I flew into Cape Town in early November, the starting point of one big final adventure for 2022, one that would see me traversing much of the southern part of the continent for the remainder of the year, discovering the wildest and rawest parts of the beautiful countries down here. This wild nine-country adventure began with a week based in Cape Town to acclimatise, both to the summer weather (escaping the chilly wet winter of Salzburg) and also to the lifestyle, one marred by a constant need to be self-aware and in varying stages of survival mode. Cape Town was a good way of getting our feet wet.
I ended up spending three weeks total in wonderful Cape Town, flying back in mid-December after our roadtrip to spend a bit more time exploring what has quickly become one of my favourite cities in the world. Initial plans had me staying in Johannesburg, South Africa's other big city in the east, but fear and horrible crime rates and a terrible reputation led me to booking a flight back to the haven that is Cape Town. You can read my detailed blog post here where I attempt to summarise everything I did in Cape Town.
One of the absolute best things to do in Cape Town is a hike up to the prominent Lion's Head. Based right in the middle of the city, Lion's Head, in my opinion, looks much more like a shark’s fin than a lion’s head but that’s not for me to debate upon. From the top, if the weather is on your side and the notorious coastal mist hasn't rolled in, you can have panoramic views over the city to the north and the stretching ocean to the south.
The short hike is a popular one for sunrise. The first half of the trail is an easy dirt track however, the second half involves some rock scrambling and ladder climbing, not for the faint of heart. Particularly the last stretch to the summit is a bit of a heart-racer with rock climbing on a narrow precipice.
LION'S HEAD HIKE DETAILS
When: year-round
Where: Cape Town, in Table Mountain National Park
Difficulty: intermediate
Length: 5.3km return, which took 1h 25m
Directions: park on Signal Hill Drive and then follow the dirt trail up and around the Lion's Head. At the second half, when the rock scrambling section begins, you can choose the harder, shorter route involving ladders and rock climbing (which we did on the way up) or the easier, longer route which has less of this.
Bathrooms: no
Public Transit: no
The sun peaking over the horizon as we started the climb
The Lion's Head summit from below
CHECK OUT OUR VLOG OF CAPE TOWN HERE!
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Hi! I’m Jana, a Dutch-German-British-Canadian with a dream of seeing every country in the world. I am a storyteller, photographer and adventurer passionate about documenting and sharing my travels.
