Friday, April 06, 2007

TABLE MOUNTAIN VIEWS

SOUTH AFRICAN ATTRACTION - SEPTEMBER 1996

The flat-topped mountain named Table Mountain, in Cape Town, sculpted from sandstone, is South Africa's first tourist attraction. At 1086 m altitude on its highest point - Maclears Beacon, above the bay - it provides visitors with stunning views towards the city and the sea.



"ON THE WAY UP - The main feature of Table Mountain is its flat summit, which measures nearly 3km from end to end. It's limited on the west side by Lion's Head and on the east side by Devil's Peak. Devil's Peak gets its name from a legend related to Van Hunks, a pirate in the 18th century, who retired from his life at sea to live on the ramp of the Mountain. It's said that he spent his days smoking pipe, until the day a stranger approached him, and started a smoking contest, which would last for some days. Then, the smoke built some clouds and the wind blew them towards Cape Town. At the end, Van Hunks won the contest, the stranger revealed himself to be the Devil, and the two disappeared in a cloud of smoke. This cloud of smoke they left behind became Table Mountain's famous tablecloth..."




"ON THE TOP - Breathtaking views from the top of the cable station. The easiest way to get up is with the cable car. The Cableway was opened in 1929 and takes almost 600,000 people to the summit annually, on a trip which lasts approximately six minutes to the top"


"EMULATING ANTONIO DE SALDANHA, another Portuguese, author of the first recorded climb to the top in 1503"


"BEACH - Looks great, but it seems that the water is a bit cold on this beach..."


"ROBBEN ISLAND at the distance - 12 kilometres from Cape Town, the Island was for a long time a place of exile and imprisonment. It became mostly known for having been the home of Mr. Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela during most of his 27 years in prison"


"TABLE BAY AND CAPE TOWN - Cape Town is a beautiful city, and one can enjoy it through the eyes of Kerry-Anne and Paul at Cape Town Daily Photo"






"ON THE WAY DOWN - Just enjoy..."

8 comments:

Kerry-Anne said...

Hi Gil, your photos are superb - you've really captured the size and majesty of the mountain through your choice of angles. Thanks so much for the link; I really hope you continue to enjoy our blog, and that with it we can entice you back for another visit! :)

Anonymous said...

Hi Kerry-Anne, thanks for the kind words. I'm sure I'll go back one day. For the time being, I just keep looking at your wonderful pictures!

Anonymous said...

Hello from Finland!
And thank you for visiting my blog.
I was looking at your labels and Realized, that something is missing - no any F started label :)
Perhaps you some day want to see a midnight sun and come to Finland to look at it.
I will come back and see all those your labels.

Anonymous said...

Hi mimmu,
Thanks for the comment. If you want to see F for Finland, you'll need to check the 70s & and 80s...
Great trip, actually!

Kala said...

that is definitely lovely - you seem to be very lucky to have traveled to so many beautiful places!

GMG said...

Thanks Kala,
it's true that I've seen a lot, and I'm happy for it! But there is so much more to be seen... :(

Eyerex said...

We may have passed each other as i was in cape town about the same time in 1996
Beautiful place and hope to go back one day

PS great photos on all your blogs and your a lucky person going on concorde, miss not seeing her fly over my house every day :)

Anonymous said...

Eyerex,
you see: it's not such a small world. Not even Capetown... ;))
Thanks for your comment. I share you appreciation ofr the city and the wish to go back!
As far as the Concorde, we're also two missing her...
Have a great week!