Table Mountain

Table Mountain hovers over Cape Town like a giant ... hovering thing.  It is certainly the most visible and easily identifiable landmark in the city, and if it served no other purpose than to make the downtown skyscrapers look small that would be good enough. As it is, it also provides a useful tourist attraction, nature preserve, wind break, and natural containment for Cape Town's inexorable outward expansion.  Not a bad deal for a big hunk of rock.

The tram ride up can be a little exciting even if you're good with heights.  Here's Mom being happy to be alive.

I just like the specificity of this icon.  "No eating chicken on Ciabatta with fresh produce", it seems to say.  Or maybe "No ice cream sandwiches".

Once again, the wildlife is fearless.  I took this picture from about two feet away. You can just see a bit of the brown under his wings.  It was quite vivid when he flew.

Mom suggested I get a picture of a Marguerite, for Marguerite.  These were the only flowers that grew on the plateau.

Wind sculptured rock ends up very interesting when the wind can't make up its mind.

The lower slopes of the moutain had burned in the last two years or so, leaving a forest of blackened trees with their blooms still intact. From the looks of it, I'd say a lot of these trees are going to survive just fine.  I'd guess that they're like the redwoods, in that a burn cycle is part of their growth.