I must preface my discussion by saying that I would never, ever think to hike a mountain on a SCHOOL NIGHT back home. In fact, I would not even hike a mountain on a weekend. The normal daily routine makes it too easy for me to postpone and delay participating in something so exciting. For me, climbing Lion's Head on a Wednesday night represents the very essence of the study abroad experience.
My friends Amelia and Shanna from the Charlton House invited me along on Tuesday and I met them at their 22-person house in Mowbray on Wednesday afternoon. Many of my Emory friends who studied in Cape Town in previous semesters also lived in the Charlton House, so visiting the house draws me closer to them and their experience! Anyway, Amelia's South African friend Nikki picked us up on Main Road in a bright orange Mini, and we piled in for the 30-minute drive to the base of Lion's Head. Nikki is from Johannesburg, so the scenic drive to climbing a scenic mountain provided us the perfect opportunity to deride Johannesburg's ugliness.
We met up with some other hikers who I did not know and embarked for the summit of Lion's Head -- 669 meters above sea level. Compared to my February hike of Devil's Peak, Lion's Head was a piece of cake. The trail started off very wide, but quickly narrowed to a single-file climb. We came to a fork in the trail where some people chose to climb a chain while I selected the detour trail around the chains.
After reaching the summit at 20h00, we pulled out a picnic of fresh fruit, biscuits and treats. The more daring climbers were photographed on the official maker signifying the peak of the mountain. I stayed firmly tethered to the base!
I must try to describe the memorable atmosphere on top of Lion's Head on Wednesday night. Hundreds of strangers came together to enjoy the same hike under the same full moon, so a sense of camaraderie and love of nature persisted. As the last rays of light disappeared over Sea Point across the sea, a brilliant Southern Hemisphere (i.e. SoHem) wind signified the end of the day. In the last minutes of sunlight, I appreciated the view of the city on Table Bay and the more distant beaches of Muizenberg and the sprawling Cape Flats along False Bay miles to the south. A few hours east from False Bay, the African continent reaches its southern-most point at Cape Agulhas -- the official marker between the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, and one degree latitude south of Buenos Aires, Argentina. The nearby Cape Point/Cape of Good Hope mark the most southwestern point of the continent with a visually striking collection of mountains and peninsulas. It was Sir Francis Drake who described the tip of the continent as "the fairest cape in all the world."
The vista of the Southern world -- 8000 miles from home, but a view of the same moon and the same ocean.
We enjoyed the views until 21h30, and began our dissent along moonlit stones. The mountain was aglow in the flashlights (they call them torches here) of hundreds of hikers stumbling over boulders. The cooler air made the dissent very pleasant and enjoyable. Our trail, however, took us to the chains -- not the detour path. I observed how several people held their feet along the grooves in the stones, and I tried my best to get down the 10-foot drop. My climbing companions, as per usual, were a fantastic help and source of inspiration!
We reached the bottom of Lion's Head, and returned to the Mini for the return home. The drive became an epic experience -- the cool breezes blowing from the open windows and sunroof in combination with the moonlit city and the shadows of the imposing mountains. Though the sun will not shine on the mountains until early morning, the mountains are never absent and can always be felt. I must inquire what was in Nikki's CD player, but the music perfectly supplemented the other surroundings and offered a brilliant drive in which -- even for a small sliver of a moment -- everything seemed right in the world.
Nikki dropped off the two Charlton House residents first, and then she passed The Lodge in
Rondebosch. I returned home, and my flate mate Rachel and my friend Mike were busy working on a project. They took a break to prepare an elaborate candle-lit bath for me with a glass of wine and a rose from our kitchen table (see picture to the right!). The bath was a fantastic way to feel even more relaxed after an already-relaxing evening. Thank you, Rachel and Mike!
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