Walking

Walking is a popular pastime in Cape Town with the Table Mountain National Park on its doorstep. The views are breathtaking and the fauna and flora is unusual.

Mountain trails range from easy to extreme.

Some fairly easy mountain walks which are accessible to an averagely fit person are:

• The Pipe Track. This walk starts half way up Tafelberg Road and follows a contour path along to above Camps Bay.
• Constantia Neck to Kirstenbosh. This walk should take about 1 ½ hours. It is a gentle stroll through a mainly forested area with splendid vistas over False Bay towards the Hottentot Mountain range in the distance;
• Lions Head. This popular walk takes you up to the top of Lions head. Different vistas of the Atlantic seaboard and the City Bowl come into view as you wind around the peak to the top. It is a Cape Town tradition to climb Lions Head in the evening of the full moon, watching the sun set in the West and the moon rising in the east. The return journey is taken by the light of the moon.

Well known walks up to the top of Table Mountain which require a good level of fitness include Skeleton Gorge, Nursery Ravine and Platteklip Gorge.

Something to note is, if you come across signage that says, difficult and dangerous route. Take it seriously. These are not merely cautionary signs, but reflect the incredible danger that the mountain can and does pose. Each year, numerous tourists are rescued off the mountain, having strayed from the paths and gotten lost, been unprepared for a sudden change in weather or suffering from heat exhaustion. The mountain is a wilderness area. Always wear the correct shoes, take enough water, be prepared for a sudden change in the weather and take a mobile phone. Tell somebody where you are going and never walk alone.

For slackpacking enthusiasts (you carry a daypack and your heavy pack and food gets taken to your overnight stop) the Hoerikwaggo trail is a must do. The total trail is a 5 day walk from Cape Point to the cable station at the top of Table Mountain. However it is possible to do shorter sections of the trail. A fully catered option, taking you from the historic wash houses at the base of Table Mountain, up to the restored overseers cottages at the top where you overnight, then along the north west edges of the mountain and down, ending at Kirstenbosch Botanical, is available and is highly recommended.
Tel: +27 (0)21 683 7826