Name of Reserve / Area: Table Mountain National Park
Nearest Town: Simons Town, Kommetjie, Scarborough, Misty Cliffs
Province: Western Cape
Country: South Africa
Directions to get there: From Cape Town CBD, take the N3 south. At the T turn right. Follow the road to the second traffic light and turn left onto Ou Kaapse Weg. Drive over the hill and into the Sun Valley area. Turn right into Kommetjie Road. Turn left into Slangkop Road. At the stop turn left into the main road that follows the shoreline all the way through Misty Cliffs and Scarborough. Soon you will reach a fork in the road, keep right and drive along Plateau drive. You will now begin to see the start of the Table Mountain National park on your right. Its just over an hours' drive from Cape Town CBD.
Duration of hike: 4 hours
Best time of year to go: All year round. This is a very windy location, so make sure to check the weather that you choose a day where the wind is not blowing its average gale force speed.
What costs did you incur to do this hike: R60 per person and more.
By recommendation of Mike Lundy's book this is called the Two Oceans Circuit and followed his route.
Start:
We drove into the park and went to park by the furtherst carpark right at the Cape Point lighthouse.
Follow the stone steps in the opposite direction of the lighthouse.
Soon this easy walk will bring you some magnificent views... here you can see how far we have walked from the carpark.
Having reached the Vasco da Gama peak, one can see the false bay coastline, with Simons Town and Fishhoek in the far distances.
As you pass the Vasco da Gama peak on its left, the path swings sharply left and you head towards the Atlantic ocean again. This lookout point is only for you to view, your path is to the right of this sign.
Aim towards the 2 cairns, and follow the path down between the 2 rock bolders seen in the right of the pic below.
In the back ground you will see a road. This is the main lookout point which we aimed for towards the end of the hike.
Continue following the path down towards the lookout huts. Here you start to see Platboom beach in the far distance below.
In the picture below you will see the lookout huts are painted green
Soon the path will run into a black tarred road. Keep going down, untill you get to cross the main road of the park. Follow the gravel single track downwards, and cross over a jeep track again. Continue over the jeep track and once you reach the next tarred road, turn left onto the tar road. This is the main road leading to the Cape of Good Hope point.
About 200m down you will notice a gravel area for a carpark. This is your spot to find the single path again and walk along the coast line back towards Cape Point.
As by recommendation of Mike Lundy's book, he says you should avoid the tar road a few meters away and continue to enjoy the walk along the waters' edge rather. Once you do this, the beauty of the area allows you to almost forget that a road even exists so close by.
After rock hopping and beach walking for about an hour, you will reach the Cape of Good Hope carpark. This is where everyone comes to take pictures of themselves at the 'most south western part of the Africa continent'. According to our friend Mike, this should be noted in the Department of Most Useless Information. Haha, nice one! I even got myself a shot of me standing there.
We passed the carpark on its left and followed the steep steps up. This was where we decided to stop for a break and some snacks. In the picture below you will notice the fisherman in the red circle. What an amazing spot to stop for a break.
We continued to follow the steps and the path all the way to the top and over the hill.
Soon we were spoilt with a stunning wooden boardwalk for a comfy walk all the way back to the main carpark.
The boardwalk passes the top of Dias Beach, which is known to be a very dangerous beach and not recommended for anyone to swim in.
The carpark was packed with busses and tourists. It was absolutely buzzing with activity. We got ourselves something cold to drink from the local shop, and were then entertained by how the baboons stole anyone's food away from them. Luckily for us, we just flicked the shocker - which made a huge noise - and scarred them off to find another innocent target. Sadly the local authorities are doing absolutely nothing about these baboons. I believe they can keep them at bay without harming them, but Im not sure why they are not doing anything about it.
On our way out of the park, I was absolutely amazed to see how well this park is managed. And due its popularity, there must have been at least 50 cars waiting to enter the park too.
How safe is it:
From a crime perspective, we felt very safe during the entire walk. Only the baboons were a bit of a scare though.
Fresh Water:
None along the way.
Difficulty:
Easy walking trail, but far and exposed to the elements at all times. Not recommended for the unfit or inexperienced hikers.
Pets:
None allowed.
How will I rate this hike?
Mike is spot on. This must be another one of the best kept secrets of Cape Point. Driving into this area is nothing in comparison to getting out and walking the park. What a beautiful place we live in.
More pics of this hike here
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