Kirstenbosch Gardens, Skeleton Gorge, and the Boomslang

July 22, 2017

With my off day from work yesterday, I decided to do another hike, likely my last here in Cape Town, but my first up Skeleton Gorge. Skeleton Gorge is another trail up Table Mountain but on the opposite side from Platteklip Gorge, the one I have been doing, and it starts in the back of the Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens. Before starting the hike I wandered through the gardens for about an hour, just taking in the beauty. When I first walked in, the scenery reminded me of something out of Jurassic Park, but the cool thing was how much the environment changed in different areas. One section felt like a tropical jungle while another felt like a barren desert, and there was almost every terrain in-between. Table Mountain was the only constant, hovering over the entire gardens. I walked through the animal-friendly gardening section, the scented plants section, the endangered species section, and finally made my way up the hill in the back to the start of Skeleton Gorge.

The hike was much different than the previous ones I have done here, up Lion's Head or Platteklip Gorge on the south side of Table Mountain, and reminded me much more of a trail you would find in a place like Muir Woods. There were man-made log steps almost the entire way up (except for the waterfall part - more on that later), and the whole hike was in the shade of Table Mountain. It had rained the previous day, so the ground was damp and there was a creek running parallel to the trail.

Rocking the sweater tied around my waist Dad look

It was nice hiking alone, forging ahead at my own pace, and enjoying the quiet except for the bubbling sound of the creek and the occasional chirp of a bird. I didn't see another soul for about 40 minutes, when I ran into an elderly couple coming down. They showed me how far I had come and how far I had left to go on a trail guide app, but more importantly they warned me that just steps ahead the trail would seemingly disappear, when in fact it just merges with a waterfall. They also showed me the recommended return route, Nursery Ravine, so that I wouldn't have to slide down the waterfall coming back down. This advice was extremely helpful, and I was so fortunate to run into them when I did.

I made my way up the waterfall, which was running pretty strongly even in this drought Cape Town has been experiencing, and about 10 minutes later I had reached the top. I walked a little further to a dam, hidden on top of Table Mountain, which was absolutely stunning. I stayed for about 15 minutes, again just taking in the beauty and the peace and quiet, and then started making my way back down.

To go down Nursery Ravine, you actually have to go up first, to the peak of the mountain, along a barely-marked trail. I wasn't sure if I was going the right way, but I just kept going, and eventually found the trail. There were parts of Nursery Ravine that were still a bit nerve wracking, but it was much safer than going down Skeleton Gorge and it was nice to have a slight change in scenery. I have been feeling quite sick the last few days, so this is the first activity I have done in a while, and it felt so good to get moving and sweating again.

I slowly made way back to the entrance of the gardens, in a round-a-bout way stopping to see shiny Christmas trees (not the scientific name), cactus trees (again, not the scientific name), Van Riebeeck's Hedge (basically a tangled wild almond tree. Possibly the most climeable tree I've ever seen), and of course the Boomslang. A boomslang is a large African tree snake, and the Boomslang is a curving bridge that rises up from the ground and takes you through the tree canopy.