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South Africa’s Mountains were formed over many millions of
years. The whole country comprises a large upland plain that is
edged on its southern and round to its eastern sides by large
mountains just inland from the coastal plain. The Drakensberg
(Dragons’ Mountain) Range of Mountains stretches some 200
kilometres and is capped with volcanic lava that formed in the
Mesozoic Era between 248 and 65 million years ago. This
coincided with the breakup of the supercontinent of Gondwanaland
135 million years ago. The African name for the Drakensberg is
uKhahlamba (the Barrier of Spears) on account of the vertical
basalt columns on many of the peaks.
One of the most photographed mountains in Africa, if not the
world, is Table Mountain in the Western Cape. Table Mountain
provides an outstanding backdrop to the city of Cape Town.
Towering 3500 feet above the city, this flat-topped mountain of
sedimentary sandstone was formed some 600 million years ago, and
became an inspiration to Nelson Mandela and other prisoners when
imprisoned on Robben Island. Occasionally a south-easterly wind
known as the Cape Doctor drapes the mountain with a white
tablecloth of cloud, clearing the city of pollution when it
arrives.
The mountains of the Western Cape are a paradise for botanists
and climbers alike. The whole of the Cape region is defined as
one of the world’s six botanical cables, the Fynbos Biome. More
than 8 500 plant species are found in the fynbos, of which 6 000
are endemic to specific areas of the Cape. The Overberg
Mountains just to the east of Cape Town offer a number of
different hikes and climbs, and there are dozens of small
clusters of picturesque mountains scattered about from the
Cederberg Range to the north of Cape Town to the ranges that
separate the Karoo from the coastal plains. The Groot and the
Klein Swartberg, home of the snow proteas, lead to the forested
Outeniqua and Tsitsikamma mountains and the Grootriviersberg of
the Eastern Cape. The mountains of the western and eastern Cape,
along with the Drakensberg, are scattered with numerous climbing
routes. For a listing of all of the recognized and catalogued
climbing routes throughout South Africa, climbers should visit
the web page of saclimb.
There are other scattered groups of mountains throughout South
Africa, prominent groups being the Soutpansberg Mountains just
to the North of Louis Trichardt, the WaterbergMountains to the
west of Potgietersrus and the Magaliesberg, favourite of many
hundreds of Gauteng weekenders. The Northern Cape Province is
mostly flat but has scattered groups of mountains such as the
Asbesberg, the Langberg and the Korannaberg.
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