Table Mountain

Table Mountain South Africa (Tafel berg).

Table Mountain South Africa image courtsey: virtualtourist.com

There are numerous mountains but just one Table Mountain!

Mountains with pyramid shapes are not just common but that is the norm for them, but Mother Nature has gifted something extraordinary to Table Mountain a flat foot ball ground like surface. Located in the Democratic Republic of South Africa; very near to Cape Town this land mark stands tall as the most important tourist location in that nation. The unusual shaped top (flat like a table top) of this mountain has been doing the job of pulling crowds since ancient times, still it remains as the number one among the exotic places for South Africa and it is a part of the Table Mountain National Park a UNESCO recognized World Heritage Site since 2004..

What are there?

This table mountain formed of stand-stone is two miles wide and about 3500 feet above sea-level and stands encircled by The Robben Island, Table Bay and Cape-Town. The steep pathways to reach top are many, it will take about four hours for a healthy man to cover the distance, but the journey is worth its effort as the steep climb enables one to see the rarest of the rare members of the plant kingdom as well as mammals, butterflies, reptiles etc quite exclusive to the locality. As a tourist hot spot there are many tour operators who arrange packaged hiking tours like a four day tour with all arrangements to three nights sleep and sufficient relaxing facilities.

An easy way!

It is advisable for those with not so good health can catch a cable way and reach at the top within minutes, these cable cars are able to revolve on its center that can enable the visitor to have a look at the surroundings of the climb simply sitting idle, a feeling of being at the to of the world without much effort! Only problem that can upset a visitor is the occasional arrival of dense clouds that can hinder visibility and the visitor may be forced to return being not able to see anything. These clouds are considered as ‘table- cloth’ as the place Table Mountain.

The Kruger National Park.

The Kruger National Park is as vast as a small country and tourists can experience wild life like the giant African Elephants, Giraffes, Zebras and Lions as well as all sorts of animals as well as endemic vegetations in its original habitat. Kristenbosch National Botanical Garden is a real pride to the South African Nation which is a treasure house of plants of all hues, most of them indigenous to the continent.

Geology.

Table Mountain South Africa image courtsey: bookinafrica.com

The land mass at the south-western tip of South Africa consists of alternating layers of fine-grained wacko sand-stone and slate is one of the oldest rock formation in the world. These rocks were a part of the erstwhile Super Continent the Gondwanaland –a continent that was split millions of years back - which transformed in to the present continents of Africa, Its tabular shape results from nearly horizontal layers of sand stones got exposed by natural forces like sun, wind, and the rain which took away the weak parts left at the top; revealing the underlying hard sand stone. For centuries this peculiar shaped mountain had attracted sea farers.

History.

The history of South Africa is not much different from other undeveloped nations, as Europeans come first colonize and then turn in the masters of the natives. It was the Dutch merchant Van Riebeeck who first established a European settlement at the periphery of Table Mountain. Migration of foreigners caused the Xhosa tribes (indigenous people) to retreat eastwards. There were a lot of battles the Europeans had to fight for the establishment of their power in this region. Battle of Blood River was one of the land mark event where Voorlrekker defeated the Zulus in the Anglo Zulu war and annexed Natal and the entire Zululand. After the Anglo-Boer war the whole Boer Republic came under the British Crown. The ascent of the right wing nationalists coming to power and the reign of the Apartheid era are all the things of the recent past.

Richly endowed.

The actual uniqueness of the region is not a flat topped mountain; but the biodiversity this part of the land is endowed with. The entire Table Mountain National Park covers about 55,000 acres of land. The entire Table Mountain National Park hosts more species of animal and plant kingdom than Great Britain. That is the intensity of biological richness of this area. About 111 species of invertebrates are endemic (not found in other places) to this part of the land. The Fynbos (biological conservation sites) Site located at the north and west of Table Mountain. The mole cricket found in this region is very much exclusive to this region even though it is considered as an agricultural pest. It is a pity that most of the species both animal (mostly invertebrates) and plants are not well documented.

Recent woes!

Recent human invasions (clearing natural forests for cultivation of pine) also cause havoc to the exclusive variety of plants and animals that inhabit there. Influx of tourists and other service providers often cause destruction by causing wild fires and stampedes. It was recently reported that criminals intrude in to tourist service providers’ role and engage in mugging and other antisocial activities all causing destruction to an environmentally fragile eco-system.

