CAPE TOWN, Cape Peninsula, South Africa, September 26, 2005 — Table Mountain, the backdrop to Cape Town, is a big flat imposing rock about 3500 feet up, often with a shroud of mist forming a tablecloth. Walking up it is for the strong of leg and heart. When I visited before, in the summer (Jan/Feb) of 1997, the cable car wasn't in operation. They were preparing to install a new one.

So I'm delighted today that we make our way to try out the new Swiss contraption that elevates you while rotating 360 degrees.

We started out doing a few errands for Mags' many charitable works. We really thought we'd go to a suburban game reserve but discovered it was closed on Monday. Weather is changeable here so it was hard to say about conditions for the Table Mountain ascension. At one of Mags' errand stops, her friend called and found out conditions were favorable. And we were off.

We got tickets without waiting and only waited a short time to ascend. The mist was shrouding everything as it often does. We walked around peering this way and that. I saw a dassie and a bird with an orange underwing.

We ate some lunch in the casual restaurant and then the mist gave way to dramtically beautiful views in every direction.

It has been cool here and on the mountain I wore sweater and anorak. A (nice) contrast to Austin which had been sweltering. The drive back from the mountain was wonderful, too. The weather turned a bit rainy in the evening.

The big stories in the news are about child abuctions, the fires in the veld in the northwest part of the country (far from here). Some elephants were victims of that.