Table Mountain

Yesterday I went to see "A Lot Like Love" ... it was good, and I enjoyed the movie itself (athough the storyline wasn't quite what I was expecting), but what really reminded why I don't go to movies so much is how irritating the people where. A group sitting right behind me were talking loudly throughout the movie, on purpose, and not even about the movie. And they (and others) don't worry about getting calls on their cellphone ... some people at least switched their phones to silent, some didn't; but a lot of people got calls. And they don't even go out of the movie theatre to talk - they just stand in the corner at the back, where you can still hear them. And the sheer number of people who just wander in and out throughout the movie, for who knows what reason ... and then you get the people who don't want to talk on their cellphone, but sit and sms throughout the movie - but cellphone screens are so bright that you can see this little square of light even if you're rows and rows away. So while I'd rather just get the dvd and watch at home, some movies you have to see on the big screen (like War of the Worlds), and some I don't want to wait until they come out on dvd (like A Lot Like Love).

Anyway, on to the point. Last week I went up Table Mountain for my birthday, and it was really nice. I didn't feel like riding up to the lower cable station (heights don't bother me, in general, unless I'm on the bike), so I thought I'd do the whole tourist thing and do the Cape Town Topless Bus Tour, which tours around the Waterfront, Cape Town centre, the cable station, Camp's Bay, and Seapoint.

Surprisingly, it was quite fun :-) I took a bunch of photos, of things that I used to see all the time in the city center, but I never really go there these days. And they mentioned things that I used to know, but hadn't really realized; like the fact that the foreshore used to be the sea, and that all that is actually reclaimed land. The waterfront, the international convention center, the Arabella Sheraton, all that is on reclaimed land - and land that was still underwater until something like 1930.

I really recommend the tour to tourists (and locals, if you don't mind spending R90 to see your own city). Like the advertising says, it really is a good way to see the city, and it made me decide that I definitely want to do the London topless bus tour when I get there.

Table Mountain itself was pretty impressive - I haven't been up since I was little kid, and they've made vast improvements since then. The wait for the cable car wasn't too long, although it was off-season - but there were quite a lot of people! You'd think you'd get some peace and quiet on the top of a mountain, but no such luck.

The cable car itself is way better than it used to be - the floor revolves so that you get to see the entire panorama, not just the bit you can see out of the window you happen to be next to. The trip takes about 3 minutes, and while that does make it pretty efficient I kinda think that for R110 they could slow it down a bit and make it more worthwhile ... not that I cared, I went for free on a birthday ticket :-) And speaking of efficiency trade-offs, the car takes 80-odd people, but most of them don't get to stand next to the window (although they can still see out, above and around the other people), which seems rather a pity.

They're not terribly jacked up as a tourist attraction, though; although it wasn't peak season, so I guess that might account for some of it. They have pay-per-view binoculars, but nowhere do they say what they cost or what coins they accept, which is kinda useless (although some of them were broken, so you could use them free). The views are absolutely awesome, and they've done a good job of making little walking trails around the top of the mountain - although they don't correspond to the trails on the little map they give you. I would have done the trip out to McClear's Beacon, the tallest point of the mountain, but it's a 45 minute walk each way and I didn't want to do it by myself.

The low point was the so-called restaurant - I figured they'd be expensive, but thought I'd treat myself to a nice lunch. According to their website, "the self-service restaurant has an extensive hot and cold buffet". Um, no. Extensive isn't quite the right word - there was a choice of chips, burger, cheese burger, hot dog, or chicken & chips. Or a salad. Or some really crummy looking cheese sandwiches. Although, maybe they meant "expensive", instead - a small plate of chips was R18, the sandwiches were R18, and the burgers were R20-odd. Which isn't bad, a Woolworth's sandwich or a Steer's burger would cost you that much, but they look a lot better than these did .... and to drink, they're charging R9 for a tin of Coke, which is still better than the R12 for a little cup of fruit juice (looked about 200ml) or R7 for Coke/Fanta/whatever.

But still, I'd recommend going - just take a picnic lunch with you! The point is to see the mountain and the view, and that is definitely worth it - just take a look at some of these photos I took:

The view of Table Mountain, over the Castle of Good Hope

The view of the Upper Cable Station, from the Lower Cable Station

The view of Camp's Bay, from the top of the mountain

The view from the other side of the mountain, Table Bay.

The view of Lion's Head from above, with Robben Island in the background.