Yesterday I hiked the Silvermine trail with Friends of Lion’s Head hiking club. The Silvermine trail has spectacular coastal and mountain scenery and a variety of flora, birds, and small-animals. We saw gorgeous blooming protea bushes.
Silvermine Nature Reserve is a very popular recreation area. It’s part of Table Mountain National Park and includes protected conservation extending from Ou Kaapse Weg (Old Cape Road) on the Tokai, Constantia side over the top of the mountain down to the Noordhoek and Fishhoek coastal areas. At the top you can see from False Bay south to Cape Point where the Indian and Atlantic oceans meet.
In addition to incredible hiking trails for every level of hiking, visitors enjoy mountain biking, bird watching, and a reservoir with a swimming area. The Muizenberg part of the reserve has abundant rock formations and sandstone caves great for rock climbing and spelunking.
From the top if you continue along Old Cape Road your reward is incredible views of Noordhoek. Continuing further down the mountain you meet beautiful white-sand beaches in Fishhoek, Muizenberg, Simonstown, and Cape Point. These coastal towns have a naval history, including the story of Just Nuisance, the famous Great Dane and only dog officially enlisted in the Royal Navy. The South African Naval College is in Gordon’s Bay, near Simonstown.
Saturday evening I enjoyed dinner with Allyson, a new friend and fellow volunteer at The Shine Centre, and her family. Her brother-in-law is visiting from Milan, Italy and he cooked a divine meal for eight of us! It was a fun evening. Allyson is from England. Her husband is doing business consulting in South Africa and they plan to live in Cape Town for several years. Their home is in Oranjezicht which is near my neighborhood in Tamboerskloof.
