103-751: Table Mountain ( Khoekhoe : Huriǂoaxa , lit. 'sea-emerging'; Afrikaans : Tafelberg ) is a flat-topped mountain forming a prominent landmark overlooking the city of Cape Town in South Africa . It is a significant tourist attraction , with many visitors using the cableway or hiking to the top. Table Mountain National Park is the most visited national park in South Africa, attracting 4.2 million people every year for various activities. The mountain has 8,200 plant species, of which around 80% are fynbos , meaning fine bush. It forms part of
206-594: A Juu language , later shifted to Khoekhoe. The name for the speakers, Khoekhoen , is from the word khoe "person", with reduplication and the suffix -n to indicate the general plural. Georg Friedrich Wreede was the first European to study the language, after arriving in ǁHui!gaeb (later Cape Town) in 1659. Khoekhoe is a national language in Namibia. In Namibia and South Africa, state-owned broadcasting corporations produce and broadcast radio programmes in Khoekhoe. It
309-436: A ) Khoekhoe has four definite articles : ti , si , sa , ǁî . These definite articles can be combined with PGN markers. Examples from Haacke (2013): There are three clause markers, ge ( declarative ), kha ( interrogative ), and ko/km ( assertive ). These markers appear in matrix clauses , and appear after the subject. Following is a sample text in the Khoekhoe language. Newlands Forest Newlands Forest
412-499: A boom in the timber industry and the size of the forests grew. After the subsequent decline in Cape Town's logging industry, some of the plantations were removed to allow for the return of the original natural vegetation. In other places such as Newlands Forest, the final crop was allowed to remain, unharvested, and the area recently took on a new function as a recreational area. The Fire Station operates emergency bushfire fighting from
515-539: A diverse array of Protea , Erica , geophyte and daisy species, as well as some endemic species. In the moister areas, the Ericas predominate over the other plant groups. Along with the Granite Fynbos, this is by far the most diverse and richest in species of the ecosystems at Newlands Forest. As it typically grows on lower mountain slopes, which tend to be developed for housing or cultivated for farming, this vegetation
618-550: A large part of the original building was maintained. The home, affectionately known by residents as "The Reservoir" , has been home to a few well known Cape Town residents since it was built. Perhaps the best known resident being Father Kevin Robarts, a popular figure well known in the Newlands Parish. Since Father Robarts' passing in late 2007, the house has been maintained by his remaining family. In 2010, Father Pearce took over from
721-499: A macron, as in ā /ʔàa̋/ 'to cry, weep'; these constitute two moras (two tone-bearing units). A glottal stop is not written at the beginning of a word (where it is predictable), but it is transcribed with a hyphen in compound words, such as gao-aob /kȁòʔòȁp/ 'chief'. The clicks are written with the Lepsius letters that were later adopted as IPA symbols. The basic (tenuis) clicks are: Sometimes ASCII characters are substituted, e.g.
824-409: A nasal ( /ń ḿ/ ) than on mid or low vowels ( /é á ó/ ). The tones combine into a limited number of 'tone melodies' ( word tones ), which have sandhi forms in certain syntactic environments. The most important melodies, in their citation and main sandhi forms, are as follows: Within a phrase, lexical words receive greater stress than grammatical words . Within a word, the first syllable receives
927-422: A o u/ and nasal /ĩ ã ũ/ . /u/ is strongly rounded, /o/ only slightly so. /a/ is the only vowel with notable allophony; it is pronounced [ə] before /i/ or /u/ . Nama has been described as having three or four tones , /á, ā, à/ or /a̋, á, à, ȁ/ , which may occur on each mora (vowels and final nasal consonants ). The high tone is higher when it occurs on one of the high vowels ( /í ú/ ) or on
1030-594: A pair of eagles was seen by at least 7 independent observers during the course of 10 days (27 January – 5 February). Dassies are an important part the Verreaux's eagle's prey on the Peninsula. (See Foot note) Table Mountain is also home to porcupines , mongooses , snakes , lizards , tortoises , and a rare endemic species of amphibian that is only found on Table Mountain, the Table Mountain ghost frog . The last lion in
1133-550: A productive stock of edible bulbs (especially watsonians ) and to facilitate hunting, and later, after the arrival of pastoralists , to provide fresh grazing after the rains. Thus the plants that make up fynbos today are those that have been subjected to a variety of fire regimes over a very long period time, and their preservation now requires regular burning. The frequency of the fires obviously determines precisely which mix of plants will dominate any particular region, but intervals of 10–15 years between fires are considered to promote
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#17328375323461236-630: A project was launched by Reinhold Rau to back-breed the quagga, after it had been established, using mitochondrial DNA obtained from museum specimens, that the quagga was closely related to the plains zebra , and on 20 January 2005 a foal considered to be the first quagga-like individual because of a visible reduced striping, was born. These quagga-like zebras are officially known as Rau quaggas, as no one can be certain that they are anything more than quagga look-alikes. The animal camp above Groote Schuur Hospital has several good looking Rau quaggas, but they are unfortunately not easily seen except from within
