Tafelberg: the Table mountain, an unforgettable sight

The flat top of the Tafelberg mountain is one of the most impressive sights in the world.

Tafelberg is an enormous piece of sandstone which is thought to have laid at the shallow sea bottom 400 – 500 million years ago. It has been affected by tectonic movements to such an extent that today its top lays on 1086 meters above the sea level.

It is located at the Africa’s southwestern cape, its sandystone walls rising from the sea and visible from the distance of 200 km.

The first European to see its top was the Portuguese explorer Bartolomeu Dias in 1488.

The monolith’s completely flat top, over three kilometers long, overlooks the Capetown. From there, looking to the west, you see depths of the Atlantic ocean, to the south, you see all the way to the Cape of Good Hope, with the African continent streching endlesly north of the mountain.

In summer, a cloak made of white clouds cooled by southeast winds covers the top of the mountain. When they descend on the north side of the mountain, they create an incredible white „tablecloth“ covering the mountain’s surface.

Below the mountain top, one can see green slopes covered with wild flowers.

You can reach the mountain taking one of at least 400 pedestrian walkways or the ropeway which transports over half a million visitors each year.