Lion’s Head

This is a great hike and semi challenging climb in Cape Town. On the way up this beautiful mountain, you will get a panoramic view of the picturesque city of Cape Town, from Camps Bay to Clifton Beaches. The windy mountainous trail eventually gives out to straight up rock climbing about half way through, and the adventure begins.

One part of the rock climbing is called ‘the chains’ and you literally climb up chains and metal pegs imbedded in rock way up above the city; slightly terrifying. So, I opted out of this chain climb on the way up and took a more scenic, less risky path up to the top. Once you get close to the top, there are some challenging rocky steps (more like boulders) up to the very top.

The top is so worth it, the views are amazing and I am glad I went all the way, even though I wanted to stop at the platform before the last climb. A misstep on this step climb would be disastrous. After taking in the lovely views from the top, posing for a couple of epic pictures, we headed back down the jagged rocks for the descent, meeting camera crews (crazy) on the way down, and a lovely South Africa man named Bo who told us about the unequal distribution of wealth in Cape Town.

This time the chains were unavoidable- I missed the path of less resistance and had to climb down the chains looking down at the thousands of feet below. I survived, but didn’t love it. Nonetheless, the climb and descent was a great experience, and an amazing workout. Absolutely worth taking on if you are in Cape Town and if you are not afraid of heights!