Table Mountain has always been a tricky place for me to wrap my head around. On the one side the function of nature reserves and (maybe more so) national parks is to a) protect our fragile biodiversity and b) do so in a way that the people can benefit from this too. On the other hand, when I go climb a mountain I do so to get away from fast-paced and claustraphobic feel of daily life. This is very easy to find in the Boland or the Outeniquas, but not so easy in Cape Town. Table Mountain is thus a juxtapostition of these ideas and I have stuggled to find my place in this. Luckily the Twelve Apostles side of Table Mountain has shed some light on the solitude and beauty that this national park can provide.

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