I don’t need to say it, you can see for yourself that Cape Town is conducive to those who love playing outdoors…me!! It seemed like there were always people running on the seaboard, hiking, surfing, biking, paragliding, or sailing. I thought California was a nature lover’s paradise, which it is, but Cape Town took it to a whole other level. Some people are even extremists, and no I’m not trying to follow suit. Take my boss for example. This year alone, he biked in the Cape Argus (100 mile bike race up and around steep mountains), ran the Two Oceans Ultra Marathon (36 mile run), completed the South Africa Iron Man (one of the toughest competitions in the world…4 mile swim, 100 mile bike race, plus a Marathon!!) and wrapped the summer up with the Comrades Marathon (56 mile race –only for the insane at heart).

Since I love running outdoors, it was heaven, with the ocean in my front yard, a running path that went on for miles along the coast and Table Mountain as the backdrop. Table Mountain is not just a beautiful view, it’s hikable too (not sure if this is a word, but it works).

Table Mountain

Its named Table since it has a two mile flat plateau surrounded by steep cliffs. It curves around Cape Town, so from the city you’ve got the ocean on one side and incredible beautiful mountain on the other. It peaks at 3500 ft above sea level.

Hiking this mountain was not for the faint of heart. Hikes ranged anywhere from a couple hours to six hours, or longer if you decide to camp. I hiked this mountain about four times, all of them with friends who were WAY more experienced than me, who were able to lift me when rock walls were too steep, figure out paths just by looking at rock placement (since there were few signs), and who always managed to have an extra water or snack supply.

Part of the mountain had inclined trails, but the majority was rock scrambles, vertical rock walls and lots of exposure...treacherous!! Signs were posted “WARNING: Extremely dangerous route with steep rock climbing and difficult navigation. DO NOT attempt this route if inexperienced. Use at own risk.” Other than bungee jumping and sky diving, this was the scariest adventure challenge of my life. Especially five minutes of one hike where I thought my life was at stake…later to find out two people died at that same spot a year earlier. Luckily, I was smart enough to know my limits and was extremely careful. I know it’s not as accessible, but hopefully I can hit up some hiking in New York or California, since I’ve invested in new hiking shoes and a sweet backpack!

Lion’s Head

There is also Lion’s Head which is a mountain right next to Table which peaks at 2200 ft above sea level and has views of Table Bay on one side and Atlantic Ocean on the other. This hike signified my welcome and bon voyage, since I did this on my first and last weekends in Cape Town. The hike is a little over an hour each way, with a portion of it on a steep incline and most of it with semi challenging rock scrambles. There are also chains you can climb at two different junctures. Once you get to the top, the views are unbelievable. Often times, we would do this after work or before going out on the weekend just in time to watch the sunset as you climb down. The best time to do it is on a full moon, when the sun sets and the moon rises simultaneously, beautiful.

Scuba Diving!!

Although I was certified in Costa Rica almost four years ago, I decided since I have a scuba diving haven in my backyard why not pursue my advanced license!! Additionally, I already had one test under my belt which I had to take on a dive excursion in Mozambique to see the Giant Manta Rays. The only downside, was diving in extremely cold temperatures. When I say extreme, I mean low 50s. To give you an idea, usually I dive with a 3mm wetsuit…here they made me wear two 5mm wetsuits, so 10mm total. I was like that little kid in the Christmas Story who could barely move.

The certification entailed taking five written exams and five dives with a dive master, including underwater navigation (using a standard compass to calculate your direction/path and a dive computer to measure your depth / air consumption), underwater naturalist (fish and plant identification), deep dive (using unique equipment and safety measures at a specific depth), shipwrecks (understanding how to navigate them and unique obstacles/protection laws), and night dive (unique equipment and navigation).

The best experience was definitely the night dive. It was scary at first, but once I was under it was fine. The moon illuminated everything and gave you a whole new perspective at night. The kelp beds and jellyfish were glowing and the lobster, massive crabs and eels were out to play. I even made friends with a huge seal, who apparently loves divers. We swam through caves where strangely this certain species of fish like swimming upside down. The whole thing was pretty surreal.

Thanks to William and Jacques at Pisces Divers and to Sandra, my dive partner.

For more photos, see http://picasaweb.google.com/nicolenys/HikingTableMountainLionSHeadScubaDiving