World Cup Unforgettables – Australia v South Africa, 1999

Countdown to ICC Cricket World Cup 2007

This has to be the greatest ever match played in a world cup. The two teams resumed their intense struggle against one another from just 5 days before when they had played out a close encounter in the Super Six stage of the tournament. Australia had prevailed on that day, beating the South Africans with just two balls to spare, helped in no mean terms by an unbeaten century from their tenacious captain Steve Waugh. That was also the match in which Gibbs dropped Waugh early on in his innings and supposedly induced the now famous “You just dropped the world cup, mate” comment from the Australian captain.

Australia had a shaky start to their world cup campaign and came into the Super Six stage having to win all their matches in order to make it to the semifinals. They had lost their 2 initial group matches to both Pakistan and New Zealand. To make matters worse these two teams were Australia’s fellow qualifiers from their group. As a result Australia started off the Super Six stage with no points, knowing that nothing short of victory in all their remaining matches alone would take them into the semi-finals. Australia did just that and with some style.

Australia batted first and promptly lost Mark Waugh in the first over itself to Shaun Pollock. Ricky Ponting and Adam Gilchrist put on a 51 run partnership before Ponting departed in the 14th over. Australia then lost the wicket of Darren Lehman in the same over. Steve Waugh walked in with his side in trouble at 3 for 58. His troubles were even more accentuated when Gilchrist got out with the score at 68 in the 17th over.

As has been the characteristic of his entire career, Steve Waugh then started a rearguard fightback as only he can. It is impossible to think of any other batsmen you would want to be in the middle when your team is in crisis. No other player must have rescued its team as much as Steve Waugh has in the history of cricket. Here he put on a superb 90 run partnership with Michael Bevan (arguably the greatest ODI player in the game’s history). before Waugh departed with his own personal score at 56.

What followed was some superb piece of bowling by the South African spearheads Donald and Pollock. They picked up the remaining Australian wickets one by one with Bevan standing helplessly at the other end. Only Shane Warne provided dome token resistance putting on 49 runs with Bevan. Bevan was the last man out for 65 and Australia was bowled out for 213 with 4 balls still to spare. Pollock and Donald finished up with figures of 5/36 and 4/32 respectively.

The South African innings started off steadily. The opening pair of Gibbs and Kirsten made a solid 48 in 12.2 overs. Then the magician Shane Warne got into the act. The ‘Wizard of Oz’ gave such a brilliant exhibition of spin bowling that at the time it seemed impossible that South Africa would ever recover from its effects. Warne teased and bamboozled out 3 quick South African wickets, including a controversial one of Hansie Cronje. Cronje was given out when replays clearly showed that the ball had come off his boot. The South African cause was not helped by the run out of Daryl Cullinan and the South Africa was left teetering at 61 for 4.

As with the Australian innings earlier South Africa too went through a period of consolidation through a gritty partnership between Rhodes and Kallis. They took the score to 145 when Rhodes departed trying to up the tempo. But Kallis and Pollock continued to take the score forward before Shane Warne came back to make one last impact on the game. He removed Kallis and gave very little runs away in the slog overs. In the end his figures read 10-4-29-4.

The match however was not over yet. Klusener came out and started belting the ball all over the park as he had done throughout the tournament. He would later on be voted the most valuable player of the tournament. Klusener would have taken the game away from Australia had he got some support from the other end. Unfortunately South Africa kept losing wicket before they found themselves with only Allan Donald and Klusener left to face the last over of the match.

This was one of the most astounding final overs in the history of the game. South Africa needed 9 runs off the last 6 balls with Klusener at strike and Fleming was the bowler. The first two balls were bludgeoned for boundaries and South Africa looked certain to romp home. But cricket is played as much in the mind as it is on the field. Steve Waugh applied more pressure to an already pressure cooker like atmosphere by bringing the field in.

Fleming bowled the next ball and Donald, South Africa's most experienced player, backed up too far on Klusener's push to mid-on and only Darren Lehmann's underarm throw at the stumps saved him as he scrambled back. This seemed to have fused out Klusener’s thought process as well. For off the very next ball Klusener pushed the ball to mid off and set off for a risky run. Why he did so when he still had two more balls to face is still a mystery. Anyway he did set off for the run and in the ensuing chaos of the situation Allen Donald did not hear his partner’s call for the single. He therefore started off late for the run. Mark Waugh scooped the ball and threw the ball at Fleming. Donald in the meanwhile was trying desperately to make his ground sans his bat, which he had lost in the confusion. Fleming collected the throw from Waugh and rolled it along the pitch to Gilchrist who easily ran out Donald. Australia exploded into a spontaneous celebration and the pain etched on Klusener’s face was heart breaking. The match was a tie!!!

Australia went into the final as it had beaten South Africa in the league stage and the tournament rules specified that in case of a tie, an earlier result should be taken into account.