SMOKING CONTEST WITH THE DEVIL, TABLE MOUNTAIN SOUTH AFRICA [EN/PL]

Its name given by indigenous Khoisan people is Hoerikwaggo – “Mountain in the Sea”, with the evidence tracing back to the Stone Age the history of the mountain is roughly 30 000 years.

Overlooking the city of Cape Town in South Africa, Table Mountain is a flat-topped, level plateau approximately 3 kilometres, with impressive cliffs on both sides, Devil’s Peak to the east and Lion’s Head to the west. It is a part of the Table Mountain National Park. The eastern end of the plateau is the highest point and is marked by a stone cairn. It has been built in 1865 by Sir Thomas Maclear. The Maclear’s Beacon is situated 1,086 metres above sea level. At the western end of the plateau runs a cable car that is approximately 19 m lower.

On the south part of the mountain, at a lower plateau is the Back Table. The Atlantic coast part is known as the Twelve Apostles, continuing southwards to Cape Point and forming a spine of the Cape Peninsula.

In summer, the South Easter winds blow in the city and the weather changes very quickly. Table Mountain’s plateau is often coated by orographic lift which is called “Table cloth”. It is formed, when the cold Atlantic air mass meets warm Indian Ocean air mass - forcing up from a low to a higher elevation, cooling down it raises its humidity and forms the clouds.

Table Mountain is flanked on the east by the legendary Devil's Peak. As the story goes, Van Hunks, a pirate in the early 18th century, retired from his eventful life at sea to live on the slopes of Devil's Peak. He spent his days sitting on the mountain, smoking his pipe. One day a stranger approached him, and a smoking contest ensued which lasted for days. The smoke clouds built up and a strong wind blew them down towards the town. When Van Hunks finally won the contest, the stranger revealed himself to be the Devil (hence Devil's Peak), and the two disappeared in a puff of smoke. Legend says that the cloud of smoke they left became Table Mountain's tablecloth - the famous white cloud that spills over the mountain when the south-easter blows in summer. http://www.cape-town.info/pages/attractions/table-mountain.php

Laid down as sediments in a rift valley, The Cape Supergroup rocks started developing in southern Gondwana, a supercontinent - largest continental landmass on Earth in the Cambrian-Ordovician periods around 510 million years ago. In a result of Falkland Plateau drifting back towards Africa, the closing of a rift valley begun. The rucking created series of parallel folds. The foundation for most of the Table Mountain Chain is Cape Granite, around 540 million years old. Table Mountain Group, consist of additional three layers that are 520 million years old. Around 25m-65m thick layer of sandstone and mudstone called The Graafwater formation. Around 700m thick layer of lightly pink pebbly sandstones is a bulk of the mountain and it is The Peninsula Formation. On the top, glacially deposited pebbles of sandstone- The Pakhuis Formation.

In May 1503 Admiral Antonio de Saldanha, Portuguese Navigator was the first person to officially climb the Table Mountain. Recorded climb to the top was via the Platteklip Gorge. The cableway was opened in 1929 and extensively upgraded in 1997, to be able to carry up to 65 instead of 25 passengers. It rotates, giving a panoramic 360 degrees’ view on the journey to the summit and on the way down.

Table Mountain is home to an 8200 plant species and is the part of the Cape Floral Kingdom, Natural World Heritage Site which is the richest and the smallest of the six, occurring on our planet. Fynbos is around 80% of it. Many plants occurring here are found nowhere else on earth -they are endemic. In the wetter ravines persist the remains of the indigenous forest, although most of it was felled by first European settlers.

Dassies are the most common mammals on the mountain, but Cape Peninsula was once populated by much larger mammals such as leopard, hyena and lion, unfortunately no more, due to the hunting and degradation of environment. One can spot Chacma Baboons, small catlike mammal-genets, porcupines, recently reintroduced Klipspringer -a tiny antelope species and Cape Mountain Zebras. Reptiles and amphibians, 22 species of snakes such as the lazy Puff Adder, Cape Cobra, Berg Adder, Boomslang and Rinkhals. Most of them are shy and avoid human contact. Table Mountain Ghost Frog which is endangered and endemic to this region. The list of birds is also a large and impressive one.

Table Mountain is also listed in the The New 7 Wonders of nature initiative.