Table Mountain
Table Mountain, is one of Cape Town’s most famous landmarks. Rising above Cape Town’s skyline at 1084.6M tall, it is one of the most beautiful natural wonders of the world. The Khoi people called this mountain, “Hoerikwaggo” which means “the mountain of the sea.” This is the perfect name, because if you stand atop Table Mountain, there is almost nowhere you can look without seeing the sea.
When the iconic South Easterly wind blows over the mountain, you get cloud cover called the “Tablecloth.” There is a very well known story in Cape Town about the Tablecloth -they say that the Tablecloth happens because many many years ago, when the Dutch settlers came to Cape Town, one of them went up Devil's Peak to have a smoke. The devil himself came up to the settler and challenged him to a smoking competition. For many years this competition went on, and to this day it still is going on. So when the South Easter blows, it blows the smoke from Devil's Peak, over Table Mountain, forming the tablecloth.
Table Mountain has a very rich biodiversity, consisting predominantly of rich Cape Fynbos. There are an estimated 2,200 different species of plants on Table Mountain alone. This is possible, because of the Tablecloth. The Tablecloth is actually air that has been blown from the sea and has condensed over the mountain leaving behind almost twice the amount of water than would otherwise fall, creating a perfect environment for plant life to flourish.