1339-421: A small population of these massive proteas can still be seen at Newlands forest. Historically this ecosystem supported a great many wild animals and there are at least 9 plant species which occur nowhere else in the world. This vegetation is severely threatened, mainly by invasive alien plants. A total of 13 of this ecosystem's plant species are classed as endangered , two of them critically . One local species,
1442-669: A somewhat lower elevation than the Table Mountain Plateau (at about 1,000 m or 3,300 ft), called the "Back Table". The "Back Table" extends southwards for approximately 6 km to the Constantia Nek - Hout Bay valley. The Atlantic side of the Back Table is known as the Twelve Apostles, which extends from Kloof Nek (the saddle between Table Mountain and Lion's Head ) to Hout Bay . The eastern side of this portion of
1545-412: A variety of ferns , herbs, bushes, bulbs , vines and lianas (e.g. Asparagus scandens , Rhoicissus tomentosa ). Though not as rich in biodiversity as the various types of Cape Fynbos, these woodlands still contain a wide variety of plants and animals, some of which occur nowhere else in the world. The Newlands Forest Nursery is engaged in a project to grow indigenous trees and plant them out, with
1648-452: A wide range of plants to be used in the centre islands of Cape Town's highways and public service areas. It has also recently begun a project to grow and reintroduce indigenous species of tree to Newlands Forest, with the long-term aim of rehabilitating the original afro-temperate forests. The Newlands Reservoir (see Map Image) was built in the 60's by the then Afrikaans Government. A tribute to South African engineering and construction of
1751-562: Is a conservancy area on the eastern slopes of Table Mountain , beside the suburb of Newlands, Cape Town , South Africa. It is owned and maintained by the Table Mountain National Parks Board, along with the City Parks Department of Cape Town, and includes a Fire Station, Nursery and Reservoir. The forest itself is a popular walking and jogging destination (See trail map below), close and easily accessible from
1854-474: Is a fire adapted vegetation, and providing fires are not too frequent, regular or intense, they are important drivers of fynbos diversity. Regular fires have dominated fynbos for at least the past 12 000 years largely as a result of human activity. In 1495 Vasco da Gama named the South African coastline Terra de Fume because of the smoke he saw from numerous fires. This was originally probably to maintain
1957-464: Is a popular and straightforward direct ascent to the summit. Par for the course is about 2.5 hours depending on fitness. This route is very hot in summer, as it is located on the north facing slope of the mountain, with almost no shade along the 600 m climb from Tafelberg Road to the Table Mountain plateau. Longer routes to the summit go via the Back Table, a lower area of Table Mountain south of
2060-507: Is also a policy in place to regularly "thin" the remaining plantations, in order that some other species can survive in between the pines. The original inhabitants of the area were the Khoi-khoi , who migrated and herded their cattle over much of what is now the city of Cape Town . Jan van Riebeeck (the first Dutch governor of the Cape Colony ) came across the extensive indigenous forests on
2163-421: Is also difficult to hear when not between vowels, so to foreign ears, it may sound like a longer but less raspy version of the contour clicks. Tindall notes that European learners almost invariably pronounce the lateral clicks by placing the tongue against the side teeth and that this articulation is "harsh and foreign to the native ear". The Namaqua instead cover the whole of the palate with the tongue and produce
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#17328375323462266-537: Is certain about the exact year or years) their numbers suddenly plummeted for unknown reasons. They used to cluster around the restaurant at the upper cable station, near areas where tourists discarded or (inadvisably) supplied food. The population crash of the dassies may have been responsible for the decline in the Verreaux's eagle population on the Peninsula , which is believed to have consisted of three breeding pairs during
2369-649: Is estimated that only around 167,000 speakers of Khoekhoe remain in Africa, which makes it an endangered language . In 2019, the University of Cape Town ran a series of short courses teaching the language, and 21 September 2020 launched its new Khoi and San Centre. An undergraduate degree programme is being planned to be rolled out in coming years. Modern scholars generally see three dialects: They are distinct enough that they might be considered two or three distinct languages. There are 5 vowel qualities, found as oral /i e
2472-478: Is incredibly vulnerable. A total of 23 of this ecosystem's plant species are officially threatened , 7 of which are classified as endangered . Newlands Forest lies in an area that used to naturally support large, dense, shady indigenous forests . Such forests proliferated on the Cape Peninsula in areas that were partially or totally protected from seasonal fires. Wherever fires are naturally more frequent,
2575-481: Is known as at present), which is highly resistant to erosion and forms characteristic steep grey crags. The 70-metre-thick (230 ft) lower layer, known as the "Graafwater Formation", consists of distinctively maroon-colored mudstones, which were laid down in much thinner horizontal strata than the Table Mountain Sandstone strata above it. The Graafwater rocks can best be seen just above the contour path on
2678-403: Is necessary, to keep these invasive trees contained within the plantations. In addition, the leaf-litter of pines and gums changes the pH of the surrounding soil, poisoning other plant life. The trees may have evolved this feature to kill competing plants, and it is so effective that pine or gum forests in southern Africa eventually turn into monocultures or "green deserts". Consequently, there
