Table Mountain. Cape Town.
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| Table Mountain Cape Town - undeniably the biggest tourist attraction in South Africa. Table Mountain draws local holidaymakers as well as tourists from the Four Corners of the globe. The summit can be reached by trails or cable car, but mountaineers do it the hard way. |
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Tour Cape Town |
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| Table Mountain is a World heritage Site. The indigenous flora of the mountain encompasses some 1 470 species, including more than 500 species of erica and 100 species of iris. South Africa's national flower, the protea, is found in abundance on the slopes. | |||||||||
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On a clear day, the spectacular views from the summit (1 086 meters above sea level) stretch across the mountainous spine of the Cape Peninsula and far beyond Table Bay and Robben Island. The local name fynbos (delicate bush) describes the first impression of the natural vegetation of Table Mountain and southwestern Cape. But the name and superficial appearance of this treeless, evergreen shrub land reveals little about its botanical uniqueness. Closer inspection reveals and incredible diversity and beauty. |
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| Fynbos is a unique Plant Kingdom relative to the vegetation of the rest of Africa and the world. Some 8 550 individual plant species are found in an area of the Western Cape that represents only 0.04 percent of the earth’s surface. Nearly 6 000 of these species are endemic (found naturally only in the South Western Cape), as a result of which the fynbos region has earned the title of the "Cape Floral Kingdom" from the international botanical community. The Cape Peninsula alone has over 2 500 species – which is more than occurs in all of the British Isles. |
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From the Restios (reed-like plants) to the majestic show of Protea bushes, as well as over 100 heath species (Ericas) with their bell-like blossoms, Table Mountain and surrounds have on offer what is not available anywhere else in the world. The environment and ecology can be described as rugged, yet fragile at the same time. Rugged, because of the hot dry summers with howling winds. The prolonged winter storms lash the rocky mountainous terrain with its nutrient-poor and acid sandy soils, whilst fire has shaped the ecology of the vegetation since time immemorial. | ||||||||
| Fragile, because fynbos is easily
destroyed or radically altered by human activities. Large areas have
succumbed to the aggressive spread of exotic tree species. Many local
plant species are endangered to the point of extinction by plants imported
from places like Australia. These alien species include Port Jackson,
Black Wattle, Long-leafed Wattle, pine and rooikrans. Table Mountain and the Peninsula Mountains can be accessed via numerous hiking trails, many open free to the public. Short hikes can take you into the splendor of Fynbos, where numerous species flower at any time of year. |
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Springtime (September and October) sees a peak in flowering, but the diversity in structure, color and texture delights the eye, no matter what time of the year. A myriad of interesting insects, reptiles, small mammals and birds also inhabit this floral wonderland, including Lynx, Grysbok, Bontebok, porcupines, dassies, Eland, baboon, mongoose, Genet, tortoise, insects and amphibians. Bird lovers can look out for orange-breasted and malachite sunbirds; cape sugarbirds; rock kestrels; ground woodpeckers; kites; buzzards and the Black Eagle. |
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| We urge visitors to respect our indigenous flora and prevent damage, and to support the eradication of exotic plant species that threaten the Fynbos. |  |
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Tour Cape Town |
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| Text:
http://www.cmma.co.za Picture: http://www.sa-venues |
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Where to go? |
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Contact:
info@sunsetbeach.co.za |
Janthina |
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Siffie for Beach Hotel Rates | ||||||||
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