The Table Mountain National Park (TMNP) encompasses the incredibly scenic Peninsula mountain chain that stretches from Signal Hill in the north to Cape Point in the south - a distance of some 60km. At present the TMNP incorporates various small marine reserves along the Cape Peninsula coastline. However the Ministry for Environmental Affairs is planning to proclaim the whole coastline from Mouille Point (Green Point) to Muizenberg a Continuous Marine Protected Area (MPA), which will be co-managed by the TMNP and Marine & Coastal Management. The TMNP is one of many national parks managed by South African National Parks.

The Cape Peninsula topography and Mediterranean-type climate support a wide array of habitats, which in turn support a rich variety of plants and animals.

Recreation and Leisure
Conservation in South Africa tends to go hand in hand with eco-tourism. In this way it remains economically viable to conserve large land areas. In order to enter some of the areas within the TMNP you will have to purchase a day-permit. These are normally quite cheap but importantly do stipulate what you are allowed to do and what not. Note that it is an offence to pick flowers or to remove plants or any other material from the park.

The Park supports and caters for a large variety of leisure activities. Some of these include hiking, mountain biking, rock-climbing, hang gliding, paragliding, swimming, surfing, scuba diving and angling. Africa Deluxe Tours will gladly arrange any of the above activities for clients when requested, including arranging for equipment hire and guides if required.

Flora
South Africa is the only country in the world to have within its borders an entire floral kingdom, one of only six in the world. The Cape Floral Kingdom, an important section of which is found within the TMNP, is recognised as a primary pool of plant diversity in the world. The Peninsula alone features more than 2,285 species of plants - more than the entire British Isles (1,492 species) and New Zealand (1,996 species). Of these, 90 are considered endemic to the TMNP.

The predominant vegetation - mountain fynbos (Afrikaans for "fine bush") - is characterised by three main plant types: the Cape reed or restiose grasses; the small-leafed, heath-like ericas and the larger, leathery-leafed proteas. A variety of bulbs, rhizomes and tubers - which form an important part of the fynbos group - as well as many types of ground orchids are found in the TMNP.

Fauna
The Cape Town area, which includes the Peninsula, marks the spot where the first Europeans settled in Southern Africa. The new settlers' lack of respect for bio-diversity and ignorance saw most of the larger animals in the area become extinct in a short space of time. The last lion in the area was killed in 1802. These days South Africa is at the forefront of conservation worldwide and you can experience big wildlife in all its glory elsewhere in the country, the flagship wildlife destination being the Kruger National Park.

While you won't find any lions in the area the TMNP still supports viable populations of many medium sized and smaller animals, such as bontebok, grysbok, caracal, mongoose, otter and baboon. A large variety of birds also call the park home, some of which, like the beautiful Cape Sugarbird, have evolved to live exclusively on the flowering fynbos.

There are at least 111 endemic invertebrates and one endemic vertebrate (the Table Mountain Ghost Frog) resident in the park. Many of these endemic invertebrates, such as the extremely rare white peripatus, are found in the deeper recesses of sandstone caves in the park.

Marine environment
The Cape Peninsula lies at the junction of two major southern African marine (biogeographically) provinces, namely: the cool Namaqua Province on the west coast and the warmer Agulhas Province on the east coast. Cape Point forms the boundary between these two provinces. Because of this the biology of the marine area surrounding the park is extremely diverse.

Many of the species found here are endemic to Southern African waters. Of the 2,008 marine invertebrate and vertebrate species identified along the southern African coastline, from Namibia to Mozambique, 660 (33%) occur in the Peninsula's waters, which covers only 3% of the total coastline.

All 24 species of rock pool fish that occur in the Peninsula waters are endemic to Southern Africa. On top of that, of the 259 continental-shelf fish species, which occur around the Peninsula, 88% are endemic to Southern Africa. The large number of seaweed species found along the southern African coast reaches its highest density around the Peninsula.

(source: the above information was adapted from the TMNP website, see link below)