095 - African Adventure - Day 3 (Table Mountain, Cape Town) - Best Laid Plans

According to the guy that picked us up at the airport, the Table Mountain Cable Car has been closed all week due to high winds. He told us it “might” be open in the morning on 27 Dec, but if we didn’t want to wait in a 2-hr line, we should go first thing in the morning at 7am to beat the crowds.

However, after repeatedly checking the website (“closed due to high winds”) while lying in bed jet-lagged and sleepless in the wee hours of the morning, we were losing hope. At 07:41, we received email confirmation that the Cable Car was open, so off we went…along with the entire visiting population of Cape Town.

The first sign of trouble was when they wouldn’t even let our Uber turn onto the park road. So we hopped out at the gate, and had a quick look,

Before blowing past the hoards of people waiting for the shuttle and hoofing it the 1.5km up a “short cut” trail 

to the Cable Car Station. Where we found approximately a million people queuing for a two-pod cable car.

(representative image)

The line extended up the mountain, 

And was reported to be 3h long. 

By the time we reached the end of it, we figured we were close enough to the top, we’d might as well just keep walking. 

Of course, the moderately-inclined walk on the road soon gave way to an epic clamber (in Britt’s estimation) comparable to summiting Everest 

In fact she and Taz kept marvelling at the fact that there weren’t more oxygen tanks and dead bodies strewn about the trail.

But we confidently attacked it, in typical Team Bearss fashion, with enthusiasm, determination... 

and flimsy Birkenstock flip flops.

It was definitely no stroll through the park. The combination of baking sun, dwindling water reserves, feeling like it was 2 am, and having every person we passed on the downwards trek tell us we had “about an hour to go”, did not exactly do wonders for morale.

(So close.....?)

There were a number of failed bids to flag down the Search & Rescue.

Though, after 2 h 5 min, 5.8 km and 829 m of elevation (~2.4 CN Tower stair climbs or the full height of the Burj Khalifa), 

 Our spirits were slightly lifted as we traversed the final pass….

...and even more so by the mountaintop slushies!

(Disclaimer: not actually our slushies...they disappeared too quickly!)

It was only afterwards that we found this on the Table Mountain Park FAQ.

Which pretty much sums up our experience.

We snapped a few requisite touristy photos, 

(Take note of the tabletop-like topography 😜)

And got the hell outta Dodge.

The trip down was considerably less onerous.

It was at this point that we unfortunately learned that our planned Shark Cage Diving expedition for the following day had been nixed due to inclement weather…a blessing and a curse as it allowed us to postpone our planned hop-on-hop-off tour by a day in favour of more suitable post-epic-summit activities.

i.e. drinking gin and tonics and crushing 3 bags of chips while playing crazy eight countdown on our patio…

That, along with a therapeutic dip in our plunge pool

had us feeling rather refreshed.

There were doubts that we were ever going to make it off the chaise loungers, but following our gourmet dinner of leftover-steak-tartare-turned-meatballs, 

We managed to muster just enough energy to venture back to the waterfront…

Under the promise of massive gelatos.

Aaaaand, we're done.