2781-492: Is possible on the Peninsula. Up until the late 1990s baboons lived on all the mountains of the Peninsula, including the Back Table immediately behind Table Mountain. Since then they have abandoned Table Mountain and the Back Table, and only occur south of Constantia Nek. They have also abandoned the tops of many of the mountains, in favor of the lower slopes, particularly when these were covered in pine plantations which seemed to provide them with more, or higher quality food than
2884-467: Is the level plateau approximately three kilometres (2 mi) from side to side, edged by steep cliffs. The plateau, flanked by Devil's Peak to the east and by Lion's Head to the west, forms a dramatic backdrop to Cape Town. This broad sweep of mountainous heights, together with Signal Hill , forms the natural amphitheatre of the City Bowl and Table Bay harbour. The highest point on Table Mountain
2987-507: Is the most widespread of the non- Bantu languages of Southern Africa that make heavy use of click consonants and therefore were formerly classified as Khoisan , a grouping now recognized as obsolete. It belongs to the Khoe language family , and is spoken in Namibia , Botswana , and South Africa primarily by three ethnic groups: Namakhoen , ǂNūkhoen , and Haiǁomkhoen . The Haiǁom, who had spoken
3090-488: Is the northernmost end of a 50-kilometre-long (30 mi) and roughly six-to-ten-kilometre-wide (4 to 6 mi) Cape Fold Mountain range that forms the backbone of the Cape Peninsula, stretching from the Cape of Good Hope in the south to Table Mountain and its flanking Devil's Peak (to the east) and Lion's Head and Signal Hill (to the west) in the north. Table Mountain forms the highest point of this range. The range runs parallel to
3193-439: Is towards the eastern end of the plateau and is marked by Maclear's Beacon , a stone cairn built in 1865 by Sir Thomas Maclear for trigonometrical survey. It is 1,086 metres (3,563 ft) above sea level, and about 19 metres (62 ft) higher than the cable station at the western end of the plateau. The cliffs of the main plateau are split by Platteklip Gorge ("Flat Stone Gorge"), which provides an easy and direct ascent to
Table Mountain - Misplaced Pages Continue
3296-510: The Devil and a local pirate called Van Hunks. When the table cloth is seen, it symbolizes the contest. Table Mountain is at the northern end of a sandstone mountain range that forms the spine of the Cape Peninsula that terminates approximately 50 kilometres (30 mi) to the south at the Cape of Good Hope and Cape Point . Immediately to the south of Table Mountain is a rugged "plateau" at
3399-564: The Table Mountain National Park , and part of the lands formerly ranged by Khoe-speaking clans, such as the !Uriǁʼaes (the "High Clan"). It is home to a large array of mostly endemic fauna and flora. Its top elevates about 1,000 m above the surrounding city, making the popular hike upwards on a large variety of different, often steep and rocky pathways a serious mountain tour which requires fitness , preparation and hiking equipment . The main feature of Table Mountain
3502-461: The Wynberg Conebush , is now extinct . This is actually a type of Cape Winelands Shale Fynbos , which is mainly found far to the east of Cape Town in the "Boland" region . The patch that occurs around Newlands Forest is a natural outlier, isolated in the middle of Cape Town. The soils are naturally poor and slightly acidic but the biodiversity is incredibly rich. The vegetation consists of
3605-509: The basement consisting of Cape Granite . Devil's Peak , Signal Hill, the City Bowl and much of the "Cape Flats", however, rest on heavily folded and altered phyllites and hornfelses known informally as the Malmesbury shales . The Cape Granite and Malmesbury shales form the lower, gentler slopes of the Table Mountain range on the Cape Peninsula. They are of late Precambrian age, pre-dating
3708-658: The fynbos on the mountain tops. However these new haunts are also within easy reach of Cape Town's suburbs, which brings them into conflict with humans and dogs, and the risk of traffic accidents. There are now (2014) a dozen troops on the Peninsula, varying in size from 7 to over 100 individuals, scattered on the mountains from the Constantiaberg to Cape Point. The baboon troops are the subject of intense research into their physiology, genetics social interactions and habits. In addition, their sleeping sites are noted each evening, so that monitors armed with paint ball guns can stay with
3811-676: The hash (#) in place of ǂ. Nama has a subject–object–verb word order, three nouns classes ( masculine/gu-class, feminine/di-class and neuter/n-class ) and three grammatical numbers ( singular, dual and plural ). Pronominal enclitics are used to mark person, gender, and number on the noun phrases . The PGN ( person - gender - number ) markers are enclitic pronouns that attach to noun phrases . The PGN markers distinguish first, second, and third person , masculine, feminine, and neuter gender , and singular, dual, and plural number . The PGN markers can be divided into nominative , object , and oblique paradigms. (PGN + i ) (PGN +
3914-598: The "Graafwater rocks" by at least 40 million years. The basement rocks are not nearly as resistant to weathering as the TMS, but significant outcrops of the Cape Granite are visible on the western side of Lion's Head, and elsewhere on the Peninsula (especially below Chapman's Peak Drive, and The Boulders near Simon's Town ). The weathered granite soil of the lower slopes of the Peninsula Mountain range are more fertile than
4017-543: The 2,285 species on the Peninsula 1,500 occur in the 57 km area comprising Table Mountain and the Back Table, a number at least a large as all the plant species in the whole of the United Kingdom. The Disa uniflora , despite its restricted range within the Western Cape , is relatively common in the perennially wet areas (waterfalls, streamlets and seeps) on Table Mountain and the Back Table, but hardly anywhere else on
