Ryan's Journal

"My life amounts to no more than one drop in a limitless ocean. Yet what is any ocean, but a multitude of drops?" — David Mitchell

Cableways

Posted from Simon's Town, South Africa at 8:55 pm, September 2nd, 2014

We were told that taking the cableway to the top of Table Mountain was a “must do” in Cape Town, so this morning we drove the scenic route along the coast and to the base of the flat-topped mountain that dominates the region, and then boarded a contraption with a rotating floor that holds 65 people and travels along a flimsy cable slung from the top of the mountain. We emerged impressed and alive at the top, where extraordinary views of the entire peninsula awaited – this one lived up to its “must do” billing.

After a lunch at the cafe on top of Table Mountain that consisted of ostrich stew (which set us back a mere $8) we were back down the cableway and off to the national botanical gardens. Audrey was most impressed by South Africa’s national flower, the protea, while I was a fan of the “Boomslang Canopy Walk”, a walkway that sat on thirty-foot tall metal supports and led through the tree canopy, and that we were forewarned was designed to sway disconcertingly in the wind (it definitely did). Our final activity of the day was a return to the Cape of Good Hope, where we again saw ostriches and a new antelope for me – the bontebok – and Audrey got to do her first driving on the left side of the road.

Tomorrow it’s back to shark diving in the morning. Heavy wind at sunset had me fearing I would need a barf bag for our five hours on the water, but the marine forecast is still calling for calm seas, so hopefully the sharks will be playful, the sea gods will be gentle, and my breakfast will stay where it’s supposed to.

Table Mountain cableway

The cableway cars, hanging on thin cables about a thousand feet above the ground. An exhibit at the bottom of the mountain showed various incarnations of the cars over the years. The second version was noted to have had a perfect safety record; ominously, the first and third versions mentioned nothing about safety record.

Bontebok at the Cape of Good Hope

Bontebok and Bontebok, Jr.

2 responses to “Cableways”

  1. Ryan
    Fantastic photos and descriptions! I’ve been reading all these as soon as you post. What an amazing (and long!) trip. Feels like I’m there.
    Don’t know if it is my computer or your post, but the spelling of bontebok is incorrect (bontebuk) causing the wikipedia link to go to a page not found. Either way, I know you’ll fix it – with magical powers if it is my computer, with simple edit if it’s your post.

    1. There have been a number of journal entries written on this trip while I was struggling to keep my eyes open – as my spelling of “bontebok” shows, it’s probably not a good idea to post while sleeping. Thanks for the QA efforts.

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