Table Mountain, South Africa, seen from afar. -- Photos by Keith Young, South African Tourism

Sometimes it's possible to visit a single attraction that seems to encompass the highlights of an entire region. In Cape Town, that place is Table Mountain. Where else can you get an amazing view of a world-class city, encounter giant flowers and unusual animals, see the point where two oceans meet, and learn about the history of the area -- all in one place?

More than 600,000 people visit the flat-topped summit every year and they're not all tourists. A large congregation recently arrived at the top to pray for world peace. The early Khoi-San people regarded Table Mountain as a sacred site, while some New Age gurus have apparently proclaimed the mountain to be one of the Earth's 12 major energy centers.

Cape Town, a modern city with a Mediterranean climate, owes its very existence to the mountain, whose springs and streams provided early settlers with a supply of freshwater.

THE CABLEWAY

The Cableway has been taking visitors to the summit since 1929, and I had hoped it could have gotten me there in 2002 on my first visit to Cape Town. But each time we tried, the winds were so strong the cable cars were not operating, or it was too cloudy, which would've obscured views from the top.

Fortunately a recent visit coincided with a calm and clear day, perfect for enjoying the panoramic views afforded by the cable car's rotating floor.

Some people walk to the top on one of 350 separate routes! It takes about three hours.

Much easier hikes are possible once you're actually on the 3-km-long summit. There are three designated trails, with scenic lookout points almost every step of the way. One of the best faces Cape Town, Table Bay, and Robben Island, with Lion's Head and Devil's Peak at either end.

The walks take from 15 to 40 minutes to complete but you'll want to spend longer reading the informative signboards along the way. One tells the story of hundreds of shipwrecks on the 'Cape of Storms,' while another describes some of the 1,500 different plant species on the mountain, roughly the same number found throughout the entire British Isles!

The "inner circle stroll" meanders along a grey sandstone path amidst low-growing shrubby vegetation known as "fynbos" (fine bush).

KING PROTEA

I was hoping to spot the most famous fynbos plant of all, the king protea, South Africa's national flower, when a rabbit-sized creature scampered under some rocks nearby. A few people had gathered to see if it would emerge, when another one appeared from a different direction. It climbed onto a rock about a metre away where it sat very still, apparently oblivious to the sound of our clicking cameras.

We had encountered our first dassie, or rock hyrax, whose closest living relative is, believe it or not, the elephant. A pamphlet described them as very sociable animals who are often found basking in the sun around the upper cableway station where they have lost their natural fear of humans. A few birds up here also seemed to have lost their fear of humans. Frogs, snakes and a "staggering diversity of insects" are some of the less visible creatures on the mountain.

At one point you can take a path that branches off towards the Rhodes Memorial. Instead I looped around to the opposite side, where the sun was shining on the Twelve Apostles -- Table Mountain's western buttresses.

A visitor looks out over Cape Town from the top of Table Mountain.

Then, suddenly the light faded and what looked like a fine mist appeared. I had to remind myself we were standing on top of a 1,000-metre-high mountain and that no, this was not mist or fog.

These were clouds, and we were walking in them.