Once a year, in February, the Disa flowers on the slopes of Table Mountain flower… and when a ranger friend of ours booked a hike with a guide to help us find the elusive flowers, we jumped at the chance. Weeks in advance we booked our hike and we were ready to go… and then waited for the day to arrive and it turned out to be an absolutely perfect one. Join us, we are going to take you on an adventure, just as we took our instagram followers on the hike with us (#se7ensdisahike).
Getting There…
Of course just ten days before the hike I managed to break my arm in about a million pieces but I couldn’t face missing out on this hike… we were lucky enough to get a once in a lifetime ride to the museum on top of Table Mountain.
The Route
So we started from the Hely-Hutchinson Reservoir and walked around Junction Peak, up to the aqueduct and back to the reservoir along Smuts Track. A great hike full of interesting things to look at and not too taxing on a one armed hiker…
The early morning mist creates enough moisture to feed these mountain streams…
Upwards and onwards…
Little streams and ponds filled with frogs and tadpoles… and hidden in certain places beside the ponds we found disas and lots of them.
Up to the aqueduct, that channels water into the reservoirs below.
And a heavenly waterfall to refill water bottles…
Pure refreshment…
Then we wound down to Smuts track…
With views across False Bay…
Down to the top of Skeleton Gorge…
Up to the reservoirs…
And back to the start…
The Wildlife
The streams and ponds are full of frogs and tadpoles. And it is certainly the season for these spiders to be hanging in their wide wide webs catching all sorts of bugs to feast on…
The Disas
The purpose of the hike was to discover these beauties… The Pride of Table Mountain, the Disa uniflora.
In the damp spots beside the streams we discovered pockets of disas…
And we had a guide with us, to explain how they are pollinated, just by the Mountain Beauty Butterfly, which is particularly attracted to the colour red.
We also spotted the Blue Disa.
And this variety of Disa too.
The Fynbos: Restio and Protea
Giant restios, huge and way over our heads… and the mountain slopes were scattered with King Proteas…
And agapanthus, which are never this blue in the suburbs…
Our Guide
For all the hiking we do, the thing that made this hike significant was the fact that we had a guide along with us, what a difference that made!!!
He was really helpful, great with kids… answered dozens of questions, and when we ran out of questions he offered us even more interesting facts, about the plants, animals, history… the route.
The Gallery
Previous Table Mountain Hikes
We would like to thank our fabulous guide, Justine from Table Mountain Treks and Tours for a fabulous adventure and a wonderful day in the great outdoors.
What an amazing opportunity! And stunning stunning photos.I never even knew there is something like a blue disa.
What a fun opportunity! We just cannot get over the views! And the flowers are all beautiful- but those proteas! Wow!
Hay Cat, It was a fabulous day out… right on top of Table Mountain in the cool crisp morning air – unbeatable. Pure magic. Hope you all have a great week!!!
Hay Christi, It never ceases to amaze me that we have this totally wild place, no site or sound of city life, right in the heart of the city. It is really quite incredible!!! Hope you all have a great week!!!
THANK-YOU for showing pictures . i can follow up to the picture on this page of – pic no 6 – of the pool of water – up to here i know. but i could not find the path after these rock pools just past Hely hutchinson dam – i walked a way – the left of this dam – there are pools(past the waterworks museum) but then could not see a path straight ahead , but noticed some rocky steps going up the koppie on my right . must i go up this small koppie or must i go straight over all the rocks thru the small ravine of these pools ? thank-you. what other ways to get on to Smuts track from Hely Hutchinson general area – avoid skeleton gorge …? & heading towards maclears beacon ? thank-you.
is there a picture or description of how to get from your picture above no 6 (rock pool) to pic no 7 ? when i tried to walk there i found no path at the end of some pools ???? thank-you.