour is plenty to take in the views.
The big mistake many people make is not to include a trip to Signal Hill after or before the visit Table Mountain. This is such a shame as from the Signal Hill viewing area you get a lovely perspective of Table Mountain and also views of the sea, the city and the new football stadium at Green Point. The one time when the area gets busy is sunset, it is great to get there early with a picnic and enjoy the views.
Table Mountain fom Signal Hill
Almost every set of pictures you see of Cape Town in a brochure will include one of Table Mountain and it is certainly high up on any list of must visit sites. A less obvious site, but one where you can get some of the best pictures of the mountain from is Signal Hill. It is just a short drive (less than ten minutes) from Table Mountain and a good option to do on the same day.
Table Mountain is just a short drive or taxi ride from the main tourist hotspots of the city. The best advice is go up on the first clear day. Even on a nice sunny day the mountain is often covered in cloud or as it is sometimes referred to, ‘the table cloth’. The vast majority of people go up and down on the cable car. Queues can be quite long, so you need to be patient or be lucky; there are times when there isn’t much of a crowd, it isn’t a precise science though. The cable car revolves so be sure to get to the edge and enjoy the 360 degree panorama. The more energetic can walk up and it takes a couple of hours. Stick to the advice in guide books and stay on well established paths. An alternative for walkers is to tackle the walk from the Kirstenbosh Botanical Gardens side, this means a thirty minute drive out of the city, but the gardens are wonderful and I will cover them in a future post. Some friends did this walk a few years ago and rate it highly, particularly good as you are in the shade much of the time.
Once on top of the mountain you may find the weather is drastically different from what it was like at the bottom. I have been up on days when it has been cold and extremely windy on top and glorious sun bathing weather at the bottom. This isn’t always the case though and the weather up on top of the mountain can be just as good as below. Up on top you can walk an easy loop among guided paths and clouds permitting get city and seascape views. There is of course a gift shop and cafe. A few years ago there was a bar up next to the cable car station, which could be reached up some steps. It has floor to ceiling windows and balcony so the views are amazing. Inexplicably it is now closed. What are they thinking of? Unless you want to do some serious exploring an hour is plenty to take in the views.
The big mistake many people make is not to include a trip to Signal Hill after or before the visit Table Mountain. This is such a shame as from the Signal Hill viewing area you get a lovely perspective of Table Mountain and also views of the sea, the city and the new football stadium at Green Point. The one time when the area gets busy is sunset, it is great to get there early with a picnic and enjoy the views.
Table Mountain fom Signal Hill
Lion's Head
Camps Bay from Table Mountain
Seascape view from Table Mountain
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