The top of Table Mountain can be accessed via the Table Mountain Cableway or by hiking. Due to the somewhat windy conditions on the day of our visit, we only had the option of riding the Cableway. In fact, in the morning it was too windy for the Cableway to even run, but the wind luckily died down enough for us to go in the afternoon. It is a good idea to bring a windbreaker/raincoat to the top, as it can be windy and wet, especially when the clouds come in. I used a one that folds into its pocket.

I believe that the cableway ride to the top of Table Mountain (and back down, too) is the most unique in the world. First you enter into the circular car along with about 50 other people. Once all crammed together, you further cram in, in order to keep away from the sides. You must move away from the sides, as the floor rotates, while the sides do not. As you ride up the mountain, you slowly go around in a circle and are able to see the view from several different angles.

The view from the top of Table Mountain can be spectacular when the sky is clear. When we first got to the top, we were able to look out over the city of Cape Town and False Bay. We were even able to find Robben Island out in the distance. However, not long after we got to the top, the clouds rolled in, and we were literally in the clouds. At one point, the visibility was less than a few feet, and one of the things that came to my mind was, “Where did the mountain go?” Because we were in the clouds, the ride back down was amazing, with us slowly coming out of the clouds and being able to look back and see the mountain in the clouds.

We found our way to the gift shop in the clouds. The gift shop did not carry much interest, but it did have a Kodak photo station where you could put your digital images onto a CD. Unfortunately, they were out of CDs, and some in our group were really in need of freeing up memory on their camera. There is also a restaurant next to the gift shop.

There are also some hiking trails on top of the mountain that some of my classmates went on. They are all easy hikes. The three are the Dassie Walk (15 minutes), the Agama Walk (30 minutes), and the Klipspringer Walk (45 minutes). From what I heard, the Agama was the best, allowing you to see the view from all sides of the mountain.