Table Mountain
Providing a majestic backdrop to the city of Cape Town, Table Mountain is one of the world's most striking natural wonders and South Africa's most recognised icon. No visit to Cape Town can be complete without making the trek to the top. The Mountain towers over Cape Town and Table Bay, its presence is tangible throughout the Cape Peninsula. On top of the Mountain you may wander along a myriad of pathways or enjoy a drink or snack at the restaurant / coffee shop. There's also a small shop for memorabilia. Make sure to take a wind-proof jacket along as it can become quite chilly on top of the mountain even when it is very hot at the lower cable way station.

Restaurant
The self-service Restaurant offers a full breakfast and an extensive hot and cold buffet. Internet facilities and coin operated telephones are available. The Restaurant is situated on the top of Table Mountain and clearly signposted.

Bistro
The Bistro is located atop the top cable car station and offer excellent views of the city and Robben Island. Sunset cocktails, coffees, cakes, snacks and full bar facilities are available.

Souvenir Shop
A wide range of merchandise is on offer bearing the insignia Table Mountain. Tourist information is also available.

Dizzie Dassie
The Dizzie Dassie Shop, situated at the lower cable station carries a range of kids and adult clothing. Tourist information is also available.

Walk up and/or down the Mountain
It is possible to walk up and/or down the mountain using a wide selection of trails. If you decide to walk only one-way you have the option of using the cable way in the other direction. Some of these trails start from close to the bottom cable car station, Camps Bay, Constantia Nek and Kirstenbosch.

It is advisable to make use of an experienced and knowledgeable guide for this activity. Not only will a tourist guide enrich the experience through sharing facts on fauna and flora and history on the way but also he/she will help ensuring your safety. Table Mountain is regularly underestimated by foreign tourists. Testimony to this is the various rescue attempts conducted every year to save tourists from mountain ledges, sometimes by helicopter. Often people have to spend a night exposed to the elements until rescuers can get to them the following morning. Sadly most years also see some fatalities. All of this can be avoided by using experienced specialist tourist guides.

Abseiling
A 112m controlled descent (called abseiling by rock climbers) is operated from the top of Table Mountain on the Clifton and Camps Bay side. It will not only get your adrenaline pumping but also provides great views.

Mountain biking
The Mountain has a wide range of excellent mountain bike tracks including some hair raising downhill spots. Some tracks are quite technical and though previous experience is not always required it may come in handy. Proper bikes and other equipment can be provided.

Paragliding
Table Mountain and neighbouring Lion's Head are arguably the most popular launch sites for paragliding in the Western Cape. In the right weather conditions they allow for extended flights, "safe" updrafts and extraordinary scenery. Equipment can be provided or tandem flights arranged.

Rock climbing
Table Mountain features various high cliff faces and a number of climbing routes lead up to the top. You also have the option of using the Cable Way to return to the bottom making for extra climbing time. However, don't underestimate the difficulty level posted by some routes. As is always the case with rock climbing utilising the knowledge and experience of local climbers cannot be over-valued.

More about the Mountain
(What follows below is either quoted or adapted from information provided by the Table Mountain National Park - previously Cape Peninsula National Park)

Flanked by Devil's Peak to the east, Lion's Head and Signal Hill to the west, and the Karbonkelberg to the south-west, the massif of Table Mountain comprises the flat-topped plateau of the eastern and western tables overlooking the city of Cape Town, the eastern buttresses with their forested ravines flanking the city's southern suburbs, and the western buttresses of the Twelve Apostles standing sentinel along the Atlantic coast.

The level summit of Table Mountain is three kilometres long, east to west. Its highest point, at 1 086 metres, is Maclear's beacon. This beacon was erected in 1843 by the astronomer, Sir Thomas Maclear, as part of an experiment to more accurately measure the circumference of the earth.

Geology
The bulk of Table Mountain is composed of layer upon layer of erosion-resistant light grey sandstone of the Peninsula formation (so-called Table Mountain sandstone) and shale and siltstone of the underlying Graafwater formation. These rest upon a foundation of what is, for the most part, Cape granite. In the north the Cape granite gives way to rocks of the Malmesbury group, from which most of Signal Hill is made up, and which run under the city centre and Devil's Peak to the west.

Climate
Cape Town has a Mediterranean-type climate with mild wet winters and warm, dry summers during which little rain falls. It is during the summer droughts from November to March that the "Cape Doctor" blows - a howling southeaster that can sometimes reach speeds of 120 kilometres per hour. It drives warm, moisture-laden air in from the sea which, when driven over Table Mountain, cools and condenses into cloud to form the famous "tablecloth" over the top of the mountain.

Fauna
The fauna of this area includes a wealth of invertebrate species that may exceed even the flora in their diversity, and which over time have evolved an astonishing array of symbiotic interrelationships with the flora that scientists are only now beginning to understand. No less than 111 of these invertebrates, and one vertebrate - the Table Mountain Ghost frog - are found nowhere else on earth.

The visitor to Table Mountain is most likely to encounter the ubiquitous dassie (Rock Hyrax), whose closest living relative is, strangely enough, the African elephant. While early callers at the Cape commented on the abundance of large animals they encountered here, most of these were shot out or driven away in the early years of European settlement.

Flora
The Cape Floristic Region is internationally recognised for its extraordinary floral biodiversity. Table Mountain and the Peninsula are home to more than 2,285 species, 25% of the species found throughout the Cape Floristic Region. Table Mountain alone has over 1 500 species of plants, more than the whole of the United Kingdom, many of which are endemic.

The most common vegetation type on Table Mountain, as with the rest of the National Park, is fynbos. This generally low-growing shrubby vegetation includes heaths (Ericaceae), reeds (Restionaceae) and proteas (Proteaceae). Some of the most conspicuous fynbos species on the mountain are from the protea family, and include the King Protea (Protea Cynaroides), South Africa's national emblem.

Together the various vegetation types found on the Mountain constitute a flora so rich in species that from a botanical point of view, it is the richest area, for its size, anywhere on the planet. This is the reason that the Cape Peninsula has been nominated for World Heritage Site status.