Table Mountain Webcam

This Table Mountain webcam is located in Cape Town in South Africa. The mountain was named in 1503 by the Portuguese explorer, Antonio de Saldanha, who called it Tabao de Cabo (Table of the Cape) and who made the first known ascent up the mountain. The name was later changed in 1652 by Dutch settlers who called it 'Tafelberg'. Ironically this all overlooks the fact that the original (known) inhabitants of the area, the Khoe-San, called it Hoerikwaggo (Mountain in the Sea). At its highest point, Table Mountian (which is believed to be 240 million years old) is 3,563 ft above sea level (Ben Nevis comes in at 4409 feet) however, in its history was reportedly three times higher but erosion has worn it down over the millenia. Table Mountain's flat plateau measures two miles from side to side being flanked by cliffs. Fortunately these cliffs are divided by the Platteklip Gorge making for a relatively easy, if tiring, ascent to the summit. For those less inclined to walk to the top, there's always the nearby Table Mountain Aerial Cableway which was officially opened in 1929.

The mountain is normally visited by 800,000 people every year and is home to over 8200 plant species and animals such as the rock hyrax. When watching this webcam, you can see Lion's Head with Devil's Peak on the and, to the far right and just out of view is Cape Town's main football stadium.This Table Mountain webcam is just one of a number of webcams you can view to see live streaming action from Africa. From time to time some of the webcams become inoperational as they are subject to flooding and technical faults. Because of their often remote location it can take weeks, sometime months to reach and repair them!