October 4, 2011
Second full day in Cape Town and it just gets better by the second. We hiked Table Mountain and it took all day. Our guide, Mike, and 2 of his friends, Trevor and …Mizura (still not totally down with the Xhosa names) showed us up the mountain. We were a group of 5 so they gave us the option of taking the hardest route up – you know that route that only the locals know about because it was too dangerous so the National Park shut it down? Yup, that’s the one. It was beyond amazing, words don’t even begin to suffice, thus pictures will definitely follow. The hike up was treacherous and barely marked by yellow spray painted feet roughly every 20 feet or so. It started off relatively easy, just a walk up a mountain really, but after about 30 minutes things started to get interesting. In fact, there was quite a bit of bouldering in the middle, which when you’re halfway up of the side of a mountain is utterly terrifying! One slip up and down you go.
There would be the odd “climbing aid” – handles and chains screwed into the rocks - when sufficient handholds were not available. Either way we were scaling this mountain like no one else that day. In fact, Mike told us we were the first group he had ever trusted to take up this route! The entire way the views just got better and better. What completely made the whole thing was the fact that it was foggy (read: we were hiking through the clouds) and lightly misting off and on. It felt like something out of an adventure film. The whole time I just kept thinking, “I cannot believe this is my life!!”
Once we reached the summit, we sat down and met Mona and Brittany in the lodge – which impressively resembled a ski lodge, had our sandwiches that we had made that morning after breakfast and started our trek down. The way down was long, boring and compared to the views from that morning, kind of bland. That being said, there were ladders to scramble down, the hills looked like the Colorado mountains in the spring with all the wildflowers in bloom and we took some of the most stunning pictures of the trip.
Those that know me know that I have been on quite a few hikes, so this next sentence should carry some weight. The Table Mountain hike shot all the other hikes I have ever been on out of the water. Easily the most magnificent and technical hike I have ever done!! It will be hard to top that.
We are now going to eat at a restaurant called Mama Afrika – where everyone who heard we were coming to Cape Town recommended. It’s a short walk from our gorgeous bed and breakfast up Long Street (the restaurant/bar street). It is supposed to have traditional African food.
Mama Afrika
Every time. One of the single best dining experiences of my life. We got there early and they already had our reservation for ten set up. The wait staff was awesome, super attentive. The interior décor was so fricken cool. Branches arched overhead to make diners feel as if they were in a hut. Life-size paper lamps of crocodiles, kudu and ostriches hung along the walls in addition to traditional masks, paintings and flags. There was a live band, AbAviki, that played traditional African music the whole night. After ordering we got up to dance and buy their CDs – finally some real African music to bring home! For dinner James and I got a “slow brew” beer that tasted incredible and Anne and I decided to be super adventurous and order the crocodile kebabs and warthog kebabs to split. I can now say I’ve eaten ostrich, crocodile and warthog! Oddly, both the crocodile and warthog were really tasty, still undecided on the ostrich. It was a long dinner – over 3 hours, but it absolutely flew by. I guess that what happens when you have good food with great people in one of the most amazing cities in the world.
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