Table Mountain History
Table Mountain is the iconic landmark that is the backdrop overlooking the city of Cape Town. Table Mountain is a mesa that stands about one kilometre high 1,087 metres. It is one of the oldest mountains in the world. The rocks that make up the mountain are approximately 600 million years old. Table Mountain itself is about 240 million years old. even older than the Alps, Andes, Rockies and the Himalayas. The mountain consists of 450- to 510-million-year-old (Ordovician) rocks belonging to the two lowermost layers of the Cape Fold Mountains. It was originally three to four times higher than it is today. However, millions of years of erosion have lowered the peaks.
The history of people and this mountain dates back 30,000 years. The Khoi and San people/Khoekhoe called it Huri ‡oaxa, or Hoerikwaggo “where the sea rises”. There is some evidence of Stone Age inhabitants. Hand axes and other tools were found in the Kirstenbosch Garden. The mountain was sacred for the Khoi and San people as they believed their god (Tsui or Goab) lived there.
First recorded climb
The first European to see the Cape in 1448 was Bartolomeu Dias. Vasco da Gama also paid a visit. The first recorded climb of the mountain was by the Portuguese navigator, Admiral Antonio de Saldanha in 1503. It was de Saldanha who gave the mountain its name, naming it Taboa da caba, meaning table of the cape. In Afrikaans the name is Tafelberg. Since then, many people from all around the world have climbed the mountain. the cable car first opened in 1929. Reaching the summit was made a whole lot easier. More than 22 million people have used the cable car which was renovated and reopened in 1997.
There are 8,200 plant species on the mountain slopes, of which around 80% are fynbos and are endemic to the mountain.
The plateau is often covered in orographic clouds. Locals call it the ‘Table cloth.
Gold rush hoax
In 1849 a wily shopkeeper displayed a nugget of gold that he claimed came from Table Mountain in his shop window. a gold rush followed with hopeful prospectors climbing Platteklip gorge. When they arrived they found the shopkeeper there with cooldrinks and food for sale. This was repeated for several days. No gold was found on Table Mountain. The nugget apparently came from Australia.
Table Mountain is the only natural site on Earth that has a constellation of stars named after it., French astronomer Nicolas Louis de Lacaille named a constellation after Table Mountain In the 18th century.
. The mountain gained national park status in 1998. In 2004 the Cape Floristic Region was declared as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In 2012, the mountain was named one of the New 7 Wonders of Nature.