4120-747: The Back Table, the Orange Kloof Tented Camp, the Slangkop Tented Camp and the Smitswinkel Tented Camp). These camps are "self-catering", each with communal ablution facilities, with large communal kitchen/lounge areas, fully equipped for 12 persons. SANPARKS arranges for luggage and provisions to be transported to the operational cottages and tented camps, so that the hikers can ascend the mountain unencumbered by heavy backpacks. The four Table Mountain Hoerikwaggo hiking trails were called
4223-534: The Block House is a popular route for bike riding. Plum Pudding Hill is the name of a very steep jeep track. Bike riders should follow the directional signs on display for mountain bike riders. Table Mountain is the only terrestrial feature to give its name to a constellation : Mensa , meaning The Table . The constellation is seen in the Southern Hemisphere , below Orion , around midnight in mid-July. It
Table Mountain - Misplaced Pages Continue
4326-483: The Cape Peninsula National Park. The park was later renamed to the Table Mountain National Park . Fires are common on the mountain. The most recent major fires include those of January 2006, which burned large amounts of vegetation and resulted in the death of a tourist (a charge of arson and culpable homicide was laid against a British man who was suspected of starting the blaze), and March 2015. There
4429-456: The Cape Peninsula were cleared of their indigenous vegetation types to make way for commercial logging, and these two species were imported and cultivated en masse to supply the Cape timber industry. These species were chosen for their fast growth, the quality of their wood and their straight uniform growth which made them easy to harvest. However, they rapidly spread and became invasive. When the logging
4532-534: The Cape Peninsula. It is a very showy orchid that blooms from January to March on the Table Mountain Sandstone regions of the mountain . Although they are quite widespread on the Back Table, the best (most certain, and close-up) place to view these beautiful blooms is in the "Aqueduct" off the Smuts Track, halfway between Skeleton Gorge and Maclear's Beacon. Remnant patches of indigenous forest persist in
4635-509: The Khoekhoe of the time had a velar lateral ejective affricate , [kʟ̝̊ʼ] , a common realisation or allophone of /kxʼ/ in languages with clicks. This sound no longer occurs in Khoekhoe but remains in its cousin Korana. The clicks are doubly articulated consonants . Each click consists of one of four primary articulations or "influxes" and one of five secondary articulation or "effluxes". The combination results in 20 phonemes. The aspiration on
4738-514: The King's Blockhouse, at the north-east corner of Devil's Peak , immediately below the Mowbray Ridge cliffs, to the front of Devil's Peak and the north face of Table Mountain, ending at the bottom of Kloof Corner Ridge at the western end of the Table Mountain cliffs. It starts at Constantia Nek at 250 m and climbs to around 320 m above Cecilia Park and Kirstenbosch, then climbs to 470 m to
4841-656: The King's blockhouse, Duke of York blockhouse ( later renamed Queen's blockhouse ) and the Prince of Wales blockhouse. Two of these are in ruins today, but the King's blockhouse is still in good condition. and easily accessible from the Rhodes Memorial . Between 1896 and 1907, five dams, the Woodhead, Hely-Hutchinson, De Villiers, Alexandria and Victoria reservoirs, were opened on the Back Table to supply Cape Town's water needs. A ropeway ascending from Camps Bay via Kasteelspoort ravine
4944-635: The Lower Cable Station. From there it is possible, from either contour path, to join up with the "Pipe Track" which starts from Kloof Nek, and then runs at an elevation of about 300 m, below the cliffs of the Twelve Apostles, on the Atlantic side of the mountain range as far as the Oudekraal Ravine, where the path goes up the ravine to join the "Apostles Path" on top of the Back Table at an elevation of 685 m. There are innumerable paths which join
5047-571: The Newlands base, running water dumps with three helicopters. The Fire Station also serves as the Headquarters of the growing Volunteer Wildfire Services (VWS) fire fighting group. The City Parks Nursery (see Map Image) is maintained and ran to supply the public areas of Cape Town with a wide range of flora. Including four large green houses and a large expanse of growing land, the City Parks team grow
5150-478: The Peninsula's mountain chain, extending from Devil's Peak , the eastern side of Table Mountain (Erica and Fernwood Buttresses), and the Back Table to Constantia Nek , does not have a single name, as on the western side. It is better known by the names of the conservation areas on its lower slopes: Groote Schuur Estate, Newlands Forest , Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens , Cecilia Park , and Constantia Nek . The upper approximately 600-metre (2,000 ft) portion of
5253-543: The People's Trail, Table Mountain Trail, Orangekloof Hiking Trail and Top to Tip Trail. Rock climbing on Table Mountain is a very popular pastime. There are well-documented climbing routes of varying degrees of difficulty up the many faces of the mountain. The main climbs are located on cliffs below the upper cable station. No bolting can be done here and only traditional climbing is allowed. Commercial groups also offer abseiling from
