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Five secret places to hike & see nature in Cape Town

Table Mountain, Boulders Beach and Cape Point are usually on everyone's must-do list when they visit Cape Town and why not? It's not every city in the world that has a giant mountain looming over it, let alone a penguin colony and a wild nature reserve where two oceans collide.


Trouble is, everyone else is on the same wavelength and these destinations can get hopelessly overcrowded: four-hour queues for the cable car and 'Car Park Full' signs everywhere. And don't get me started on the traffic to get into Cape Point on a sunny day in season.

So the trick is to go with someone who knows where to go and when to go. And most often, the 'where to go' won't be in your guide book.

"It's not the Mountain we conquer, but ourselves."

Edmund Hillary

HIKE THE BACK TABLE

Table Mountain's famous flat-top is just part of the mountain but there's a reason 99% of hikers choose one of the routes up there: it's where the cable car is. Fair enough, not everyone wants to walk down but you can expect dozens if not hundreds of other hikers on the way up and potentially long queues at the top for the cable car descent. Why not wave all that away and try a hike on the Back Table – still part of Table Mountain and just 20 minutes away. Now you have a choice of excellent hikes with stunning views, better flora and a tiny fraction of the other hikers. And the descent is via a concrete and gravel road – it couldn't be easier.



HIKE SILVERMINE NATURE RESERVE

Want an easier hike but still with panoramic views? The Silvermine Mountains are halfway down the Cape Peninsula, 30 minutes from Cape Town, and have excellent mountain hiking without all the huff and puff of up and downhill. It's a gentle meandering landscape with great views of both the Atlantic and Indian oceans, and the fynbos – the natural mountain vegetation – is exceptionally good. Most of the walking is on gravel roads – nice for groups and families to walk together – and you can choose between half and full day hikes.

BIRDWATCH STRANDFONTEIN SEWAGE WORKS

Wait! I'm not kidding: this is the best bird watching in the Western Cape. There's no walking involved – you watch birds from the comfort of a car – but the birdlife is truly phenomenal. Sit back and you'll see flocks of pink flamingos and giant pelicans flying in like bombers about to land; there are fish-eagles and marsh harriers, ravens and storks as well as dozens of different waders and wildfowl. Plenty of local specials too. The views are magnificent, the place is usually deserted and it barely smells at all: it's perfect for birding beginners or serious twitchers.

VISIT STONY POINT PENGUIN COLONY

Everyone loves penguins and everyone loves Boulders Beach Penguin colony outside Simons Town. Except in holiday season. Then there are long queues to get in, it's packed inside, and when it gets too much for the authorities, they close the place down for a few hours. Forget Boulders and head across the other side of False Bay and the Stony Point penguin colony. Far larger and much more impressive, this colony is also home to thousands of cormorants as well as plenty of 'dassies' – small furry mammals that resemble a guinea pig but are in fact related to elephants. And once you have had your fill of penguins, a five-minute drive takes you to the fabulous Harold Porter Botanical Gardens – a mini Kirstenbosch but without the crowds – while another 30 minutes takes you to Hermanus, the whale-watching capital of South Africa.

HIKE THE SHIPWRECK TRAIL

Cape Point is on everyone's bucket-list and although the views are good, you can be assured that everyone else has the same idea too. But Cape Point is really just the car park at the end of the road that runs through the Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve. A better idea is to explore the reserve a little more before you visit Cape Point. And if you want wildlife, beautiful scenery and lots of flowers on your walk, then The Shipwreck Trail has it all. It's easy hiking on wild beaches and you'll be on the lookout for antelope, baboons, tortoises and anything that might have washed up on the beaches – including old shipwrecks. It's especially good when the tide has drawn back to reveal rock pools full of treasure – shells, starfish and colourful sea anemones – and you'll barely see anyone else – even in the height of season.
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