My Cape Town Adventures: On Top of a Natural Wonder of the World

From the Information Guide to Table Mountain: "Could this be the world's oldest mountain? We're not 100% sure, but it's believed that Table Mountain is at least 6 times older than the Himalayas. So be nice to it."

I've been living in the shadow of Table Mountain for three weeks now and finally got the chance to view the vast city and coastline from the top of it this afternoon. A couple friends and I took the cable car up to the summit of what was historically known as "The Mountain of the Sea," as it was formed by a rise from the ocean due to tectonic forces after glaciers carved it flat. The view from the top cannot be justified with words or pictures; I really wished my camera could capture a panoramic photo. Since the "table" is quite long, there were several different trails that looked neverending, all of which offer a different scenic view of Cape Town. We meandered on one trail for about 45 minutes and took a break to grab a vacant rock and munch down on the lunch we packed. Once we descended back to reality, we were a bit wiped from our adventures in the sun, so we spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing by the pool on the roof of our apartment building.

Friday was a night out with the whole crew; about twelve of us in all. We went to a Portuguese restaurant downtown, whose food was absolutely delicious. We then ventured out to Claremont where we went to a club called Tiger Tiger, apparently really popular among University of Cape Town students. It felt a bit like I was transported back to freshman year of college, but the girls I've befriended are great and I had a lot of fun with them.

Yesterday was spent under the African rays (but no worries, I've been slathering on the sunscreen!) We stopped by a farmer's market down the street in the morning, where we quickly decided to make a weekly visit. A huge room was filled with fresh produce, fudge, bread, jams, crepes, jewelry, smoothies - you name it! We made sure to get our share of samples before choosing what goods we wanted to bring home. We then headed to Clifton Beach for the day, where we ran into the freezing (and refreshing) Atlantic Ocean, walked along the shore, read our books and bought ice cream from a vendor wandering along the sand. Clifton is a particularly wealthy residential area, which further displayed the obvious contrast that defines Cape Town. The fancy mansions along the coast makes it hard to believe that the plethora of people I see sleeping on the streets at the bus terminal every morning exist in the same city.

Here's to week #4!
xo Em

Clifton Beach