Hiking in Cape Town
A visitor to Cape Town who enjoys hiking can never be disappointed. There are so many trails with totally different characteristics. This weekend I explored a trail I had never done before. It took us from Simon’s town to the Cape point entry gate and was absolutely breathtaking.
We started in the early morning with a moderately strenuous hike up to an old block house.
The views looking down over Simon’s Town were awesome. From here we headed up to our first peak called swartkop. Although only 678m above sea level it is a steep climb with ever improving views.
From here we traversed along the ridge for 7km. The route undulates dropping to 500m before rising to 650m again. The fynbos is thick and beautiful though quite hard going in places.
On the left hand side there was quite a sheer drop to the road below. The path itself is not precarious but if you move off the path a short way you can peer over the edge.
The final descent was pretty steep. Nothing too scary but be aware if you are not flexible or have a real horror of heights.
The views on the descent of Smitswinkel bay and Cape Point nature reserve and are quite beautiful.
We ended up on the Smitzwinkel pass just before Cape Point entry gate.
