Geology Tour : 15 May 2010

A group of 12 children and 8 adults joined Andreas on a walk starting in Camps Bay. We couldn’t have asked for better weather: The sun was shining and just a slight breeze could be felt. The mountain stood towering up in the sky in front of us, dropping down into the blue sea.

On our way up Kasteelpoort, Andreas showed us the different rock layers of Table Mountain. First we looked at the Graafwater formation. These mudstones were mostly a reddish colour, caused by iron oxide. The children also found black markings in some stones and we learned that these were from Manganese minerals in the stones. We were shown some outcrops of granite. The upper layer of sandstone created the huge cliffs. The children’s hip pouches got heavier the further we walked!

There was water dripping everywhere after the good rains in the last two weeks.

It took us about 2, 5 hours to reach the top. Everyone, except Max who had already had his ‘noodles on the go’ was starving. We found a nice sheltered spot where we had our lunch.

After lunch the ‘young ones’ (those aged 45 years were welcome to join) sat down with Andreas and rubbed stones together to show how soil forms. I’m sure these children won’t forget how precious soil is after seeing how small a heap they had after such hard work!

After a bit of clambering on the rocks, it was time to move on. We walked through wetland areas (where we wished we had gumboots) until we took the path down Woody ravine. It was the most stunning view down the ravine: high cliffs on both sides with the blue ocean right down at the bottom.

The walk was quite steep at places. There was a cliff ‘shower’ the children couldn’t resist. Enjoying the huge drops falling from the cliffs, we had to drag them away before they became dripping wet!
We passed some lovely scented buchu and wild rosemary on the way. Once in the forest, there was a part of the footpath that was eroded.  Slowly and carefully we walked down the ravine.

Back at the contour path, we had a lovely rest where the children could clamber about and get soaking wet at the river.

While walking the last part and looking up at the majestic mountain, it was with sadness that we had to leave this paradise behind!