A Walk in the Park Hiking Article

Getaway magazine - By Scott Ramsay

Could the three-day Table Mountain Trail be the most thought-provoking hike in Southern Africa? This catered, portered and guided trail will hardly make you sweat, but it will give you a fascinating interaction with the history, culture and nature of Cape Town and its famous mountain, one of the areas of the Cape Floral Region. Scott Ramsay could get used to this type of hiking.

Jan Smuts, Lindela Mjenxane, Nelson Mandela, Jan van Riebeeck and the Allie family of Strand Street have in common. They all have a deep and abiding connection to Table Mountain.

In times past and present, both ordinary and famous folk have been affected by the icon’s presence. It was the view of Table Mountain across the bay that kept Mandela’s spirit strong while imprisoned on Robben Island for 18 years.

“To us … Table Mountain was a beacon of hope,” wrote Madiba in Long Walk to Freedom. “It represented the mainland to which we knew we would one day return.”

Fittingly, the three-day Table Mountain Luxury Hiking Trail starts at the Nelson Mandela Gateway at the V&A Waterfront. On the first day, you take a guided walking tour of the city. Then, for two days, hikers take a leisurely stroll on the mountain itself.

Termed a ‘walk in the park’ by trail operators South African National Parks (Sanparks), this portered and catered hike is perfect if you prefer not to work up a sweat, but instead enjoy learning about the fascinating, complex relationship that people - both ordinary and famous - have with Table Mountain. So let’s take a stroll with….

Lindela Mjenxane, Grabeth Nduna and Antonio Gingqini, trail guides
Lindela arrived in Cape Town one night from the Transkei, with nothing to his name. When the young man awoke, the first thing he saw when he emerged from his grandmother’s shack in Philippi was the mountain.

“I was drawn to it,” Lindela remembered. “I knew then that I would find help if I went to the mountain.”

He joined a volunteer hiking group, started to learn about the fynbos and the fauna, and signed up for a training programme with Sanparks. Today Lindela, Grabeth and Antonio are three of the 20 highly trained mountain guides on the Table Mountain Trail, as well as on a variety of other hikes, collectively termed the Hoerikwaggo Trails.

The young men and women are hand-picked after two years of rigorous study of fauna, flora, history, geography and mountain safety. Part of their training involves communication with a theatre director, so the guides’ interaction with guests is entertaining, as hikers will witness on the last night of their walk: after dinner, the guides might give a theatrical display of the legend of Qamata, the African creator of the world who enlisted the help of four giants, one of whom is incarnated as Table Mountain.

Jan Smuts, mountain goat
For most of the second day, hikers walk along Smuts Track on the southeastern edge of Table Mountain. Jan Smuts often used to walk this path to Maclear’s Beacon, the highest natural point on the mountain, which is where we stopped for a packed lunch. Clearly the old mountain goat did some good thinking up on top, because he managed to get South Africa on the side of the Allies during the Second World War and was instrumental in setting up the League of Nations, which ultimately became the United Nations.

“Smuts was an avid mountaineer and walker,” said Garth Angus, our city guide on the first day’s tour through Cape Town (Garth hands hikers over to the mountain guides at the end of the first day). “He only once ever took the cable car, and that was with Queen Elizabeth in 1947 - and it was down the mountain, not up. He walked up to the top, and met her there.”

The statesman was also a keen botanist, and Table Mountain, with more than 1 000 species of plants, is still a floral paradise today. During a water break, Grabeth pointed out a group of blue disas, intricate and delicate, yet powerful in their azure impact.

“They’re more rare than red disas,” he said of the symbol of the Western Province rugby team, whose home stadium of Newlands is easily visible from that part of the mountain.

Jan van Riebeeck, thirsty explorer
Table Bay is not ideal for harbouring ships, as it’s battered by both summer and winter prevailing winds. “We could have all ended up living in Saldanha,” said our city guide Garth, alluding to that bay’s impeccable credentials for sheltering ships, but hardly comparable to Cape Town in the beauty stakes.

But there was no fresh water at Saldanha, unlike the Mother City, whose mountain and aqua assets attracted the first colonial captains. Jan van Riebeeck and other explorers sought the streams and springs that are perennially accessible, even in the heat of summer.

At noon on our second day we took shelter from the sun under one of the sandstone ledges; the rock was covered with soft, wet, glistening moss. We took off our backpacks and leaned against the dampness to cool off.

“The mountain is alive,” said one of the walkers. “As all mountains should be,” said someone else. “You can almost breathe in the energy of this mountain.”

Mystics wonder about its unique shape and anomalous presence at the end of Africa, separated as it is from the Cape Folded Mountains and the rest of the African continent. The geological reason for its location is more easily explained than the romantic one.

There’s a fault line that runs between the Cape Peninsula, on which Table Mountain is situated, and the rest of Africa - a separation that means the mountain is, in effect, its own mountain range, an individual beacon of hope or, as the Khoi people termed it, Hoerikwaggo - mountain of the sea.

