We decided to end 2024 on a "high note"...literally...on top of Table Mountain in Cape Town, South Africa.
Originally, the plan was to go up the mountain on Monday, 30 December. But after checking the weather forecasts we decided to rather postpone the trip by one day. The weather predictions for the Monday was not good. Rain was expected and conditions didn't look favourable for a day on the mountain.
The weather forecast for Tuesday, 31 December looked better though, showing more sunshine through the day.
The only thing we felt we need to consider, was the fact that it would be New Year's Eve, which would mean...a lot of people.
As it was, we were ready to face a lot of people seeing that it was peak holiday season, but on New Years Eve, we expected it to be even worse.
But, we haven't been up the mountain yet and we had the time and the opportunity now! Yes, we most definitely want to come back as there are many more places we want to see in this area. But when? Secondly, we have identified so many other places we want to visit on future visits. So, we decided to face the challenge of crowds and do it!
The top of Table Mountain is known for often being covered by a "cloudy blanket".
This time it was no different and it presented us with many opportunities to capture different scenes.
In today's post I will focus more on the process of getting to the top.
Yes, as expected, it was crowded and we ended up spending almost three hours in the queue before getting to the lower station for the cable cars. Our next visit will definitely be out of season if we can visit again.
Checking the Table Mountain website while writing this post, the current waiting time at the lower station was 5 minutes. Quite a difference...lol!
So, let's start at the bottom...
While standing in the queue, I took some shots while looking back in the direction of the city with the Cape Town Harbour also visible below the foot of the mountain.
Looking more to the left toward the ocean, a lot of paragliders were visible in the distance (on the horizon to the right of the photo).
Looking ahead, we could see one of the cable cars arriving back at the lower station with some passengers returning from the top of the mountain.
Looking up toward the top of the mountain, this is what was waiting for us...
Getting a wider angle to capture the whole scene above us. You can see the cable cars moving up and down too, with cables disappearing into the clouds at about the halfway mark to the top...
In the next image, I zoomed in more on the cable cars so you can also see the cable disappearing into the clouds.
In the next image you can see the blue cable car still on it's way down, while the other cable car has now disappeared into the cloud on it's way up.
Then it was our turn to get into one of the cable cars.
The inside of the cable car is turning during the journey to the top (and back), providing you a full 360 degree view while moving up or down between the two stations.
In the next image, I was at the back of the cable car just in time to capture the other cable car returning from the top on it's way down to the lower station. Here we were still well below the clouds and we could enjoy a great view over Cape Town and the ocean.
Looking more to the right, I had a great view of the Cape Town Harbour.
Looking out to the left, with a rocky area of Table Mountain in the foreground and Devil's Peak behind it with ocean in the background .
In the next image, I was trying to get a nice shot of the ocean before things got to misty.
Just before entering into the cloud, a last glimpse of Devil's Peak and the lower station in the lower right hand corner of the image below.
Arriving at the top, there are clear safety warnings and this notification about a voice map app that can be downloaded on your mobile phone.
We travelled through the clouds and here, at the top of Table Mountain, we were now above the cloud.
I took the next shot while standing next to the upper station.
Focusing on some beautiful plants growing on the rocks...
Within moments, a new cloud bank appeared from nowhere behind these rocks...almost like a white screen as a background for this photo. We would soon be walking behind these rocks at the very top of the mountain...
Below us, at this point in time, due to the clouds below us, it was impossible to see the view of what was going on below us or to determine how high we were...
After a few minutes, I did find a small opening in the clouds that gave me a glimpse of the world below us...
And with that we come to the end of today's post. This was our journey to the top. In my next post I will share some beautiful views and activities at the top of Table Mountain.
So, watch this space...lol!
Thank you for reading my post! I do appreciate it!
[//]:# ([//]:# (!worldmappin -33.94814 lat 18.40274 long Lower Station - Cable Way d3scr))