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    Easy Walks in the Cape Peninsula
    Easy Walks in the Cape Peninsula
    Easy Walks in the Cape Peninsula
    Ebook288 pages2 hours

    Easy Walks in the Cape Peninsula

    By Mike Lundy

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    About this ebook

    This informative guide inspires everyone, whether fit or unfit, elderly or very young, to get out there and do it! "Easy Walks in the Cape Peninsula" introduces an undemanding walk - in and around Cape Town - for every weekend of the year. These walks have been carefully chosen because of particular points of interest such as waterfalls, caves, unusual flora, or spectacular views. Each includes an accurate map, an easy-to-follow route description, information on the average hiking time and the availability of water, as well as practical advice on mountain safety and weather conditions, interspersed with lively historical anecdotes and environmental notes. For this revised edition, all route descriptions and maps have been meticulously updated, and it also includes a brand new walk.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTafelberg
    Release dateJul 30, 2014
    ISBN9780624069539
    Easy Walks in the Cape Peninsula
    Author

    Mike Lundy

    Mike Lundy is the foremost hiking authority in the Western Cape. His exceptional service to the hiking community has been recognised with a merit award from the Hiking Federation of Southern Africa.

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      Book preview

      Easy Walks in the Cape Peninsula - Mike Lundy

      1. THE LION’S RUMP

      CITY BOWL

      Time: 25 minutes

      Distance: 2,2 km

      Route: One-way

      Dogs allowed

      BRIEF DESCRIPTION

      A level walk along the lion’s back, from the main parking area on Signal Hill to the Muslim tomb, with wonderful views over Sea Point on one side and the City Bowl on the other. If you do not wish to walk back, arrange to be picked up at the Kramat. No shade or water.

      START

      Park your car at the main parking area and viewpoint at the very end of Signal Hill Road, leading from Kloof Nek. Begin your walk from the far right-hand corner of the parking area (Lion’s Head/Sea Point corner).

      DIRECTIONS

      The concrete path crosses a neat lawn and picnic area before dipping down onto a rough gravel path. Ahead of you, directly in line with Lion’s Head, you will see the bright green roof of the Kramat – your destination.

      One hundred metres beyond the lawns, the path takes you just to the left of another picnic area, this one perhaps more pleasant than its lawned counterpart at the start, due to the shade provided by some rather unexpected trees. Clearly they have been planted there by the authorities, for who would expect to find Outeniqua yellowwoods (Podocarpus falcatus), sweet thorn (Acacia karroo), wild peach (Kiggelaria africana) and wild olive (Olea africana) on Signal Hill? And fine specimens they are too, even if they might be somewhat confused about their surroundings.

      Continue past the left-hand side of this little indigenous grove and suddenly you will be presented with a breathtaking view as Fresnaye and Sea Point open up before you. Five or six minutes after starting you will come to the corner of a fenced property belonging to the Boy Scouts and used as a camp. The path follows the fence down its length before spilling onto a parking area. Note the old Defence Force blockhouses below the path to the right (see Points of Interest).

      The path continues from the far end of the parking place which serves the Scout Camp. Note there are two paths; one leading off each corner. Take the right-hand one as it gives a spectacular view of the Sea Point coastline. You could be forgiven for imagining Argentina is just below the western horizon! If you choose to walk back, return via the left-hand path, which gives a view over the City Bowl.

      Five minutes along either path will meet up again with the other and then continue as a single path for another 10 minutes, before reaching the Kramat. If you enter the Dargan, treat it as a holy place and respect the Muslim custom of removing your shoes.

      POINTS OF INTEREST

      •The abandoned and derelict Defence Force blockhouses just below the Scout Camp were part of a series of outposts making up the coastal defences of the Cape Peninsula during the Second World War. The larger one was probably the Operations Room from where they could direct the fire of the guns from the Lion Battery above the Harbour, Fort Wynyard next to the V & A Waterfront and the Apostle Battery at Llandudno.

      •The Kramat or Muslim tomb is one of many dotted around the Peninsula. This one is the final resting place of Hassan Gaibe Sha Al Quadri.

      2. THE NOON GUN

      CITY BOWL

      Time: 20 minutes down/30 minutes up

      Distance: 1,1 km or 2,2 km

      Route: One-way or return

      Dogs allowed

      BRIEF DESCRIPTION

      A moderately steep gravel road which leads through uninteresting vegetation but provides wonderful views along its route. You will be treated to aerial views of Green Point Common followed by the V & A Waterfront, the Foreshore and Harbour and finally Schotsekloof. The walk ends at the fascinating Lion Battery, from which Cape Town’s world-famous noon gun is fired.

      Should you not wish to climb back uphill to your car, arrange for someone to pick you up. However, to get to Lion Battery by car is considerably further than walking it. (Proceed back to Kloof Nek, and down into town to Buitengracht Street. Get onto the elevated road above Buitengracht Street. Off this elevated Buitengracht Street leads Whitford Street. Follow that to the very top where it becomes Military Road, going off to the right. Then follow Military Road for 1,2 km to the Lion Battery.)

      START

      From the main parking area at the very end of Signal Hill Road, leading off from Kloof Nek. Begin your walk from just to the right of the info centre, situated at the near left-hand corner of the parking area.

      DIRECTIONS

      Go along the gravel road and after 30 m go down a path which leads you back to the road you have just driven up. Cross over it and directly opposite is a boom blocking the entrance to a jeep track. Follow this jeep track down the slope for about 10 minutes, after which you will come to a side road going sharply back to your left. Take this and follow it down to the perimeter fence of the Lion Battery, then follow this fence down to the gate below.

      POINTS OF INTEREST

      •The noon gun is fired every day except Sundays and Public Holidays and the battery is open to the public between 11h00 and 13h00 Monday to Saturday.

      •Although the Lion Battery was only completed in 1890, the tradition of firing a noon gun in Cape Town has been around since 1806, when it was fired from the Imhoff Battery at the Castle. When the city began to expand, it was moved to its present site on 4 August 1902.

      •The gun is fired electronically from The Observatory in Observatory at precisely 12 noon. It has an atomic clock with an accuracy close to one millionth of a second. Such incredible accuracy, however, is no longer needed. In the not so far-off days when ships depended heavily on the accuracy of their chronometers for navigation, Cape Town’s noon gun had the very practical purpose of allowing ships in the bay to reset their timepieces accurately.

      However, as the sound would take six or seven seconds to reach them in the bay (representing a huge error in navigational terms) the gunpowder is formulated to give off a large puff of smoke, so that noon is when you see it, not when you hear it. One indignant old gentleman living in Milnerton phoned the Lion Battery to tell them that they are consistently 11 seconds late in firing the noon gun. He cited the BBC pips as his evidence. It must have been somewhat deflating to be told that the sound takes consistently 11 seconds to reach Milnerton!

      •The only other cities in the world that fire a daily noon gun are Hong Kong, Nice and Rome, but all these are fairly recent innovations.

      •Two guns are loaded daily with a 1,36-kg charge of gunpowder in a cotton bag, which fits comfortably into the hand. It was surprising to me that such a small bag could make such a deafening bang! The second gun is a stand-by in case the first one misfires.

      •The four guns in a row at the perimeter of the battery are used for 21 gun salutes. Again, one is on stand-by while the other three fire seven rounds each alternately, at five-second intervals.

      •In 1997 a 27-metre naval mast was erected to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the founding of the South African

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