Table Mountain & Devil's Peak

One of the most signature sights of Cape Town is Table Mountain.

Named so because of its flat-topped feature.


the mould


So on the first day we visited this infamous Table Mountain after our ostrich ride.




We took the cable car up into the misty clouds.

Table Mountain is located between two other significant mountain called the Lion Head,



(Which was covered in clouds then)

simply because it looks like a sleeping lion from a distance
(but here is a view of the "lion's butt" instead)




(taken from near my hotel)


(my hotel - the President)


whereas the other side of Table Mountain is the Devil's Peak.




The misty peak in the distance on the left.

Close-up photo of the Devil's Peak.




Now the devil's peak is most of the time covered in clouds.

(Story time)
Folk-lore has it that there was once a Dutch man named Jan van Hunks who liked to smoke pipes a lot and he lived at the bottom of the mountain. But his wife wasn't too keen on his habit of smoking so everytime he would go out of the house to smoke.

One day during one of his smoking "strolls", he met a mysterious guy who was also smoking on the mountain's slope.

He bragged to the stranger that he's the best pipe smoker in the region/world, to which the stranger replied: "No, I AM the best pipe smoker."

So they decided to have a pipe smoking contest on the mountain's peak.

In the end, they smoked so much it clouded the entire peak of the mountain. Then the cloud has cleared, Jan van Hunks discovered there were two horns on the stranger's head.

Turned out the stranger was the Devil himself.

And since then, the peak was named the Devil's Peak and whenever there's cloud shrouding the top, people of Cape Town would say that the Devil and Jan van Hunks are having a smoking competition.




We were quite lucky as the top of Table Mountain that day was clear of clouds. Else we wouldn't have had these spectacular shots!
















Else (if it were covered in clouds), the shots we've taken would look more like this.




We also spotted this little creature chilling under the sea on the rock by the cliff above the beautiful Cape Town view underneath (damn glamour the bugger ok?).




I thought it was some sort of possom but turned out it a very common animal on Table Mountain called Dassie. According to this sign.




I didn't know the significant of this Mountain and how wonderful it is truly to be there until someone told me that a winner from the Nestle Drumstick Contest to South Africa actually cried when she was on the top of Table Mountain.




Apparently she has always seen the beautiful Table Mountain of Cape Town in TV but never dream herself to be one day standing on it.

Being there and then made her realised that she was really actually in South Africa. And the whole thing was like a dream come true.


view from top


It also made me realized how lucky I was to really be standing there, to be in South Africa, a tour that someone like me could not have afforded at my expense.




Sometimes you needed someone to remind you what a beautiful world you're living in. To treasure every moment you're living and to appreciate every good thing happens to you.




So thank you Nestle Drumstick, from all of us, for this crazy adventure.




More stories of a crazy adventure to be unfold. :)