Week one has come to a close and it’s amazing how fast it flew by. A week ago we were still jet lagged and completely unfamiliar with our 5-week home. Today, I can say that I know what the Waterfront is, how hard it is to hike Table Mountain, and what type of water to ask for at a restaurant (always tap). Everyday has held a challenge and an adventure, whether it be sitting at the dinner table for 30 minutes trying to figure out how much we need to pay or watching the sun set from the top of Lions Head. Although I still feel like a tourist, I hope that by week 5 I’m giving a visitor directions. To be honest, I’m having a hard time figuring out what to write about right now. I’ve seen and experienced so much. Where do I begin? I think I’ll tell you about Lions Head peak, since there were only a few of us who decided to hike it one afternoon.
Lions Head is a peak that is to the right side of Table Mountain (if you’re looking at Table Mountain). The locals call it Lions Head because, guess what, it looks like a lion’s head and the hills off of it look like the lion’s body (although, they don’t call this Lions Body) and the lion should look like it’s laying down. The afternoon that we climbed it, 7 of us girls met up in the lobby, backpacks on and cameras charged, and we took a taxi to the foot of the peak. Before we even started the hike, we were snapping pictures. We were high enough up to overlook some of the city and it was beautiful. We started up a rocky, dirt road and 7 minutes into the hike we were breathing hard. Between the heavy breathing we would stop, take pictures, and rave about the spectacular view. We couldn’t have picked a prettier day to hike. The sky was bright blue and there were only a few clouds. The path got narrower and rockier as we got higher. I thought the path was set up perfectly. It swirled around so that you could see every degree view of Cape Town. We passed a few men who were setting up their paraglide shoots so that they could fly off the mountain. One of my favorite parts was passing the people hiking down (or being passed by people on the way up) and saying hello and listening to the different accents of the people who replied.
As we reached the shaded side of the mountain, the hike turned into a climb. There were ladders and rungs actually attached to the sides of rocks so that you could help yourself up. One slip and you could be heading for a hard landing. It was challenging and adventurous to figure out where to step next, as if it were a puzzle for my feet. When we got to one of the steeper parts, I pointed to a larger man standing next to me and I said, “I’m going in front of you, that way, if I fall, you’re going to catch me”. He laughed and stepped aside. Once we got closer to the top, I think I asked every person coming down how much longer we had to go. I was so happy when one person replied, “just a few more steps”. We reached the top and it was breath taking (literally). I couldn’t believe what I was looking at. I had a 360 degree view of Cape Town and not just Cape Town, but Cape Town at sunset. I was looking at the sea and the mountains all in one view. We had numerous Kodak moments and then we decided to head down so that we wouldn’t be hiking in the dark. This was another one of my favorite parts. On our way down, the sky was every shade of red, yellow, purple, and pink and the sun was setting behind the ocean. It was beautiful. Surprisingly, we still passed many people heading up to the top. I thought that was strange, since they would be missing the sunset and hiking in the dark, but then a local told me that many people hike up when there is going to be a full moon that night because it lights up the path to climb down. Hopefully I’ll get another opportunity to see the Lions Head view at night. When our group reached the bottom of the mountain, the sun had just set. Our faithful taxi drivers were waiting for us and took us back to our humble Cape Town abode. Our legs were telling us to call it a night. I’ve never slept so well.
-Madelyn Rowlett
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