Day eight tour of table mountain

At the Base of Table Mountain, the viewers prepare to ascend to one of the most famous landmarks of South Africa. Table Mountain is the country's #1 tourist attraction.
Day eight looking at table mountain

Over the centuries Table Mountain has become one of South Africa's most famous landmarks for good reason. The steep cliffs and rocky outcrops of the mountain play home to a number of plants and animals—approximately 1470 species of plants—more than the entire British Isles! Complimenting this vast array of flora is a stunning range of fauna. Some, like the Table Mountain Ghost Frog, aren't found anywhere else in the world.
Day eight cable car journey

The viewers took the cableway to the top of Table Mountain. Each Cable car can hold up to 65 people. Table Mountain is a sandstone plateau rising up above the Cape Flats. The top is approximately three kilometers wide, and at its highest point, Maclears Beacon, it rises to 1085 meters. Even the locals are awed time and again by the 360º view of Cape Town from the cable car. The cable car was first opened in 1929 and today conveys some 600,000 people to the summit every year.
Day eight summit of table mountain

Carri, Marina and Tiffany hike up the path at the top of Table Mountain.
Day eight wildlife of table mountain

As we take in the Table Mountain wildlife, we spy two dassies enjoying the view.

The South African rock dassie is the height and proportions of a rabbit with short, round ears. They live on grassy savannahs and rock cliffs. Dassies typically feed on foliage, grass, insects and lizards. In a strange twist of nature, the closest biological relative of the dassie is the elephant!
Day eight table mountain's tablecloth

Marina, Tiffany and Carri take in the view through the mist. The summit of the mountain is flat, and the dense white mist that often covers it is referred to as the "tablecloth."
Day eight camps bay beach

This is a view from Table Mountain looking down onto Cape Town and Camps Bay, one of Cape Town's most popular beaches. Just behind Table Mountain, nestled beneath Lions Head and the majestic Twelve Apostles, Camps Bay boasts a magnificent sandy beach.
Day eight view of table bay

We got a lovely view of Table Bay from the top of Table Mountain. Table Bay is nestled at the bottom of a mountain inlet of the Atlantic Ocean, lying off Western Cape of South Africa. Summits of Table Mountain overlook the bay, which was visited in the late fifteenth century by Portuguese voyagers to India. The shores of the bay were settled by Dutch explorers in 1652, with the founding of Cape Town.
Guest room at the Saxon Hotel in Johannesburg

Here we are at a wine tasting at Constantia Uitsig Wine Estate, where our travelers enjoyed their first wine tasting. We had the pleasure of tasting many wines—everything from chardonnay to sweet semillon, which happened to be a favorite!

The South African wine industry has come a long way since the first unsuccessful attempt to grow grapes in 1652. Eventually a consummate grape farmer named Jan van Riebeeck got it right with his first wine in 1659—and the sublime "Vin de Constance" of this region went on to impress even the kings and princes of great wine-producing countries like France and Spain.

See where we're heading for Day Nine.