Cape Town and Table Mountain Nov 2006

Jaco and I had some training to give to colleagues in our Cape Town office and flew down on the Thursday morning. After the day's work we popped in to the brand new Ice Lounge at the V&A Waterfront and spent the late afternoon drinking Coke from ice-glasses and sliding on ice slides made for children. With the sun setting we drove out to Signal hill and took pretty pictures of the sunset.

Friday after work we left for my parents' place in the Strand where we stayed over Friday and Saturday nights. Saturday morning, Jaco and I, together with my parents and my brother, drove out to Kirstenbosch gardens. While my Mom and brother drove around the area for the day, Jaco, my Dad and I climbed Table Mountain using the Skeleton Gorge route. It was an excellent walk but sweaty in the November heat. We reached the top well before lunch and walked over to Maclear's beacon, the highest point on Table Mountain. After lunch we walked steadily towards the top cable car station. Initially we were thinking of taking the cable car down but my Dad convinced us to walk down India Venster, a more challenging route than Skeleton Gorge. And what a truly spectacular walk! We first walked down a kloof south of the cable station and then turned west before skirting below the cliffs on which the cable car station is built. Then you come out onto the spur going down directly below the cable car track. Its steep and lots of scrambling is required but what a fantastic route to walk! We were down around 3pm and my Mom came to pick us up. We all burned in the November sun and would be another few days before the burned skin started peeling off.

On Sunday morning we took a drive around the mountains of Franschoek and then onto the coast where we visited the African penguin colony at Betty's Bay before catching our flight home.