The weather in Cape Town really does change rapidly. On the day I planned to visit Table Mountain with a young couple at the lodge who were from Switzerland it was raining in the morning. They were planning on hiking to the top which takes two and one-half hours. I opted out in part due to the weather and also due to the strenuous nature of the climb. Since they were easily half my age I had no qualms about declining the invitation. I might see them up top.
Instead, I boarded the City Sightseeing Bus and upstairs but well under cover I toured a new part of the city. By the time I returned to my point of origin and switched to another bus to take me to Table Mountain the skies had cleared considerably and the sun was shining. So up I went, via cable car emblazoned with a big VISA credit card emblems all over it. How ironic.
The ride doesn't even take ten minutes and the interior of the compartment rotates 360 degrees so everyone can get a good view, or at least dizzy in the process. Emerging at the top I discovered instantly the importance of layering clothing. It was really really cool. Chilly. Well, by the time I was headed back down I was cold. A winter hat (versus a ball cap) and gloves would have been smart and then I would have been fine. I should point out that some young people seemed perfectly fine wearing shorts, t-shirt and flip-flops.
Amazingly one can walk on all sorts of trails on the table so I did stroll to various areas and looked out at the beautiful scenery below. There were lots of people due to the nice weather. When one leaves the upper cable station there is a sign alerting people to a possible sound from the "hooter" which signals an immediate evacuation due to pending high winds or other weather.
Back down I went to the lower cable station where I stood out in the sun to warm up. After a walk back to the lodge (all down hill) I opted for a hot shower to take off the rest of the chill. It was a goal to make it to the top so I felt pretty fortunate.
