Cape Town Tour 2009 – Table Mountain
Alex Agathopoulos (IGCSE)
Table Mountain is one of the world’s most identifiable landmarks and it is located in Cape Town. It is a flat topped mountain that overlooks the city of Cape Town. This incredible landmark is on Cape Town’s flag and is the symbol of its government. There are a two ways of getting to the top of Table Mountain. They are hiking or going in the cable car.
Table Mountain forms part of Table Mountain National Park. The main feature of Table Mountain is a 3 kilometer flat surface at the top. The highest point of Table Mountain is towards the eastern end of the mountain and is marked by Maclear's Beacon. It is about 19 m above the station for the cable way. The cliffs of the main plateau are called Platteklip Gorge. It is where the first recorded climb to the summit took place in 1503.
The upper part of the mountain is quartzitic sandstone commonly referred to as Table Mountain Sandstone. Table Mountain Sandstone is highly resistant to erosion. Below the sandstone is a layer of Basal Shale. It weathers very regularly and therefore cannot be seen. The bottom of the mountain contains Malmesbury Shale which has been intruded by Cape granite. The bottom rocks are much easily weathered than Table Mountain Sandstone.
The flora of Table Mountain is very unique. An example of this is Cape Fynbos, which is protected by the Cape Floral Region. These sites are World Heritage Sites. There are more than 2 000 species of plant on the mountain alone. The mountain has many different kinds of Proteas.
The most common animal on Table Mountain is the dassie. There are also porcupines, mongooses, snakes and tortoises. The last lion on Table Mountain was shot in 1802. Leopards were found on the mountain until late 1920s. There are two smaller nocturnal cats also found here. They are the Caracal and the African wild cat. The Caracal is set to be seen on rare occasions by mountaineers. Himalayan Tahrs are descendents of the tahrs escaped from the Groote Schuur zoo in 1936. They used to be common on the upper parts of the mountain. They were almost extinct but a South African National Parks project helped to save them. This paved a way of re introducing Klipspringers into the area. Until recently one could also find small number of Fallow deer and Sambar deer on the mountain.
The first name given to the mountain was Hoeri ‘kwaggo (Sea Mountain). People first left evidence on the mountain 600000 years ago. The Bushmen relied on the sea shore for most of their food. This is why the Dutch called them beach combers. António de Saldanha was the first European to land in Table Bay and the first European to climb the mountain and he named it Table Mountain. Five dams, the Woodhead, Hely-Hutchinson, De Villiers, Alexandria and Victoria reservoirs, were opened between 1896 and1907 on the Back Table to provide for Cape Town's water needs.
Table Mountain Cable way was first started in 1926 and officially opened in1929. In 1997 the cable way was extremely upgraded with improved cable cars that can carry 65 people and turns 360°.
Activities to do at Table Mountain include hiking, Rock climbing
and caving. Hiking: very popular. There are many different trails to
climb. The hiking trails vary in difficulty. It takes 1-3 hours
depending on how fit the person is. Rock climbing: a very popular
pastime. Main climbs are located at the bottom of the mountain’s
cable station. Caving: Most caves are limestone but Table Mountain
has many large caves made from sandstone. The biggest systems are
the Wynberg Caves, located on the Back Table, not far from the Jeep
Track, in ridges overlooking Orange Kloof and Hout Bay.
Other Extra-Curricular Activities
- Extra-Murals
- Tour & Camp Photograph Galleries
- Drums & Dreams - 2008 School Concert
