Happy Birthday Table Mountain Cableway! A look back at 90 years

[Lisbeth]

2019-10-06 21:21 - Selene Brophy

https://youtu.be/Od6afATAmWA
The Table Mountain Aerial Cableway Company has been providing visitors with a world-class experience since October 4, 1929.

As a born and raised Capetonian, it's hard not to notice the mountain. Sure many people make fun of our sense of direction or lack thereof thanks to this monolithic, natural masterpiece, but mention Cape Town during a conversation to foreigners and the conversation automatically gravitates towards it.

Many crazy, weird and wonderful things happen in the shadows of this mountain that hugs the city bowl of the Mother City and for 90 years the Table Mountain Aerial Cableway Company (TMACC) has ferried some 28 million people from the bottom to the top, and back again.

To celebrate this milestone, locals are now being invited to come and experience this attraction at R90 for a return trip, valid during the month of October. This special 90th anniversary gift is available to all South Africans in October, says TMACC.

https://youtu.be/dgvSdXCe-y0
The Table Mountain Cableway in Cape Town, South Africa, has been closed for maintenance for six weeks as it replaces the cabling - which is renewed every six years.

The Table Mountain Aerial Cableway Company has been providing visitors with a world-class experience since October 4, 1929, make it accessible and well supported as part of the Table Mountain National Park and World Heritage Site. Safety is a major concern and the cableway remains incident free. Getting to the top of Africa's Leading Attraction has not always been the effortless trip it is today. Watch the videos above to see exactly how things have changed over time, just 10 years short of a century to be exact.

Before the Cableway was established, it was only the adventurous few who braved the hike of about three to four hours, who were rewarded with its beautiful, unparalleled views from the top -those who made it to the top on foot back then included the famous Lady Anne Barnard.

By the late 1870s, several of Cape Town’s more prominent (and possibly less fit) citizens had suggested the introduction of a railway to the top. Plans to build a rack railway were proposed, but implementation was halted by the outbreak of the First Anglo-Boer War in 1880, according to the TMACC.

It was Harmut Von Bleichert's great-great-grandfather's engineering company that helped champion the call. He flew in specially to represent his family at the kick-off of the year-long celebrations held on Friday, 4 October in Cape Town. He chatted to Traveller24 about the significance of Cape Town's cableway in the innovation from material to people transportation via cableways, saying he was very proud of his family's involvement and highlighting the very construct of Germany Engineering.



Over the years the mountain has garnered accolades aplenty - Flying the flag 1 082m high for South Africa as one of the official new 7 Wonders of Nature. And this year, it is also in the running for the title of “World Leading Tourist Attraction” at the annual World Travel Awards click here to add your vote.



https://www.traveller24.com/Explore/SAH ... 20191006-2