Lion's Head

By 5:15 pm, a group of study abroad students and myself were at the bottom of Lion’s Head.  Downtown, in the city of Cape Town, sits a small mountain, Lion’s Head, much shorter than Devil’s Peak and Table Mountain.  On one side of the mountain is the city of Cape Town, on the other, the Atlantic Ocean.  It’s typical for people to climb the mountain just before sundown, sit at the top with their ‘sundowners’ (drinks) for the show, and then walk back down in the light of the moon.

The hike up took about an hour and was much more strenuous than I had expected.  The trail circled the mountain, the first bit on the side with the ocean, the second overlooking the city. 

(Atlantic Ocean on the way up)

The hike was full of traffic, bunches of people climbing up and down the mountain. 

(Traffic on the mountain)

At last we made it to the top.  The peak was already crowded with groups of tourists and locals sitting comfortably, eating and drinking and waiting for the sun to set.  We sat on the ledges of the mountain, drinking in the view. 

(Cape Town from the top)

As I sat, my feet dangling off the edge, a cold castle beer in my hand, the ocean melded with the sky to my left, the city lights turning on to my right.

(BC pic on the mountain)

Though we had chosen a cloudy day to climb the mountain, the sky began to turn pink by 7 pm. 

(Start of the sunset)

As time passed the clouds became more red, eventually reflecting a yellow pink onto the water.  7:15 pm rolled around and the sky was dark. 

(Sunset)

We began our way back down the mountain, much more cautiously this time as the natural light of the moon was covered by clouds and we had no flash lights.  The city was beautiful. 

(Cape Town at night)

All the lights of the city were shining brightly and the ocean looked like an abyss of nothingness.