Tuesday 12 May 2009 - With sandwiches packed lovingly made by yours truly, the Rangers and People & Conservation Department go their separate ways today, each heading to different corners of Table Mountain National Park. Aldo and I have a slow start, still unsure whether anyone is available to see us from TMNP P&C. Finally we get a lift to Westlake in Cape Town to meet Calvin Mojapelo TMNP P&C Manager, this giving us the ideal opportunity to pick his brains regarding the running of a large scale P&C department, during which we are introduced to Mark Hawthorne, one of TMNP three P&C Officers.
Meeting complete, Mark takes the occasion to show us a little of the Park, with Aldo up front and me in the back of the covered bakkie with three other international volunteers, two French and one German.
And so my first ascent up Table Mountain commences, travelling
to The People's Trail Hut on a near vertical dirt track wide enough for one vehicle, a sheer drop at one side. OMG one false move at the wheel and we are goners!!! Sat on the metal floor of the bakkie, is not the most comfortable of experiences especially when travelling on bumps, I am therefore not best pleased when Aldo suggests a trip up Table Mountain cable car to Mark, with time pressing this means we have to travel down the mountain side in double time, oh dear my poor coccyx!Avoiding certain death, we make it back to level ground, the luxury of tarmac and the slow grind of Cape Town rush hour. Despite the odds, we make it to the cable car in good time, only to find that it has broken down, the visitors that had made the trip earlier would be waiting around three hours to make their slow descent. Although a little disappointed, I know I will return to Cape Town some other time, a visit to South Africa surely cannot be complete without a trip up Table Mountains cable car, can it?
With the setting sun glistening in the ocean, we journey back making a slight detour to check out the facilities at the Sunbird Education Centre. Arriving back at base just after 19h30, I find the Rangers have made a start on dinner, this is said with a hint of sarcasm! Their sole contribution for the three days being building a fire for the braai. Me man, me make fire ugh! Maybe I am doing them an injustice, for they did do the washing up and Elton cooked the meat, Jedi braaier that he is, whilst I thrashed Jack at a game pool! Sshhh don't tell anyone, lets preserve Jacks ego, not bad for a gal who hasn't played for over a decade, eh?!?
