1 October 2012 - Day 1:
Olof arrived in Cape town at about 1pm and I was pleased to see that he had brought the sun with him! His timing was immaculate since there is no better time to climb Lion’s Head than during a full-moon! We fuelled-up for our planned climb with a Austin Powers pizza at Primi Piatti (...hehe). During our meal we discussed the general structure of our video.
With a fully charged Canon 60D we started our hike. We were both in awe of the scenery around us –this is truly the best way, in my opinion, to get a 360’ view of the cape peninsula and Table Mountain! Along the way we got some scenic shots and were lucky enough to be just in time to witness some tandem paragliders take their big leap!
After about an hour of fair climbing we arrived at the top. The view makes the last intense session before you reach the top, well worth it! There was quite a number and variety of people up there and the air was filled with appreciation and excitement of what was to come... Even a sense of relief that the climb was over by some! As the sun set, the sky became a canvas with hues of red, pink, purple and a creamy blue –and the cameras were going wild. Two champagne corks were popped by some clever climbers! The people were in the right mood for some interviews...
When the red ball finally sunk into the ocean, we turned around to see the glittering city lights going on, on the other side. The grand finale was definitely when the orange moon started peeping out its head from over the mountains and the thin layer of clouds in the far! You could hear a number of gasps and sighs as a result of this spectacle.
A friendly German and his new photographer friend came to offer some ‘papsak’ (boxed wine), humour and anecdotes. We all sat on a flat rock watching the moon, chatting and defending ourselves from the cold wind by making sure the glasses kept full! We finally embarked upon our journey down, which to your reassurance isn’t so difficult to do on a moonlit evening. We decided to go for a bite at Rafiki’s bar, but their kitchen was unfortunately closed, so we settled for some beers and eventually a “BP- pie” (at the petrol station’s convenience store) just before bed! Wow – what a day!
