If you can only do one thing when you go to Cape Town it has to be the cable car ride to the top of Table Mountain. Table Mountain is the flat top mountain that dominates the landscape, climate and development of the city and provides Cape Town with a 6,000 hectare (14,820 acre) wilderness at its center. You can climb the mountain in about 3 hours or, like us, take a 4 minute cable car ride to the top. The first cable car was completed in 1929 and since then over 20 million people have been transported to the top. The current cable car system is the third update since the original and has a floor that rotates 360 degrees allowing all passengers to have full views of Cape Town and the mountains. Once at the top you can take several trails to explore the 3km (2mi) long but very narrow table top plateau and enjoy the captivating views at 1,086m (3,562ft) above sea level. However, Table Top Mountain is not always open as heavy rains, high winds or the flat top of the mountain is draped in clouds called the "table cloth" closes the cable car and trails. This often happens, so if the day offers little wind and no clouds, you take the opportunity to make the trip to the top of the mountain.
One of two, 65 passenger cable cars that take you up and down Table Mountain in 4 minutes
Looking down at Lions Head Mountain and part of Cape Town. Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela spent 18 of his 27 years in prison, is the small Island out in the ocean.
Walking on one of the rocky trails on Table Mountains plateau and waiting for the sun to set
At one of the lookout points just before sunset
View of Lions Head Mountain and the cable car as dusk settles in and the lights start to twinkle
Table Bay and Cape Town at dusk
View of Cape Town and Table Bay at night as we descend down Table Mountain
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