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#17328375323465356-724: The aim of eventually rehabilitating the original forests. The major threats come from invasive alien plants such as Australian Cheesewood , Bugweed , Black Wattle , Lantana , Privet and Pine trees. Indigenous afrotemperate forests such as those at Newlands have a significant socio-economic value, due to their use for recreation such as hiking, their role in preserving the Western Cape 's water supply, and their natural production of an enormous range of medicinal plants . In Newlands Forest, there are also 2 types of commercial plantation, Pines ( Pinus radiata , Pinus pinaster ) from Europe and America, and Gums ( Eucalyptus lehmannii ) from Australia. Over many decades, large swaths of
5459-399: The area was shot circa 1802. Leopards persisted on the mountains until perhaps the 1920s but are now extinct locally. Two smaller, secretive, nocturnal carnivores, the rooikat ( caracal ) and the vaalboskat (also called the vaalkat or Southern African wildcat ) were once common in the mountains and the mountain slopes. The rooikat continues to be seen on rare occasions by mountaineers but
5562-414: The aspirated clicks is often light but is 'raspier' than the aspirated nasal clicks, with a sound approaching the ch of Scottish loch . The glottalised clicks are clearly voiceless due to the hold before the release, and they are transcribed as simple voiceless clicks in the traditional orthography. The nasal component is not audible in initial position; the voiceless nasal component of the aspirated clicks
5665-467: The cable station was abandoned in 2006, leaving only the Noordhoek pair, which continued to fledge chicks reasonably regularly until 2013, at which point one member of the pair disappeared. From 2013 until January 2017 only a single Verreaux's Eagle, presumed to be a female, remained on the Peninsula. She continued to maintain the nest under Noordhoek Peak, but seemed unable to attract a mate. But in early 2017
5768-540: The city's southern suburbs. Due to its location on the mountain slopes, there are impressive views eastward over the Cape Flats . Newlands Forest lies at a natural transition zone between endangered Granite Fynbos and Peninsula Shale Fynbos , in an area that also originally supported large indigenous forests . In the late 1800s, much of the indigenous forests were felled, and the fynbos cleared, to make way for commercial pine plantations , which still remain and account for
5871-461: The consonants b d g are used for words with one of the lower tone melodies and p t k for one of the higher tone melodies; they are otherwise pronounced the same. W is only used between vowels, though it may be replaced with b or p according to tone. Overt tone marking is otherwise generally omitted. Nasal vowels are written with a circumflex. All nasal vowels are long, as in hû /hũ̀ṹ/ 'seven'. Long (double) vowels are otherwise written with
5974-525: The contour path from below (at least five from Kirstenbosch alone), and somewhat fewer that join it from above. On top of the mountain, and particularly on the Back Table, there is an extensive network of well marked hiking paths over a variety of terrains and distances and durations up to several hours or all day. Maps of all the routes are available at bookshops and outdoor recreation stores, which hikers are advised to use, as dense mist and cold weather (or extreme heat) can descend without warning at any time of
6077-538: The dams and they are no longer an important part of the water supply. Arguments for a national park on the Cape Peninsula, centred on Table Mountain, began in earnest in the mid-1930s. Following a big fire in 1986, the Cape Times started a 'save the mountain' campaign, and in 1989 the Cape Peninsula Protected Natural Environment (CPPNE) area was established. However, environmental management
6180-399: The eastern slopes of Table Mountain and called them collectively "Boschenheuwel" . Due to the need for timber, the local afro-temperate forests were, by the late seventeenth century, being severely over-exploited, and the colonial government issued a series of (largely ineffectual) laws to protect the forests. By the close of the eighteenth century most were gone, excepting a few pockets on
6283-456: The forests give way to various types of fynbos . However, the streams and kloofs of Newlands ensure that fires are relatively infrequent here. Several patches of indigenous forest survive at Newlands, mostly higher up the mountainside where historically they were safer from logging. Mature examples of this forest are dominated by several species of massive tree which compose the tallest canopy; smaller trees which form lower layers of foliage; and
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#17328375323466386-434: The form CV or CN, with any vowel or tone, where C may be any consonant but a click, and the latter cannot be NN. Suffixes and a third mora of a root, may have the form CV, CN, V, N, with any vowel or tone; there are also three C-only suffixes, -p 1m.sg, -ts 2m.sg, -s 2/3f.sg. There have been several orthographies used for Nama. A Khoekhoegowab dictionary (Haacke 2000) uses the modern standard. In standard orthography,
6489-406: The front of Table Mountain, and around Devils Peak . They can also been seen in the cutting along Chapman's Peak Drive. These rocks are believed to have originated in shallow tidal flats, in which a few Ordovician fossils, and fossil tracks have been preserved. The overlying TMS probably arose in deeper water, either as a result of subsidence, or a rise in the sea level. The Graafwater rocks rest on
6592-479: The game camp, which is quite large and undulating, and the animals are few. The animal camp is not open to the public. Prehistoric inhabitation of the district is well attested (see for example the article on Fish Hoek ). About 2000 years ago the Khoe -speaking peoples migrated towards the Cape Peninsula from the north. This countryside was before that occupied by nomadic !Ui speakers (who were foragers). The pastoralist influx brought herds of cattle and sheep into
