Hiking to Kirstenbosch

On Saturday, July 17 we went hiking in the mountains again. Although this time the route was not quite so steep and we hiked around the mountain instead of down it. We hiked through the forest surrounding a peak near Table Mountain called Lion’s Head (named thus because it’s kind of shaped like a lion’s head). The route we took is called the Contour Path and begins about halfway up the mountain, just above UCT. The first half hour or so of the hike was fairly steep and we were all huffing and puffing as we made our way up. Eventually the trail leveled out and stayed that way for the rest of the hike, which was about three hours total.

This hike made me really appreciate just how diverse the plant life is in the cape area. Apparently the Cape region of South Africa has its own floral kingdom and there is more plant and animal life in this tiny region than in the entire United Kingdom (so I hear). As we hiked around the mountain I felt like I was walking from one part of the world to another. For a while we’d be among tall deciduous trees that looked similar to those we’d find in the northern U.S. Then half an hour later we’d be among vines and tropical looking trees. We hiked over all sorts of rocks and across so many little mountain streams that I lost count of them. About half of these stream crossings were at the base of waterfalls as well. The largest waterfall was the first one we came to and most of the group and I climbed right up next to this waterfall to take pictures. It was incredibly beautiful. I had very wet shoes and socks by the end of that hike from how many times I accidentally stepped in the water while trying to cross these streams, but the adventure was worth it. This mountain definitely had some of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen.

The trail eventually led down to the Kirstenbosch Gardens, one of the most famous botanical gardens in the world. We had lunch at a little café next to the garden and then explored for a while. Unfortunately, since it’s winter here the garden wasn’t quite as nice as it would be at other times of the year. Only a few flowers were in bloom and the whole place was very damp from rain earlier in the week. However, there are also lots of interesting sculptures and other structures dotted throughout the garden which we had fun looking at. As you might imagine from a group of 23 American college students, we tend to be very loud and boisterous when we’re all together. I can only imagine what everyone else at Kirstenbosch thought of us making noise and taking all sorts of crazy pictures, probably disturbing the peacefulness of the garden. Oh well. I suppose it can’t be helped. This was also the first time our group had seen each other since we had gone to live with host families. We all had lots of stories to share with each other about our new lives with host families and school placements. This tends to be all we talk about when we get together these days.

The next day (Sunday, July 18), I spent with my host family. Sunet, Rika, and another friend took me to church and then out to lunch in Cape Town at a place called Beluga that has half-price sushi on Sundays. It was a very relaxing day after the rigorous hike of the day before.