The magical Table Mountain Cableway sunset
As the end of summer creeps up on us, we start to get that (slightly frantic) urge to make every daylight hour count. For me, the epitome of this was a trip up our very own New Seven Wonders of Nature as a casual evening jaunt after my workday. It’s a crazy city we live in…
Table Mountain Cableway’s summer Sunset Special lets you catch an early evening cable car up the mountain, spend some time soaking up the sunset from the top, and then cruise down later in the evening when the city lights are in full swing.
When we reached the top, we bee-lined for a remote spot and plonked ourselves on a rock overlooking the Atlantic Seaboard, with Camps Bay below us and the coastal road to Hout Bay snaking off into the distance. Framing our immediate view to the left was a beautiful, flame-red Table Mountain Watsonia and on our right, a tiny sunbird flitting in the fynbos. How lucky we felt. The air was warm, not a breath of wind, and the sun set slowly over the sea until the layered rocky ridges merged into one silhouette and an island of Camps Bay lights began to twinkle between the mountain and the sea.
A few tips for your mission:
- Buy your return tickets in advance – the queue to buy tickets at the cableway is extraordinarily long! If you’ve bought your tickets beforehand, the wait is relatively insignificant, depending on the day, conditions etc.
- Thanks to the Sunset Special, tickets are half-price at R120 return, per adult. This special ends 29 Feb so get up there while it lasts!
- Once you’re up there, make sure you walk a little bit further to escape the crowds. Although it may not seem like it, there are some secluded spots to be found. Stay on the Western side as it’s perfectly aligned with a view of the sunset (as opposed to the Northern side which overlooks Table Bay and loses the sun early on in the evening).
- Take your own picnic! Then you can maximise your time up there by avoiding the shops and people altogether.
- To check weather conditions, if the cableway is running, and ‘last up’ and ‘last down’, check the live cableway update here.