6695-614: The lower slopes of Devil's Peak , above Groote Schuur Hospital an animal camp bequeathed to the City of Cape Town by Cecil John Rhodes has been used in recent years as part of the Quagga Project . The quagga used to roam the Cape Peninsula, the Karoo and the Free State in large numbers, but were hunted to extinction during the early 1800s. The last quagga died in an Amsterdam zoo in 1883. In 1987
6798-545: The main plateau which constitutes the flat summit of Table Mountain as seen from the north. From the Southern Suburbs side, the Nursery Ravine and Skeleton Gorge routes start at Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden . The route via Skeleton Gorge to Maclear's Beacon is known as Smuts Track in memory of Jan Smuts , who was a keen hiker. The Bridle Path, or Jeep Track, makes a more gradual ascent from Constantia Nek along
6901-439: The most stress. Subsequent syllables receive less and less stress and are spoken more and more quickly. Nama has 31 consonants: 20 clicks and only 11 non-clicks. Orthography in brackets. Between vowels, /p/ is pronounced [β] and /t/ is pronounced [ɾ] . The affricate series is strongly aspirated, and may be analysed phonemically as aspirated stops; in the related Korana they are [tʰ, kʰ] . Beach (1938) reported that
7004-460: The mountain. Table Mountain's vegetation types form part of the Cape Floral Region protected areas. These protected areas are a World Heritage Site , and an estimated 2,285 species of plants are confined to Table Mountain and the Cape Peninsula range, of which a great proportion, including many species of proteas , are endemic to these mountains and valleys and can be found nowhere else. Of
7107-611: The mountain. As an exotic species, they were almost eradicated through a culling programme initiated by the South African National Parks to make way for the reintroduction of indigenous klipspringers . Until recently there were also small numbers of fallow deer of European origin and sambar deer from southeast Asia. These were mainly in the Rhodes Memorial area but during the 1960s they could be found as far afield as Signal Hill. These animals may still be seen occasionally despite efforts to eliminate or relocate them. On
7210-456: The north, and the Atlantic seaboard to the west and south. The top cable station includes curio shops, a restaurant and walking trails of various lengths. The original cableway construction was awarded to Adolf Bleichert & Co. of Leipzig, Germany, in 1926 and the cableway opened on 4 October 1929. The cableway has been refurbished three times since its inauguration in 1929, with upgrades to
7313-407: The nutrient-poor soils derived from TMS. Most of the vineyards found on the Cape Peninsula are therefore found on these granitic slopes of the Table Mountain range. The mountain owes its table-top flatness to the fact that it is a syncline mountain, meaning that it was once the floor of a valley (see diagram on the right). The anticline , or highest point of the series of folds that Table Mountain
7416-517: The one-kilometre-high (0.62 mi) table-topped mountain, or mesa , consists of 450- to 510-million-year-old ( Ordovician ) rocks belonging to the two lowermost layers of the Cape Fold Mountains . The uppermost, and younger of the two layers, consists of extremely hard quartzitic sandstone , commonly referred to as " Table Mountain Sandstone " (TMS), or " Peninsula Formation Sandstone" (as it
7519-450: The other Cape Fold Mountain ranges on the mainland to the east. Table Mountain and the Back Table have an unusually rich biodiversity. Its vegetation consists predominantly of several different types of the unique and rich Cape fynbos . The main vegetation type is endangered Peninsula Sandstone Fynbos , but critically endangered Peninsula Granite Fynbos , Peninsula Shale Renosterveld and Afromontane forest occur in smaller portions on
7622-539: The period 1950-1990, with only two pairs, maximally, ever having been reported to fledge a chick each in any given year. With the commencement of formal monitoring in 1993, two breeding pairs were recorded on the Cape Peninsula Mountain Chain in 2004: one below the upper cable station at the western end of Table Mountain, in Blinkwater Ravine, the other on the cliffs below Noordhoek Peak. The nest near
7725-457: The proliferation of the larger Protea species, a rare local colony of which, the Aulax umbellata (Family: Proteaceae ), was wiped out on the Peninsula by more frequent fires, as have been the silky-haired pincushion, Leucospermum vestitum , the red sugarbush, Protea grandiceps and Burchell's sugarbush, Protea burchellii , although a stand of a dozen or so plants has recently been "rediscovered" in
7828-411: The rapid spread of these invasive alien trees. Other invasive plants include black wattle , blackwood, Port Jackson and rooikrans (All Australian members of the acacia family), as well as several Hakea species and bramble . The most common mammal on the mountain was the dassie (the South African name, from Afrikaans , pronounced "dussy"), or rock hyrax . Between about 2000 and 2004 (no one
7931-623: The reduced number of nasal vowels, nasal sequences are /ĩĩ ãã ũũ ãĩ [ə̃ĩ] ãũ [ə̃ũ] õã ũĩ/ . Sequences ending in a high vowel ( /ii uu ai au ui ĩĩ ũũ ãĩ ãũ ũĩ/ ) are pronounced more quickly than others ( /ee aa oo ae ao oa oe ãã õã/ ), more like diphthongs and long vowels than like vowel sequences in hiatus. The tones are realised as contours. CVCV words tend to have the same vowel sequences, though there are many exceptions. The two tones are also more distinct. Vowel-nasal sequences are restricted to non-front vowels: /am an om on um un/ . Their tones are also realised as contours. Grammatical particles have
