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Table Mountain National Park covers 25 000 hectares from Table Mountain to The Great the Cape of Good Hope at the southern-most tip of the Peninsula, and offers superb accommodation that lets you get away from it all, close to the city Cape Escape Words and Pictures Dale R Morris

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TABLE MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK n The 25 000ha park stretches from Signal Hill in the north down to Cape Point, the southern-most tip of the Peninsula. This includes Lion's Head, Devil's Peak, Table Mountain, Constantiaberg, Tokai Forest and the Silvermine Nature Reserve. n The park also has a 1 000km² protected marine reserve around the Peninsula's southern coastline. n It is part of the Cape Floral Kingdom that includes the exceptionally diverse fynbos, in which there are more than 7 000 species. The park is a World Heritage Site. n The iconic Table Mountain was recently named t was early morning on the Cape of Space for captions one of the world’s New 7 Wonders of Nature. n Good Hope. The sun wasn’t up yet The park is divided into three sections, each but the sky was already softly aglow, separated by developed areas: a misty pink and yellow. An ethereal Table Mountain, Sivermine-Tokai fog swirled over the fynbos, creating and Cape Point Ia low-slung cloud bank out of which rose an archipelago of hills and mountain tops. It in the heart of the Cape Point section of looked like a sea of ghosts from where I stood the park. It’s a cute little place, surrounded on a rock, on a hiking trail in the heart of Table by hills and scrub, and it’s a great central Mountain National Park (TMNP). base for exploring the southern part of the All around, dewdrops glinted on proteas Peninsula and park early in the morning, and ericas, cobwebs, mosses and the wings before the public gates are opened. There of dragonflies. But suddenly the serenity was no one else around, the roads were was broken by a column of rare mountain empty and, as such, I had a few privileged zebras, making all manner of noises as they hours of feeling like I had the whole of Table scoffed their breakfast. ‘Isn’t Nature elegant?’ Mountain National Park to myself. Magic. I thought to myself while trying to snap a While visiting here you certainly won’t photo or two. The noise of my shutter caused see elephants, tigers or polar bears but there them to jump, and I winced, expecting them are thousands of flowering plants, lots of to bolt like bullets, but instead they returned, small game species (hyrax, birds, reptiles) unconcerned, to tuck in to the fynbos. and, at Boulders Beach, one of the most TMNP receives around 800 000 visitors important penguin breeding colonies in the each year, and, as such, these zebras were world. obviously used to seeing humans on their There are no fewer than ten property, but not that often at this ungodly accommodation options throughout TMNP, hour of the morning. all situated in superb locations – four luxury It’s a privilege to be alone in such campsites (with tents, lapas, kitchens and hot magnificent landscapes as those found in showers), five restored cottages (all with a TMNP. The previous night I had stayed at unique character), a luxury beach house and the cosy and comfortable Duiker Cottage, the old Overseer’s Cottage high up on Table the SANParks self-catering accommodation Mountain. You could easily spend a week

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here, and, in the process, have an alternative scenery surrounding Platteklip. Unusual holiday in Cape Town. accommodation, it’s tall and modern, During the evening, as I relaxed with my decorated with a colourful African flare. You friends and family on the stoep of Duiker reach it via suburban streets, and it is the Cottage, we all commented on the serenity one lodging in the park that doesn’t give you of this very special place. The only sounds the impression of being miles away from were of the wind in the restios and an unseen anywhere. But it’s a top location for quickly Space for captions Nightjar singing beyond the reach of our reaching the city centre and the Waterfront,

❝ I spent a day, as one should, atop the magnificent Table Mountain, gawping at sensational 360° degree views

torch beams. A zebra or bontebok snorted in and it’s a skip from the world-famous Table the darkness, sounding for all the world like Mountain Cable Car. And, as close as it is a kid with a cold. No light pollution spoiled to the hubbub, at night the sound of rustling the star-filled sky, and we felt stranded in the leaves and mountain streams all but drowns middle of nowhere. Indeed it was hard to out those of the city. reconcile this with the fact that bustling Cape When staying at the Wash House (so Town was around the corner. named because it was a laundrette during the On the edge of the city bowl, the self- colonial era) I spent a day, as one should, atop catering Platteklip Wash House is most the magnificent Table Mountain, gawping intriguing. Behind looms the iconic rock at sensational 360° degree views (luckily face of Table Mountain, ahead the bustling the table didn’t have on its cloth of cloud.) CBD rises in sharp contrast to the natural Tourists have free reign at the top and can

