At 10:30am, we began our hike to Devil’s Peak, what is said to be the hardest hike up Table Mountain. Our tour guides, Michael and Trevor, had warned us multiple times that people should not be signing up for this hike if they were not in shape, for it was an extremely strenuous hike. Most of us just laughed these cautions off. We assumed when they spoke of people who weren’t in shape that they really meant fat people, but were just too hesitant to say so (of course we were to be proven wrong. South Africans have no problem spitting the truth, and this should have been a sign to us). Nevertheless, I came to the “strenuous hike” as prepared as I could be. My backpack was loaded down with a rain jacket, toilet paper, my lunch of a peanut butter sandwich, green apple, and carrots, three nalgene water bottles (two were my roommates), two regular sized water bottles, a cliff bar, sunglasses, my phone, my camera, my roommate’s camera, baseball hats, and a plethora of many peoples’ sweatshirts and jackets.
With a group of about forty study abroad students, we easily made it to Rhode’s Memorial and then hiked onward up the mountain. The sun was blaring down on my back, and my bandana did little to mop the sweat dripping down my face. Every thirty minutes or so we took a rest to let the rest of the group catch up and to replenish our bodies with water and snacks. I constantly grabbed my camera out of my pack to snap pictures of the scenery and the heavily inclined terrain we were ascending. After about an hour and a half of hiking, the guides informed us that the rest of the way to the top would have to be taken with caution. And so the obstacle course of rock climbing and shimmying along the edge of cliff-like mountains began. Multiple times I was forced to grab for the stalks of plants as I looked over my shoulder and down the mountain, causing my balance to waver. We were literally holding our bodies as close to the mountain as possible to ensure we didn’t fall off.
But at last, after a strenuous three and a half to four hour exhilarating hike up the mountain, we made it to the top of Devil’s Peak! The view, as it had been during the entire climb up the mountain, was immaculate. There was a clear view of Downtown (which refers to the inner city part of Cape Town), Observatory, Mowbray, Rondebosch, and of course varsity (college, UCT). The view expanded for miles until we laid eyes on yet another set of mountain ranges. Table Mountain stood directly to our left, and we had a clear view of the harbor, Robben Island (where Nelson Mandela was held captive), district six (a well known area during apartheid), and the World Cup Stadium. For about thirty minutes we reveled in the indescribable views and discussed how no picture in the world could do such an experience justice.
The two and a half our descent of the mountain brought an end to the climax of the hike. The downhill was nasty to my knees and the slippery stones were in no way welcome. Everyone was tired and the whole hike down was much quieter and drained of energy. It was hard to see the path down and the battle scars from the brush on my legs continued to grow. With only about half an hour left down the mountain, on of the orientation leaders who had come on the hike rolled her ankle. Let’s just say, she wasn’t really prepared for a strenuous hike, as she wore jeans, flimsy tennis shoes, and her purse for the hike. The guides told us to continue to the bottom and they would try to help her down. But, as we reached Rhode’s Memorial, we all heard a loud buzzing from above us. A helicopter had been called in, and she was being lifted from the mountain. Though that wasn’t the most exciting part of the hike, it definitely added to the day as a whole.
At 6:15 pm, Colleen, SarahCatherine, and I finally made it back to our apartment. We showered, scouring the dried sweat and dirt from our bodies, ordered an extra large cheese pizza and cokes, and sat back to watch Fever Pitch on tv, which here is called The Perfect Catch.
(The first picture is of me sitting on Devil's Peak, looking out over Cape Town, the second is of many of the hikers climbing the very side of of the mountain, and the third is the breath-taking view of Cape Town from Devil's Peak, well worth the 7ish hour hike)
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