The day I have dreaded the most is finally here!!

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A month or so before the trip we figured out that the cable car for table mountain was closed so we had to hike up 3,500 feet. I am not the fittest person in the world (and nor is Leslie) so of course I am not thrilled by the fact that we have to go a super long hike.

Before the trip we looked for a guide and he asked our fitness level from a scale from 0-10, 0 being a person who can't walk! I decided I was a 3!!!! Jajajajaja then he got really worried about wether or not I was going to be able to make it... I changed my number to a 5!

So here i am at 5:45 am very nervous about how the whole day will play out! Leslie and I had to find some inspiration to make it to the top of table mountain so I said "the hike is only 6 hours! Grad school was 3 years!!" We both laughed, she got up and I wrote these couple of lines...

THE HIKE!!!!

May, Leslie, and I decided on taking the "non tourist" way up the hill and picked the "Indian Venster" trail which happened to be very hard!

We met our guide, Warren, and another tour member, Mark, at 7:30am at the bottom of the cable and we hiked up. To be honest it looked nearly impossible to hike all the way up! I made sure to tell the guide that I was a "slowly but surely kind of hiker" and that I might need a little pushing.

The amazing thing about the hike was that I did not need any pushing whatsoever! I pushed myself to go places I never thought I could go. I did not have a breathing freak out like in the dunes or negatives thoughts such as "u can't do it" or "this is too hard!" I believe that a big factor was that I was with May and Leslie and felt secure that if I needed to stop they would agree. Plus, Warren was very friendly and embraced breaks :-)

Also, it really really helped that I had been "in training" for 3 weeks with the dunes and everything in between. It was amazing how much more confidence I had in this hike compared to previous hikes despite how terrified I was feeling in the morning.

I believe warren tricked us during the whole hike, after an hour or so he said "we just passed the hardest part of the hike" but I believe he was playing some mental games with us.

Here is the spot when he said it... Overlooking Cape Town :-)

... Going strong...

This hike has been hands down the most challenging thing I have ever done in my whole entire life! I kept pushing myself and somehow managed to be the one to go in the front, at times I found myself wondering where the "path" was and it got to a point that I had to stop and wait for Warren and I said "I have no idea where to go! It looks like it ends" and he responded "Wait for me ANDREAS! We will climb up those rocks!" I think my face dropped! It did not look like a rock I could climb! It looked like a rock that said "this is the end! Stop and turn around! Have a nice day!!!!!" But I was so wrong! And he was such a liar!!! The going up hill has been a breeze compared to climbing those huge rocks (If you know me You know that the only thing I ever climb on is my bed!!) but there was nothing I could do but to keep on going so I said "ok!" And kept going!!

From the beginning we knew there was going to be some "scrambling" and places we would need to use our hands to move around but never ever ever in a million years I thought I would be up in a mountain hiking and doing it with such ease and happiness! It was an adventure to say the least! And I was impressed how much I enjoyed the very challenging hike :-)

The views were AMAZING!!! as always... No words to describe it so I will share the pictures :-)

Overlooking Lion's head :-)

Water stop... It tasted so good :-)

Looks like Mark is thirsty!

Yeap... I did that too!!!! I can't even believe it!!!!!

... Nor up!

After we passed the most dangerous zones warren told us that the trail we hiked was the one where most people die!!!!!!! Can you imagine that?!?!? If he told me people have died in that trail I think I would have had a harder time agreeing to the hike!

I believe that one of the things what made the hike so "easy" was the fact that we were having a lot of fun. The tour guide showed us vegetation, we smelled flowers on our way up, we took little breaks, we encouraged each other to keep going... At the end it was a lot of fun. The funniest part was Warren changing our names I was "andreaS", Leslie was "Les", and may was "Joy"! Jajajajaja we think Warren has done too many recreational drugs! Jajaja it makes it even funnier the fact that he asked me my name and he kept calling me Andreas!

I remember looking up and asking warren if we were going to climb all the way "up there" (pointing at the cable car) and he said "no, we are just going around!" And I said "great! That looks too high!" And guess what?!?! He was lying!!!! We did climb up all the way THERE!!!!

After 4.5 hours going up hill we made it!!!! Here we are extremely happy at the top of table mountain!!!

There are no words to explain the feelings of accomplishment and amazement I got once we reached the top I kept saying "congratulations, we did it!" And I felt like telling everybody "we hiked the hard way... Losers!" Jajajajaja

Here is our group :-) ... Mark covered by plants! Jajaja and Warren all the way in the back!

We were all fun and smiles at the top but everything that goes up... Must come down!!!

So we came down the "tourist" way which was a steep zigzag of huge rocks with no views! If we thought the way up was hard this was even harder!!! It was full of people, very steep, and required a great deal of concentration not to fall! Also, I believe it was harder on everybody's body! By then legs started to jiggle and cramp and everything started hurting.

Finally after almost 8 hours we reached the bottom... I was the first one! I've never been the first one at anything physical so it was kind of a little accomplishment! i gave myself a little pat on the back! Jajaja once the hike ended I felt a great deal of energy! It felt as if I could keep on going!

The day couldn't have been more perfect.. It was sunny, super clear, very very nice weather! We were super lucky. If you ever come to Cape Town you know that you have to drop all your plans if you have a sunny day and go to table mountain! It worked out perfectly that the day that we booked our guided hike God sent us the most perfect weather for it!!!! You see... My angels send me whatever I need ;-)

May's highlight of the day was turning around after a steep scramble to drink in the view and enjoy the beautiful day. Remembering those moments makes the pain in the knees melt away. We were so lucky with the weather, as Table Mountain was shrouded in fog for the rest our time in Cape Town!

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Andrea

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