Day 3-057
Day Totals: 16 hrs, 19 .2 kms

I don't realize it yet, but today will turn Cape Town into one of my favorite cities in the world.

It all starts out simply enough: I'm going to follow the road up to the Table Mountain cable car, and see where things go from there. I stock up on water, fruit and granola, hike up to where the city abruptly ends and mountain begins.

I had the idea that Table Mountain was just one plateau at the edge of the city, but it's actually an entire mountain range--and all within the city limits of Cape Town! The road I follow actually goes over a pass between the pointy Signal Hill and the main Table Mountain plateau. And unlike elsewhere in South Africa where I felt uneasy just walking in town, here I feel very safe out in the countryside, as I pass a line of cars parked as tourists and locals alike head up to the mountain.

Of course, most people take the cable car up to the top . But there are a series of trails, including a "countour trail" around the base, and trail that appears to go straight up the cliff, with warning signs that it's only for skilled climbers. We'll see how true that is...

I start the climb, up the steep incline, with the sheer cliff above and the city below... and an occasional cable car full of schoolkids cheering me on. When I reach the cliff though, I realize it's not just a cliff, but rather a labyrinth of crags, slopes and drops with something new to discover over every boulder.

This has got to be the coolest "City-Nature Hike" in the world. Taking on the challenge of a fierce mountain... and yet you're in the middle of a city. I follow the path as it clings to the edge of the cliff... and then up a series of chains and hooks to help you climb to the top. Fun and challenging--but I never feel I'm in serious danger. I do realize it was probably a good idea I didn't bring the guitar for this ...

Squeezing up a narrow slice in the rocks, I take a rest in the cool shade, then wait for a couple other climbers to catch up so they can take a picture of me.

As we continue higher, gazing down at the city below, suddenly I realize that clouds are coming in, like a slow moving tidal wave sweeping over the city. It actually adds to the splendour of the experience, as you feel this strange disconnect, you being above the clouds and the city below it. Finally the clouds cover everything, and you gaze at the cliffs and if feels like you are on an island in the sky, surrounded by a sea of clouds.

I got the best of both worlds: a clear view of the city, and a view of being above the clouds.

The path hugs the cliff for a ways until it finally finds a narrow gorge to follow up to the top. Here, suddenly there are people everywhere, shuffling along the paths on the relatively boring plateau .

"There's nothing to see here" a woman complains.

You guys have no idea what you've missed... I mumble to myself. I feel like a man who has just conquered Mt Everest... only to find a couple tourists at the top who were dropped off by a helicopter...

I am happy to enjoy the luxuries of this place. I enter a classy restaurant and enjoy a slice of cheesecake, gazing out to the clouds blow. Next I take a more leisurely stroll all around table mountain. On the other side you can see that the "Cape Town" where I'm staying is only a small fraction of the real city. Most of the city is on a large open plain on the north side. I think I'm just going to stick to the "artificial" Cape Town, and skip the "real" Cape Town. I think I know what would await me over there...

I pause at MacClear's Beacon, a mound of rocks placed on an important scientific spot . Here Thomas MacClear studied the curvature of the earth 150 years ago...

It's time to head back down. This time I'll take an easier and more popular path that zigzags down another gorge, until it disappears into the mist. I continue on down until I reach the wealthy neighborhoods where houses have electric fences, security guards and usually two "Armed Response" companies that will be alerted if anyone tries to enter their homes. I doubt that anyone will come to my rescue if something happens to me out on the street, so I'd better hurry through this neighborhood.

I notice, at an upscale private school that there are kids of all races attending--although the majority are white and South Asian...

I continue on, past District Six, where at the beginning of apartheid, non-whites who were living peaceful productive lives were forced from their homes to turn this into a "white" neighborhood. I wonder what ever came of those people, who probably ended up in shacks or houses with little value... while the homes they were forced to leave continued to appreciate in value.

Does just saying, "OK, apartheid is over... you can vote now and live wherever you want" really undoe the damage done to people's lives?

I think about this as I reach downtown once again, with its steel and glass skyscrapers, and workers rushing to the metro station to get on the train to the neighborhoods where they live. They neighborhoods that were assigned to them under apartheid....