Table Mountain... a Landscape Far Away

Cape Town, but probably not a view of it that you have seen before. After an overnight British Airways flight in cramped seats, we wanted to go for a walk. We decided to go up to the Noon Gun along the Military Road. My husband had been there ten years ago on his first visit here on a business trip.

We walked up an unlikely track which came to an abrupt end and realised that we had found the Old Military Road (not quite the same thing). We found ourselves in a compound of huts which appeared to be a youth art project. The youths didn't pay any attention to us, but an old white man did. He advised us that we were in the wrong place and asked one of his lads to escort us via a "shortcut" to the correct road. This involved going through a gap in a razor wire fence, into a rain ditch, and into a shanty town, past a small group singing and dancing around a radio, and then through another gap in a fence to a proper tarmaced road, where we found a sign which said that this was an illegal housing development under investigation by the authorities. We had at last found the right way, so we toiled up the hill in the 32 degree heat which  - to continue the surrealism - fringed the firing range of the Cape Town Pistol Club providing volleys of shots to accompany us. Inevitably, having reached the top we came to a gate that was firmly closed and a sign saying that visitor hours were from 09.00 to 13.00 on Saturdays (all day on weekdays).

So we took our dripping selves back to the hotel, made a pot of tea and sat out on the terrace to reflect on the oddity of things....

At least we have a story to tell, I got a good Blip (which tells its own story here https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharpeville_massacre), and we got back to the hotel in one piece. And it was only after we were back that my husband told me that he didn't want to say anything at the time, but asked if I had noticed the pistol in the old man's hand (I hadn't!). The old man had been friendly enough, and even invited us to stay for "the performance", though what that was I daren't think, given some of the art on display (e.g. a heap of stuffed adult life size dolls).

Probably not the most advisable way to spend a first afternoon in this country (I blame the lack of sleep for befuddling our brains ;)). The rest of the holiday is likely to be much more sedate!

PS you can see the concrete base of the cable car which goes up Table Mountain, and it's upper level stuck precariously on top of a crumbly looking cliff. We are going up there the day after tomorrow. Anyaway, another possibility for this week's challenge 'LANDSCAPES.