Elephants Eye as viewed from the
paths below. |
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Back in the country of my
birth for the first time in four years, I could not resist a walk
from my Cape Town home village of Tokai, along a route well known in
the area, which I had frequented on more occasions than I care to
remember. Tokai, named after Tokaj, a range of hills in
Hungary, was originally an open area with various wine farms and
smallholdings. Today, though most of the wine farms are no longer
there, there are still a few old Cape Dutch houses like those found
in Constantia. The suburb was built in the late 1940s, and was built
quickly because of the urgent need for housing for predominantly
white, English-speaking South African soldiers returning from World
War II. |
View from the path towards Ou Kaapse
Weg as it heads up towards Silvermine Nature Reserve, with False Bay
beyond. |
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Taken from the fire prevention
lookout, Vlakkenberg reaches across from Elephants Eye to Constantia
Corner. |
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Beyond Vlakkenberg, the path from
Constantia Nek is clearly visible, with Kirstenbosch Gardens and finally
Devils Peak just visible below the cloudline. |
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Having contacted an
ex-colleague of mine, Kobus Botha, from the days when we both plied
our trade at Plessey Tellumat, we agreed to meet up for a walk to
Elephants Eye, a cave on the Constantia side of Table Mountain, just
below Constantiaberg. The route starts out from the Tokai Forest
Arboretum, zigzagging up the hillside across several plantation
service roads, eventually making its way towards a junction on the
edge of Silvermine Nature Reserve, where one has the option of
heading south towards False Bay and the reserve or alternatively,
taking a short walk via the fire prevention lookout to Elephant's
Eye. It's by no means an extensive walk, in the region of some 6 km,
however it is worth it in terms of quick access to Table Mountain's
fynbos and the incredible views across False Bay as well as north
across Constantia, towards Devils Peak. |
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Tokai Forest Arboretum lies but
a short drive up Tokai Road, just after Tokai Manor House. The farm
was originally granted to Johan Rauch in 1792, Within two months,
had sold it on to Andries Teubes, who probably built its manor in
1795-96 according to a design by Thibault. The gable is generally
considered to be one of the earliest usages in the Cape of a
rectangular pediment. The cost of building this house must have
ruined Teubes, for he declared bankruptcy in 1799, and after a
series of owners, the property was purchased by Petrus Eksteen in
1802. In 1883 the farm with its buildings was acquired by the
colonial government who, for a time, used it as a reformatory. It
underwent extensive restoration in the 1960s, and was declared a
National Monument under old NMC legislation on 8 September 1961.
The Arboretum was laid out in
1885 by Joseph Storr Lister, Conservator of Forests of the western
conservancy of the Cape Colony, thus marking the beginnings of a
forestry industry in South Africa. The rationale was to test which
trees from other parts of the world would grow well in this
location. Hundreds of species are represented here, some of the
individual trees being very old. The Arboretum is well known amongst
botanists, horticulturalists and sylviculturalists, on account of
the large variety of indigenous trees also grown here. It was
declared a National Monument under old National Monuments Council
legislation on 9 August 1985. |
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Tokai Forest & Groot Constantia
(below Vlakkenberg), Constantia Corner & Devils Peak. |
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Ex-colleague Kobus enjoying the walk
as much as I did. |
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A further note on wikipedia
refers to Constantiaberg,a large, whalebacked mountain that
forms part of the mountainous spine of the Cape Peninsula in Table
Mountain National Park. It lies about 7 km south of Table Mountain,
on the southern side of Constantia Nek. The mountain is 927 m high
and was probably first climbed in prehistoric times by the Bushmen.
It is not known who first ascended the peak in modern times.
Constantiaberg, Devil's Peak and
Table Mountain are the highest mountains in the range that stretches
from Table Mountain all the way to Cape Point. The range, made up of
resistant sandstones of the Table Mountain Group, dominates the
southern suburbs of the city on the verge of the Cape Flats.
The lower eastern slopes of
Constantiaberg are covered by the commercial pine and gum
plantations of Tokai forest, and are crisscrossed with hiking trails
and gravel roads that are used for harvesting the trees. The forest
is popular for walking, running and mountain biking.
The western slopes of the mountain overlook the magnificent scenery
of Hout Bay.
A tarred road leads to the
summit of Constantiaberg, where an important VHF mast is located
34°03′17.78″S 18°23′10.77″E. The mast is about 100 m high and is
visible for perhaps 80 kilometers in any direction. It was
constructed in the 1960s and is used to transmit signals for many
local television and radio channels, and also to support cellular
networks. The South African Weather Bureau has a radar installation
at the summit.
Constantiaberg is home to a
variety of bird and plant species. The mountain is covered mainly by
fynbos, a botanical biome native to the Western Cape. The specific
vegetation type of the mountain is Peninsula Sandstone Fynbos, an
endangered vegetation type that is endemic to the city of Cape Town
- occurring nowhere else in the world. |
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Views from the final approach to
Elephants Eye, looking across towards Silvermine Reserve - the fire
prevention lookout can be seen to the left. |
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Tokai Forest and Silvermine
are home to numerous activities of a sporting or recreational
nature, not least mountain biking. I have on occasions ridden some
of the routes, though mountain bikers were originally not permitted
to use the facility. Unfortunately, rather than adhering to
designated routes, some bikers violate the rules at will. We were
almost run over by a group of cyclists making their way down the
Elephant's Eye path, a route strictly out of bounds to this
activity, with no apology offered. Kobus and I explored the cave,
upon reaching Elephant's Eye. Contrary to remarks regarding the cave
itself from the tour guide who had led a small group of Scandanavian
hikers to this cavern, it turned out to be clean and devoid of any
litter, I had brought along a flask of tea and if ever there was a
setting suitable for enjoying a relaxing moment and a cuppa, this
was it! We had both brought along some rusks.
At this point I digress!
In India, Pakistan and South
Africa, rusk is a traditional dried bread (also "Khasta" in Hindi,
and beskuit in Afrikaans) that is eaten after having been
dipped in coffee, tea, or rooibos tea. Historically, rusks evolved
(along with biltong) during the latter country's early pioneering
days as a way to preserve bread in the dry climate. Traditionally
baked at home using a favourite bread recipe that is then dried
under low heat, there are now several mass-market versions
available, the most famous probably being Ouma Rusks ("aunt's
rusks"). Many bakeries, delis and home industries sell them, often
using more exotic ingredients than their mass-market counterparts.
In addition to plain and buttermilk flavours, there are aniseed,
wholewheat, condensed milk, muesli, and lemon poppyseed versions. |
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The Lister’s Place tea room
is located in the Tokai Arboretum in the Table Mountain National
Park (TMNP) and falls under the authority of South African National
Parks (SANParks). We retraced our steps down the same route we had
earlier ascended. Upon our return to the Arboretum car park, Kobus
kindly suggested that we indulge ourselves with a large slice of
cake, the choice of which being the hardest decision to make. We
discussed work opportunities in South Africa, former colleagues and
mutual acquaintances and made a valiant yet unresolved attempt at
how we might strive for an early retirement. to allow time to enjoy
more of the kind of activity we had just indulged in that day. |
Views within Elephants Eye cave. |
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[Home
Page]
Table Mountain Walk Dec Plateau 2011
[1] [2]
Table Mountain Walk Tokai Dec 2011
Table Mountain Walk Hout Bay Jan 2012
[1] [2]
[South
African adventures]
Table Mountain Walks -
webpage
Tokai Forest Birding - Southern African Birding
website
Tokai Forest and Arboretum - Open Green Map
webpage
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