A lion in Cape Town

30 Jun

Although it is difficult to imagine today, there were once lions in what is now Cape Town. In fact the first representative of the EastIndia Company – Jan van Riebeck noted in his journal in 1659 that the remains of one of his soldiers had been di

scovered not far from the fort. Most likely this poor soul had been eaten by either a lion or hyena.

Today, Capetonians refer to the hill on the western side of the city as “the lion” because it resembles a recumbent lion, showing both the “lion’s head” and the “lion’s rump”. It is one of the important landmarks and is regularly used as a reference point when giving directions.

Here you see a beautiful view of the lion, showing clearly the head of the lion and the rump of the lion. The island seen above the rump of the lion is Robben Island. Th.is photo was taken on a recent Table Mountain Walk