The Allie family, corner store owners
On the first day’s tour through the city, hikers walk past Allie’s Corner Shop, an iconic store on the corner of Loader and Strand streets. It’s been owned by several generations of a Muslim family. Garth explained that during apartheid, the family managed to keep their store, even though it was in a white area. They arranged with a benevolent white man for him to buy 51% of the business for a nominal amount. He then gave his share back to the Allies when apartheid ended.

The family probably had their Islamic faith to thank. The Cape Muslims believe that the mountain is at the centre of a holy circle in which all Islamists are protected from nat-ural catastrophes.

Unfortunately, this protection didn’t extend to all laws, and many coloured people of different faiths were evicted from their homes in nearby District Six. However, the Allie family and their community in the suburb of Bo-Kaap kept their properties. It is in Bo-Kaap that, on the first day of the trail, hikers get a taste of what District Six may have been like today, if it hadn’t been demolished by the apartheid government.

In sharp contrast, soon after walking through Bo-Kaap, hikers get to visit the District Six Museum. It is heart wrenching to see how low South Africa stooped as a country, yet edifying and inspiring to see how the people of District Six forgave the nation.

Jean Brady, trail chef
It makes sense that the food is an outstanding feature of the hike. Cape Town, after all, began as a provisions station for passing ships in the 1700s. After a few months on a diet of galley porridge and emaciated rats, sailors salivated at the sight of Table Mountain, on whose slopes grew fresh fruit and vegetables.

Jean Brady, the trail’s chef, takes pride in her multi-cultural heritage. She epitomises Cape Town’s eclecticism; her Indonesian and Afrikaner background is evident in the food that she prepares for hikers.

The first night’s meal on our trip was a Risj Tafel, a traditional Malay dish for special occasions - a smorgasbord of aromas and tastes. Green mango and green bean atchars accompanied the vegetable curry. There were also fish cakes, Javanese masala chicken, lentil dhal with roti, roasted pumpkin and bobotie. Vegetable and beef samoosas filled the gaps. Then, for desert, we tucked into some vinegar pudding and bollas (flour dow balls with aniseed inside and dipped in coconut).

On the second night we were treated to a braai that any self-respecting South African would enjoy: lamb chops, wors and chicken, along with fresh vegetables and salads. The meat is tender, tasty and prepared in a typically Cape way, with spices and herbs.

The Table Mountain Trail
The hike can be done as a two-day or three-day trail. There is the option of a guided city tour on the first day.

If you’re doing the three-day trail, it starts at the V&A Waterfront and finishes at Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden. If you are going to do the two-day trail, the walk starts at the Wash Houses in Oranjezicht.

On the first day (7 km, about six hours), a guide from Footsteps to Freedom (http://www.footstepstofreedom.co.za) will take you to the historical and cultural landmarks of Cape Town, including a boat trip in the harbour and entry into District Six Museum. At the end of the first day, the adventure guides from Table Mountain National Park take over.

Days two and three (both days about 9 km or six hours a day) are spent walking on the mountain. Hikers ascend the mountain in the cable car, the price of which is included in the trail fee.

The accommodation is very comfortable. The first night is spent at the Wash Houses on the slopes of the mountain near the city bowl. The second is spent at the Overseers Cottages on top of the mountain.

FOOTNOTES

WHAT IT COSTS

The trail costs R1 500 a person (with Sanparks Wild Card) or R1 900 a person (without one). It accommodates a minimum of six and a maximum of 16 people. Included in the price is guiding, accommodation, all breakfasts, dinners and lunches, including packed lunches and a sit-down lunch at a Cape Town restaurant on the first day. Drinks are not included in the price - there is a cash bar on both nights. Transport to the start and from the end of the trail is not included and must be arranged by the walkers.

WHO TO CONTACT

South African National Parks on tel 021-465-8515 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              021-465-8515      end_of_the_skype_highlighting, e-mail .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or web http://www.hoerikwaggotrails.co.za

WHEN TO GO

Any time of year is good. Winter (May to September) can be very cold and wet, but the fynbos is starting to flower. Summer (December to February) can be very hot and dry, but the views are spectacular. The best time is perhaps spring (October to November). The temperatures are mild, and the fynbos is still resplendent.

WHAT TO TAKE

Just your clothes, comfortable walking shoes, a daypack, some rain gear, a hat, sunscreen and your binos and camera. The trail operators will take your main luggage will be taken ahead by car.

For more info See our previous features on the Hoerikwaggo Trails and Table Mountain. We published a story on the six-day Peninsula Trail in September 2004, the two-day Orange Kloof Hiking Trail in October 2006 and a feature on the ecosystems of Table Mountain in December 2006. That issue also included a story on what to do in Cape Town. These are all listed on our website, http://www.getaway.co.za