Pink perfection on the slopes of Table Mountain

After Friday's heat on Signal Hill, the forecast of a drop of rain over Table Mountain today was a welcome relief, even though it didn't happen! A cool breeze from the north west helped prevent heat exhaustion as we staggered from the Kloof Nek car park pretty much directly up the very high steps of the path to the beacon overlooking Camps Bay, on the right-hand side of Table Mountain. This is not a climb for those who do not enjoy steep uphills (probably most of us), but is preferable to ending a long hike on an ascent. The last time we did this walk, we started at the end of Tafelberg Road, going up the zigzag to join the contour path and head towards the cable station. The good thing about today's hike was that we knew, once we had conquered the initial climb, it would be flat and downhill for the rest of the way. A strong wind was blowing on the Camps Bay side and only a few of us ventured past the beacon to admire the awesome view - the fruits of our considerable labour. (I must point out here that we were overtaken by a number of young people who were actually running up!)
The very narrow contour path, with its steep drop on the left, requires meticulous attention to foot placement, with many loose rocks, sandy surfaces making it dangerously slippery in places, and high ledges to be negotiated, and so we stopped more than we would normally, just to take in our surroundings - admiring the soaring cliff faces, watching the cable cars slip silently above us, gazing into the far distant hinterland - and also to let faster young hikers overtake us, hell-bent on reaching the top of Table Mountain before lunch.
Today was another first for me on a hike - I measured my length on this rocky path and found it to be 5'2". Despite using a hiking stick for stability, with my ears still being blocked my balance could be better, and somehow I got a loop from one bootlace caught in the eyelet of the other boot - something you couldn't do if you were offered a million dollars - and of course with both feet tied together there was only one way to go! Fortunately I fell flat on my face to the right into a tussock of grass and not to the left, where I would have ended up far further down the mountain than I might have liked!
The cloud cover meant high humidity and there was more water trickling down my neck than in the two remaining waterfalls that are in evidence at this time of year, and a break in the clouds towards the end of the walk turned up the heat just as we reached the zigzag down to the cars. We took our time here, as the most spectacular mass display of watsonia borbonica lay before us. On our last visit, the area had recently been burned and the bare mountainside was just starting to recover. Tufts of leaves had emerged like dots on a Dalmatian, looking as though a keen gardener had been at work laying out a formal garden. These corms thrive after a fire and the evidence was there in breathtaking pink, head high as far as the eye could see. The photos give a fair idea, but a short walk from the road below is highly recommended to experience it for yourself.