Hike Number 1

We have been in South Africa for a little over a week.  The week has been filled with running around conducting the business of setting up a new household, opening bank accounts, and most importantly setting up internet.  I contemplated writing about the joys of the bureaucracy here in Cape Town but thought better of it. Yesterday my wife and I took our first hike.  Luckily trails leading into Table Mountain National Park are a ten minute walk up the hill.  We walked up to the Cecil Rhodes Memorial just up the hill from the University of Cape Town.  We then continued our hike from there up a random trail.  The trail we took initially went up a nice incline following a spur.  We came to a t-intersection at what must have been an old military road leading up to an old military post I saw on the map.  We continued on the road heading north and ran into quite a few mountain bike riders.  I can’t wait till our stuff gets here.  On our right was the city of Cape Town and on our left was some of the most beautiful country I have seen in a while.  As we walked the view of the city changed from the southern suburbs, made up of a group of neighborhoods with names like Mowbray, Rondebosch, and Clairemont, and continued until the City Bowl and the docks were in view.  We could see the new stadium, signal hill and the peak of Lions Head.  We even got to see a few Zebras through the binoculars my father in law gave us before we went on our trip.  All in all it was a wonderful hike even a novice hiker could handle.  I was surprised I didn’t see more people on it.