South Africa Sojourn Table Mountain conquered

Yesterday the cable car was closed because of the wind and cloud cover on the mountain top. Today however dawned bright and more importantly wind free. As the forecast is for the wind to build up in the afternoon, we head straight round to bottom of the cable car. We really should have bought tickets online before we left. That would have resulted in a queue of about 45 minutes instead of a 90 minute queue for the tickets followed by another 20 minutes to actually get into the lift. Clearly others had also seen the forecast making it very busy at the base station. Busy and very hot. There was some shade above the queue, but only when you got nearer the front. They also had mist spray to try to make things easier for us. The tip is buy your tickets online before you go.

You can see the two cars at about the half way point. It's quite a dramatic near vertical lift towards the top.

Our car comes into the station. The floor rotates through 360 degrees as the car ascends, so you can't hang on to the side rails. The cars take a total of 65 people meaning that they can shift 800 folk an hour up the mountain.

At the top station its all pretty civilised really, there's coffee to drink and birds to watch.

 This is the view to the south - west with Camps Bay in the distance.

You really do feel on top of the world up here, as you can see from the reaction of the young couple.

I'm not sure who has pushed their camera into shot just as I was about to demonstrate a back somersault with rucksack. In the background is the waterfront and the World Cup stadium with Signal Hill rising up from it.

This is the view showing the 12 Apostles. Notice the distinctive layer of cloud on the horizon. Perhaps some Geographer out there might tell me what this means (Thomas?).

 Here be dragons. Life at the top.

And Dassies. Cameron we got one at last! This is not a rodent, but its nearest relative is the elephant.

Everybody loves a baby so here's a shy little one. Looks even less like an elephant.

After about two hours at the top and a fair walk about on the plateau we took the cable car down. We then drove up to the top of Signal Hill where there is another of those frames so having, with great difficulty, cleared the Japanese tourists from the frame I have pictured it unadorned.

The plan for the rest of the day was to make for Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens. These are the flagship of the South African National Biodiversity Institute. The garden was established in 1913 to conserve and promote the indigenous flora of southern Africa. This garden is internationally acclaimed as one of the great botanical gardens of the world. There are two things that particularly interest me and they are the "boomslang" and their famous high teas.

Cream cheese and cucumber sandwiches, sun dried tomato savoury tartlets, scones with cream and jam and two huge cheesecakes washed down with breakfast or earl grey tea. Just what the Cape Doctor ordered.

The boomslang, or for those of you who have not yet mastered Afrikaans, tree snake. It was built to celebrate the centenary of the gardens and  is a canopy tree walk that is gradually becoming part of the canopy. Helen wanted to do the one at Kew Gardens but somehow we never found it. She has been itching to do one ever since and has come 5000 miles for the balm. 

 There are many wide open spaces where you can picnic or kids can play,

 or more intimate corners full of colour.

I think this is Cussonia sphaerocephala but I know that James or Mike will put me right. I was, actually very impressed with the standard of signage throughout the gardens. That finished our day on a cooler and shader note of calmness whilst a good proportion of Captonions appeared to be heading out of town.