Did you know that the original name for Table Mountain was actually Hoerikwaggo! Hoerikwaggo means ‘sea mountain’…

Table Mountain is an unusual Mountain, mainly because of its unique flat-topped formation. It has become a famous landmark for Cape Town – making Cape Town and Table Mountain a top tourist destination. One can hike to the top of Table Mountain on the Hoerikwaggo Trail or simply catch the cable car up… But once on top of Table Mountain most will be amazed that this 3km long flat-topped mountain is not actually that flat at all.

The highest part of Table Mountain is called Maclear’s Beacon which is 1086 meters above se-level. Maclear’s Beacon is a stone tower that was built for a trigonmetrical survey in 1863 by Sir Thomas Maclear. From this point and other surrounding areas on Table Mountain you can see the most amazing views of Cape Town, including: the city centre, Lions Head, Robben Island, Table Bay…

Table Mountain is predominantly made from resistant sandstone, allowing for the flat shape to remain that way; below the sandstone is layers of shale which weathers quite easily. Travelling up the Table Mountain Sandstone is made easy with the Cable Car. The Cable Car was first constructed in 1926, and was only opened in 1929. Recently, in 1997, the Table Mountain Cable Car was upgraded – allowing for a 360’ trip up the mountain. 

The main vegetation found on Table Mountain is the indigenous Cape Fynbos – which is protected and forms part of the Cape Flora region. There is believed to be over 2200 species of plants on Table Mountain, including the Protea! Amongst all the indigenous flora is also alien vegetation (pine) – which SANParks works hard at eliminating.

Hiking on the Hoerikwaggo Trail on Table Mountain can expose you to some of the fauna of the area, such as: dassies, porcupines, snakes, mongooses, tortoises and other fascinating animals. If you are lucky you may see the Rooikat which is an extremely rare sighting. SANParks is also concentrating on relocating alien animals (Himalayan tahrs, fallow deer and sambar deer) and reintroducing indigenous animals back to their natural Table Mountain environment.

On Table Mountain and the slopes nearby there are 5 dams which supply water to Cape Town. These damns are called: the Woodhead dam, the Hely-Hutchinson dam, the De Villiers dam, the Alexandra dam and the Victoria reservoir. These reservoirs were all constructed between 1896 and 1907… You can visit a dam or two along the Table Mountain Hoerikwaggo Trail which can prove to be a refreshing stop when you have been hiking in the sun for a few hours

Table Mountain and the Hoerikwaggo Trail have become extremely popular for tourists and locals because of the amazing flora and fauna that can be found on Table Mountain.