Lions head is one of the most distinct and unique Mountain slopes in Cape Town. As the name of this mountain suggests, it does indeed look like a lion’s head, with the proud lion watching over Table bay on one side and the Atlantic ocean of the other. It was my idea to go do the hike and throughout the trek up, whenever the trail proved difficult, or the sun would feel like, “the devil’s armpit” ( as one of my beautiful friends from Brasil would always say), we would each take a turn uttering the words; ” Who’s idea was this?” . I admit to posing the rhetorical question on more than one occasion when the stifling heat was burning my already tender, sunburnt nose and wondering if the juice was going to be worth the squeeze or rather,if the view was worth the hike!
I took this shot of Lions head while I was on top of Table Mountain ( That story is for another post.)
It was not so much the mileage of the hike, but the terrain coupled with the 38 degree celsius heat that took us all a bit by surprise. None of us were prepared for the up, up, UPward climb, metal ladders that were secured onto the mountain with bolts and curvy, rocky, narrow pathways. I had done the hike before, but I was much younger, 16 infact! I had actually forgotten that I had done it until I got to the midway point, something on the trail sparked a memory. Our complicated brains. Why do we remember some things and forget others. Ah, another blog post entirely, maybe even another blog, entirely. 😉
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Mr. and I, about 15 minutes into the hike.
Devils peak, a mountain of a myth…
Ah, the legendary Devils Peak. So the story goes a little something like this. A little while ago, say around the year 1700, there was a guy name Jan Van Hunks, this dude was originally from Holland but once you go to Cape Town, it’s kinda hard to leave. 😉 Van Hunks and his wife lived at the foot of the then, Charles Mountain. This fella had a terrible smoking habit ( and not just tobacco, if you get my drift). Well, his wife would have none of it and she kicked him out whenever he would light up. One day Van Hunks was sitting on his porch, smoking as usual when he noticed a mysterious figure, smoking too. Van Hunks could barely control himself, he started boasted right away about how much he could smoke. He was so busy blowing smoke ( pun intended) , that he failed to see his companion had horns and a forked tail. So a deal with the devil was struck and a fierce pipe smoking contest began. Van Hunks eventually won, but not before Charles mountain was covered in smoke. From that day Charles mountain became known as Devils Peak. What exactly WAS Van hunks smoking to come up with such a tale…
This was the last time we stood on flat terrain for about 2 hours.
Climbing into tiny, possibly snake or lizard filled caves… must be delirium from the heat.
The views all the way up were magnificent, of course and well worth the sweat, scrapes and minor sunburn.I also think I might to try my hand at rock climbing! I quite liked that part of the hike, much to my surprise! Once we got to the top, the awe inspiring scene could not have been a more apt reward and yes, the juice was definitely worth the squeeze. At the end of day we were all hot, smelly and tired but we were also blissfully happy.
We made it to the top and what a breathtaking view!
That’s just the friendly mountain Iguana who ran over my feet. I am very proud that I didn’t scream.
Heading back down we saw this sad-looking rock.
This Travellers Heart 