Table Mountain & Stellenbosch

Another day, another early morning wakeup. Sina, Brittany and Nico woke up at 6:30 am to get an early start on hiking up Table Mountain. The bay was surrounded by thick fog in the morning but we weren't deterred as it can quickly change. We parked the car at the level of the lower cable car station and walked along the road for ~1 km to get to the trailhead. Even by the time we started the hike, fog had cleared out and we were greeted with spectacular views right off the bat. The hike itself was no joke. The rock steps went essentialy straight up the mountain. There were lots of plants along the path, part of the Cape's diverse floral kingdoms. We made it to the top in 1h40m, under the quoted 2-3 hour duration but significantly slower than 45 minutes by a local guy training for a marathon who passed us near the end. It was quite grueling but well worth the effort when we reached the platueau. Fog still hung low over the Camps Bay side and made for great pictures while the city, harbor and Lions Head views were clear. We rode the cableway on the way down, but the experience would not have been the same without the hike. In our opinion, Table Mointain was rightly named as part of the New 7 Wonders of Nature.

After a well-deserved shower and celebratory drink, we ventured to the Cape wine regions. A roughly 1 hour drive took us to the famous Vergelegen winery for some wine tasting. The second winery, Uva Mira, was located several hundred feet up the mountain side and featured spectacular views of the valley and ocean. The wine was also very good.

We ate dinner in the town of Stellenbosch. The small downtown area was filled with unique restaurants and shops.Read more