Iconic

If there is one landmark that defines Cape Town, one image which appears in people's minds when you mention the city it is Table Mountain. Out of the 650 photos I took there I can safely say one third are of the mountain - from morning through to sunset, from the front, back, side and even on top. It is a constant backdrop to everything else you're doing or seeing in CT, and when the light and the weather change it's appearance it seems to reflect the mood of the city below. So if I'm going to show you CT it's best we go round the mountain first.

Devils Peak and the "Table" from Newlands cricket ground

Poking up behind the grape vines at Groot Constantia - for some reason mountains and vineyards combine in almost half my photo's this trip.....

The classic Table Mountain view

This photo is taken by every visitor to CT - the mountain behind the V&A Waterfront where the docks have been redeveloped into a shopping/eating/tourism precinct. Locals will have you believe it's just for tourists but we seemed to end up there meeting people plenty of times! not that I ever complain about drinking by the water ;)

Castle Rock (or Nursery Buttress) taken from Kirstenbosch Gardens

Joerg and I were planning to climb the mountain at some stage but unfortunately the weather and other commitments (including laziness brought on by alcohol and over-eating!) combined to frustrate us. Which route we should take provided dinner-time debate for several of our hosts though for us names like Skeleton Gorge or Nursery Ravine tended to raise some different issues.

Looking across Hout Bay from Chapmans Peak to the "back" of the table.

Another tourist shot - and a cute couply photo in case you're not tired of them - the view from the cable-car station up the cableway to the top.

The green side of the mountain as it's enfulged by cloud - the southern slope with the University of Cape Town and the Rhodes Memorial.

The "tablecloth" creeping over the mountain

The tablecloth is supposed to come in from the sea during the afternoon and cover the mountain but it seemed to like defying the script - present in the morning and then dissipating as if whisked away to get ready for the evening serving or, as on this occasion, covering part of the mountain then stopping. On the day we went up the mountain it did both - we raced to the cableway after lunch when we realised the cloud was gone but when we got to the top the cloud was lurking to the south, threatening to blanket us. However the only thing rolling in was tour busses as we left, racing to herd their charges into the cablecar before the cloud returned.

Sunset over the mountain from the comfort of the stoep