A winter walk on Elsies Peak

Hiking Cape Town’s Deep South

Views on a stunning winter’s day from Elsies Peak down towards the Cape Town suburbs of Fishhoek, Clovelly and Sun Valley with the Silvermine section of the Table Mountain National Park beyond. Cape Town, South Africa. Photo: ©Zoë Chapman Poulsen.

One of the joys of the flexible living of remote working in Cape Town is being able to head away from my desk during the week to enjoy hiking the mountains of the Cape Peninsula when the weather is at its best.

In contrast to summer when the harsh southeaster winds will do their best to blow you off the mountain tops, some of the most beautiful cool and sunny days arrive here during winter between the intense cold fronts after which the “Cape of Storms” is named.

The narrow and rugged mountainous Peninsula on which much of the city of Cape Town sits means that outdoor lovers are rarely too far from hiking trails that wind upwards from the city below offering stunning views.

The woolly flowers of the dogface (Tricocephalus stipularis) in bloom on Elsies Peak above Glencairn, Southern Peninsula, Cape Town, South Africa. Photo: ©Zoë Chapman Poulsen.

Since I have moved to what is affectionately known as Cape Town’s “Deep South”, I have been rewarded with lots of new (to me) hikes to explore. Our trail of choice was Elsies Peak, a smaller but isolated peak with a short climb offering 360 views and a fascinating range of wildflowers to enjoy.

From a distance South Africa’s fynbos vegetation can look a tad brown and dull, but getting up close allows us to…