5 Table Mountain Secrets You Didn’t Know 

Table Mountain is the number one show-stopping attraction of Cape Town. Every year just shy of 1 million people make their way to the table’s top by cable car, but here are a few things you didn’t know about the Mother City’s darling…

1. Sandy blonde beach: Cape Town is home to many famous beaches – Camps Bay, Clifton, Blouberg to mention just three – but none of them are more unusual than the one on top of Table Mountain. Located at the far end of the Hely-Hutchinson dam, the bright white sandy stretch is the unexpected by-product of the dam and the powerful South Easter wind working its magic.

2. A rocky maze: High above Camps Bay, Table Mountain has been eroded into a craggy labyrinth of fissures and stone towers up to 5m high. The Tranquillity Cracks are notoriously difficult to reach, but well worth the effort – especially as you are likely to have them all to yourself to enjoy in quiet peace.

3. A trail for skeletons?: While most people head straight for the cable car to go up Table Mountain, but starting in Kirstenbosch at the back of the mountain there’s a far more rewarding option. The trail is pretty strenuous but straightforward, and fine if you’re of average fitness and ok to go slow. Besides, with striking urban vistas like those on offer, you’ll want to pause plenty often.

4. Older than the Alps: Or the Andes, or the Himalayas, or the Rocky Mountains. Coming in at 260 million years old, Table Mountain is one of the oldest mountains in the world and was practically already a grandma by the time those other mountains were born. Do you really need further proof that Cape Town rocks (pun definitely intended)?

5. Elephant nephews and nieces: Look carefully in the rocky crevices of Table Mountain and you’re likely to spot a furry creature known locally as a dassie (pronounced dah-see). It might more closely resemble a guinea pig, but the dassie’s closest living relatives are surprisingly elephants and manatees thanks to their tiny tusks, position of their teats and their flat nails.

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