Whenever I think of , speak of, or even hear of Cape town, I am amazed at how much emphasis is put on the Aesthetic beauty of the Mother City. The majestic Table Mountain, the two oceans, and the vast expanses of the forest. These as they say, are a few of my favourite things, the reasons why most Capetonians will almost always speak only of the beauty of the city, and not so much about other aspects.

I have only recently begun to do my very own independent investigation of Capetown and all its wonders. My first attempt at uncovering just what the fuss is all about, particularly with The Table Mountain, was an opportunity to get up, close and very personal with this here Mountain.

I decided to go hiking up the mountain, a rather unofficial, unrestricted trip with no specif route to follow, or a particular agenda. This was to be a ‘lets play it by ear’ kind of experience, one that I must add, was greatly underestimated by me, for the hike was a Baptismal by fire, and talk about being thrown at the deep end!

My casual, Capetown style approach to this experience proved to me a bit of a miscalculation.
Any one who has hiked even once would tell you that for a novice, one needs to take many things into consideration, the time, the distance to name a few. However being the oblivious, over eager self that I was, I did not give much thought to these considerations. An oversight, i would later pay rather dearly for.

Since ours was an open hike, there were no boundaries, nor restrictions of any sort, just good old putting my good foot forward and soldier on up the mountain.

I rose to the challenge, and witnessed the sheer beauty of Mother nature in the Mother city, I marveled at the cacophony of sounds, from small insects, beautiful little birds, to the soothing tones of the water fall as it cascaded from some dizzying heights. The potency of the mixture of scents from the various plants intoxicated my senses. The precision of the rock formation from years of being perfectly arranged by nature to form the backdrop that is the mountain, were all such a sight to behold.

The Climb itself became secondary as the combination of forms of nature were the masterpieces of the Puzzle that is the Magnificent Table Mountain.

I was spell bound.

What a humbling experience?

What an initiation, an experience that felt like a rights of passage, for now I truly felt like I understood.

I now understand what the fuss is all about.

Table mountain is indeed a work of art.