Table+Mountain

Table Mountain is an unusual mountain with a flat top. It is the main feature in Table Mountain National Park and forms a landmark overlooking the city of Capetown in South Africa. It is a huge tourist attraction in the area and is visited by hundreds a day. During our trip in South Africa, we will have the chance to explore Table Mountain and its great beauty.

The level plateau is two miles long, binded by cliffs. Table Mountain is very neat because it is the only natural place on the planet to have a constellation of stars named after it - “ Mensa” meaning ‘The Table.’ The mountain has withstood 6 million years of erosion and has been there since the earliest South Africans. Some of the richest flora on earth can be found throughout the area of the mountain.The entire mountain hosts over 1,470 different species of flora!

In 1865 Sir Thomas MaClear built a stone Cairn to mark the tallest point of the mountain. Today, that cairn is still standing there marking the trigonometrical survey he once demonstrated. The mountain also has orographic clouds because of the air and moisture. The clouds sometimes arrange a special formation known to the South African people as “The Table Cloth.” The Table Cloth symbolizes a folk tale between the devil and a local pirate. It is a tale of a smoking contest between the two figures on the top of the mountain.

Today, Table Mountain offers plenty of activities to the public. The Mountain Officials have a cableway that takes passengers from the bottom station to the top. From the top, visitors have an astonishing view of Robben Island, Cape Town, and the Atlantic Seaboard. The park also offers hiking, rock climbing, caving, and mountain biking. Each has unique ways to learn about the formation of the mountain.