Hiking to the top of South Africa

I truly felt like I could see all of South Africa. Anywhere I've visited since living in this country, I tried to find, but everything looked so tiny. An odd quietness overcame Anna, Jenni and I when we finally reached the top. I could barely believe that we made it to the top. My legs hurt and I felt tired, but the spectacular view made those feelings temporarily disappear. We finally made it to the top of Devil's Peak.


The hike took us seven hours round-trip, which including a brief lunch and photo break at the top. On the way up, we made a couple stops to take photos and regain our breath. During parts of the hike we wacked away bushes and spiky plants and climbed vertical rocks knowing that one clumsy move would result in a steep tumble down the mountain. Had it not been a perfectly clear and sunny day, the hike would have been terrifying. My legs were a bit scratched and my legs, and whole body, were sore for two to three days after, but I could not have been more happy about my pain. 


Knowing that it would be impossible to visit every inch of Cape Town while here, I can now say that I've truly seen all of Cape Town.

This is just the beginning. The peak on the left is Devil's Peak, and so far away.

The only way to get through was to clear our own path and suffer a couple of scratches.

We hadn't been hiking for that long when we reached this point to stop and take a photo through the trees.

From this point, we still had about an hour of hiking until we reached the top. The island in the distance is Robben Island.

The red conglomerate of buildings in the bottom of the photo is the University of Cape Town campus.

Jenni, Anna and I at the top overlooking downtown Cape Town and the World Cup stadium in Green Point.