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USEFUL INFO join a number of hikes and rambles, some Price enquires and bookings can be steep and treacherous, others flat and mellow. done through www.sanparks.org A restaurant at the top will keep you fuelled, To book a tented camp, or the perhaps long enough to watch the sun go out Platterklip Wash House and Overseers and the city lights come on, and catch the Cottage use the following contact last cable car that descends well after sunset. information 021 712 7471 In the park there are four tented camps, [email protected] where the tents are more akin to those Eland, Duiker and Olifantsbos luxury five-star safari affairs at upmarket cottages can be booked through the African bush lodges. I stayed at Smitswinkel Bufflesfontain Visitor center Tented Camp, near the park’s main entrance 021 780 9204 [email protected] and a fifteen minute scenic drive from the Wood owl Cottage can be booked Penguins of Boulders Beach. It’s a great through the following contacts place to base yourself if you want quick 021 712 2337 [email protected] and easy access to the Cape of Good Hope and the magnificent rocky coastline that characterises this region of the park. The Space for captions ACCOMMODATION IN THE PARK camp is a very plush affair that consists of Cape Point Section: six, luxury two-man safari tents with en suite Smitswinkel Tented Camp. This is fully equipped, with bathrooms and comfortable beds. Each tent private two-man tents, a communal kitchen and braai is very private and has its own sheltered deck area. Bring own bedding. and a walkway leading to the ultra-plush, Duiker Cottage. Fully equipped, it sleeps six and is in communal dining house and braai area. It’s the middle of the Peninsula. a beautiful building of sculpted wood and Eland Cottage next door to Duiker Cottage is fully Mayan brick design, and is a fantastic place equipped and sleeps six. for a peaceful braai and an early morning Olifantsbos Guest House is a fully equipped, luxury, start on some of the parks most scenic solar-powered cottage close to the beach in the quietest southern hiking trails. southern part of the Peninsula. It has three double rooms. Last but not least, I travelled to Slangkop Tented Camp close to Kommetjie is situated in a Constantiaberg, past the Kirstenbosch milkwood forest, but is close to shops and the beach. Fully equipped, it has private two-man tents and a communal National Botanical Garden to the Silvermine- kitchen and braai area. Bring your own bedding. Tokai section of the park, where I stayed in the self-catering, spacious and luxurious Silvermine-Tokai Section: Wood Owl Cottage. A typical whitewashed Wood Owl Cottage in the Tokai Forest is fully equipped, Cape cottage (fortified with electric fencing with three double bedrooms. to keep out the baboons) it’s surrounded Silvermine Tented Camp is situated in mountainous by forests and mountains and is a lovely fynbos scenery, and offers a series of two-man tents plus location from which to explore the world a communal area. It’s fully equipped but bring your own famous Tokai Arboretum. This amalgamation bedding. of trees from across the world, now a huge woodland that is home to numerous hiking Table Mountain Section: and cycling trails, was started in the 1880s as Platteklip Wash House has several fully equipped, self-contained units that sleep four comfortably, with an part of a forestry experiment. outdoor braai and garden. Sadly my night at Wood Owl, a night of Orange Kloof Tented Camp is close to Hout Bay, in forest scents, barking baboons and hooting a limited access area of indigenous forest. It is fully owls, was the last of a stay that turned into equipped and has two-man tents and communal areas, a delightfully alternative way to enjoy a but bring your own bedding. trip to Cape Town. And with another six Overseers Cottage high on the slopes of Table accommodation options that I missed this Mountain is designed to be walked to, but baggage time around, I’ll be sure to head back as portaging can be arranged. It sleeps up to 16 and is fully soon as I can. n equipped. Map reference G2, see inside back cover

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