8034-660: The region, which then formed part of a larger grazing land that was seasonally rotated. It was the !Uriǁʼaekua ("Highclansmen", often written in Dutch as Goringhaiqua ) who were the dominant local people when the Europeans first sailed into Table Bay. This clan is said to be the ancestral population of the !Ora nations of today (so-called "Korana" people). These original inhabitants of the area so-called " Khoekhoen ", called Table Mountain Huriǂ'oaxa – "ocean-emerging (mountain)". António de Saldanha
8137-529: The remainder of the land. This is an endangered vegetation type, which can still be found on the southern edges of Newlands Forest. This ecosystem is endemic to the city of Cape Town and occurs nowhere else in the world. Existing only on the Cape Granite Formation, it naturally assumes the form of medium-dense tree vegetation, dominated by a variety of Protea and daisy species. The striking and iconic Silvertree grows in this vegetation type and
8240-601: The road used to service the dams on Back Table. There are many other paths in popular walking areas on the lower slopes of the mountain accessed from Constantia Nek , Cecilia Park , Kirstenbosch , Newlands Forest and Rhodes Memorial . There are a number of ascents on the Atlantic side of the mountain, the most popular being Kasteelspoort, a ravine overlooking Camps Bay . There is a popular "Contour Path" that runs from Constantia Nek , and then, in succession, above Cecilia Park , Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens , Newlands Forest , and from there, above Groote Schuur Estate, past
8343-475: The saddle between Table Mountain and Devil's Peak. Some bulbs may similarly have become extinct as a result a too rapid sequence of fires. The fires that occur on the mountains today are still largely due to unregulated human activity. Fire frequency is therefore a matter of chance rather than conservation. Despite intensive conservation efforts the Table Mountain range has the highest concentration of threatened species of any continental area of equivalent size in
8446-455: The scree below the cliffs of Fernwood Buttress. It then descends to 350 m, only to ascend to 400 m 1 km later and remains on this contour until the King's Blockhouse, and from there, eventually, to Tafelberg Road (at 400 m). From the King's Blockhouse it is possible to choose a footpath that will lead to the "upper contour path" which traverses the front (north face) of Devil's Peak and Table Mountain at 500 m, to just beyond
8549-573: The sound "as far back in the palate as possible". Lexical root words consist of two or rarely three moras , in the form CVCV(C), CVV(C), or CVN(C). (The initial consonant is required.) The middle consonant may only be w r m n ( w is b~p and r is d~t ), while the final consonant (C) may only be p, s, ts . Each mora carries tone, but the second may only be high or medium, for six tone "melodies": HH, MH, LH, HM, MM, LM. Oral vowel sequences in CVV are /ii ee aa oo uu ai [əi] ae ao au [əu] oa oe ui/ . Due to
8652-418: The status of the vaalboskat is uncertain. The mountain cliffs are home to several raptors species, apart from the Verreaux's eagle. They include the jackal buzzard , booted eagle (in summer), African harrier-hawk , peregrine falcon and the rock kestrel . In 2014 there were four pairs of African fish eagles on the Peninsula, but they nest in trees generally as far away from human habitation and activity as
8755-442: The steep upper slopes of the mountain. As indigenous wood supplies declined, the authorities decided to clear the eastern slopes of Table Mountain for commercial plantations. Fast-growing tree species such as Eucalyptus and Pinus radiata were chosen, and imported for cultivation. These trees also had the advantage of being tall, uniform and straight – all the more suitable for efficient logging. The two World Wars each caused
8858-412: The summit and was the route taken by António de Saldanha on the first recorded ascent of the mountain in 1503. The flat top of the mountain is often covered by orographic clouds, formed when a southeasterly wind is directed up the mountain's slopes into colder air, where the moisture condenses to form the so-called "table cloth" of cloud. Legend attributes this phenomenon to a smoking contest between
8961-410: The summit. The gondolas rotate through 360 degrees during the ascent or descent, giving a panoramic view over the city. Hiking on Table Mountain is popular amongst locals and tourists, and a number of trails of varying difficulty are available. Because of the steep cliffs around the summit, direct ascents from the city side are limited. Platteklip Gorge, a prominent gorge up the centre of the main table,
9064-509: The time, it serves as the main potable water source of the Southern Suburbs of Cape Town. Water is stored, treated and distributed from this site. Also included in the conservancy land are a number of Council Houses owned by the City Parks Board. Of the eight houses, one is particularly well known for its classical design and scenic location. The original building, constructed in 1965, underwent minor alterations between 2000 and 2003. However
9167-410: The troop all day, to ward them off from wandering into the suburbs. From when this initiative was started in 2009 the number of baboons on the Peninsula has increased from 350 to 450, and the number of baboons killed or injured by residents has decreased. Himalayan tahrs , fugitive descendants of tahrs that escaped from Groote Schuur Zoo in 1936, used to be common on the less accessible upper parts of
9270-447: The upper and lower cable stations and enlarged gondolas. The first refurbishment occurred in 1958, the second in 1974, and the third and most significant reconstruction from 1996 to 1997, introducing a "Rotair" gondola manufactured by the Swiss company Garaventa AG – CWA ( Doppelmayr Garaventa Group ) which increased the capacity from 20 to 65 passengers per trip and provided a faster journey to
9373-539: The upper cable station. Most of the world's important caves occur in limestone but Table Mountain is unusual in having several large cave systems that have developed in sandstone. The biggest systems are the Wynberg Caves, located on the Back Table, not far from the Jeep Track, in ridges overlooking Orange Kloof and Hout Bay . The slopes of Table Mountain have many jeep tracks that allow mountain biking. The route to
9476-620: The very hard, lower layer of the TMS Formation . Originally this was topped by a thin glacial tillite layer, known as the Pakhuis Formation (see the diagram above, left), above which was the upper layer of TMS. Both these layers, but especially the tillite layer, are softer than the lower layer of Table Mountain Sandstone. When these softer layers eroded away, they left a very hard, flat erosion-resistant quartzitic sandstone platform behind which today forms Table Mountain's top. Table Mountain
9579-567: The wetter ravines. However, much of the indigenous forest was felled by the early European settlers for fuel for the lime kilns needed during the construction of the Castle . The exact extent of the original forests is unknown, though most of it was probably along the eastern slopes of Devil's Peak , Table Mountain and the Back Table where names such as Rondebosch, Kirstenbosch, Klassenbosch and Witteboomen survive (in Dutch "bosch" means forest; and "boomen" means trees). Hout Bay (in Dutch "hout" means wood)
9682-437: The world. The non-urban areas of the Cape Peninsula (mainly on the mountains and mountain slopes) have suffered particularly under a massive onslaught of invasive alien plants for well over a century, with perhaps the worst invader being the cluster pine , partly because it was planted in extensive commercial plantations along the eastern slopes of the mountains, north of Muizenberg. Considerable efforts have been made to control
9785-600: The year. The Hoerikwaggo Trails were four hiking trails on the Cape Peninsula Mountain Chain ranging from two to six days, operated by South African National Parks (SANPARKS) between the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront and Cape Point . Today (2017) the trails can no longer be undertaken with an official SANPARKS guide, and only four of the original accommodation facilities are operational (the Overseer's Cottage on
9888-683: Was a major fire in April 2021 that affected the Rhodes Memorial and the University of Cape Town . In November 2011, Table Mountain was named one of the New7Wonders of Nature . The Table Mountain Aerial Cableway takes passengers from the lower cable station on Tafelberg Road, about 302 metres (991 ft) above sea level, to the plateau at the top of the mountain, at 1,067 metres (3,501 ft). The upper cable station offers views overlooking Cape Town , Table Bay , Lion's Head and Robben Island to
9991-405: Was another source of timber and fuel as the name suggests. In the early 1900s commercial pine plantations were planted on these slopes all the way from the Constantiaberg to the front of Devil's Peak, and even on top of the mountains, but these have now been largely cleared allowing fynbos to flourish in the regions where the indigenous Afromontane forests have not survived, or never existed. Fynbos
10094-417: Was eventually stopped, the final crop of trees was allowed to remain un-harvested, and today forms an important recreational area for the inhabitants of the surrounding suburbs. Both the pines and the eucalyptus("gum") trees are Category 2 invasive weeds. They rapidly seed into the surrounding indigenous forests and fynbos , then gradually outgrow and kill these ecosystems. Consequently, on-going maintenance
10197-498: Was named by the French astronomer Nicolas de Lacaille during his stay at the Cape in the mid-18th century. Khoekhoe language Khoekhoe ( / ˈ k ɔɪ k ɔɪ / KOY -koy ; Khoekhoegowab , Khoekhoe pronunciation: [k͡xʰo̜͡ek͡xʰo̜͡egowab] ), also known by the ethnic terms Nama ( / ˈ n ɑː m ə / NAH -mə ; Namagowab ), Damara ( ǂNūkhoegowab ), or Nama/Damara and formerly as Hottentot ,
10300-549: Was once part of , lay to the east, but that has been weathered away, together with the underlying softer Malmesbury shale and granite basement, to form the "Cape Flats", the isthmus that connects the Cape Peninsula to the mainland. The fold mountains reappear as the Hottentots-Holland Mountain range on the mainland side of the Cape Flats. What has added to the mountain's table-top flatness is that it consists entirely of
10403-508: Was still bedeviled by the fragmented nature of land ownership on the Peninsula. Following another big fire in 1991, Attorney General Frank Kahn was appointed to reach consensus on a plan for rationalizing management of the CPPNE. In 1995, Prof. Brian Huntley recommended that SANParks be appointed to manage the CPPNE, with an agreement signed in April 1998 to transfer around 39,500 acres to SANParks. On 29 May 1998, then-president Nelson Mandela proclaimed
10506-566: Was the first European to land in Table Bay. He climbed the mighty mountain in 1503 and named it Taboa do Cabo ( Table of the Cape , in his native Portuguese ). The great cross that the Portuguese navigator carved into the rock of Lion's Head is still traceable. In 1796, during the British occupation of the Cape , Major-General Sir James Craig ordered three blockhouses to be built on Table Mountain:
10609-525: Was used to ferry materials and manpower (the anchor points at the old top station can still be seen). There is a well-preserved steam locomotive from this period housed in the Waterworks Museum at the top of the mountain near the Hely-Hutchinson dam. It had been used to haul materials for the dam across the flat top of the mountain. Cape Town's water requirements have since far outpaced the capacity of
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