DEVIL'S PEAK

A striking feature of Table Mountain is Devil's Peak which stands like a pointed fang between the Eastern and Northern flanks of Table Mountain and divides them at a sharp angle just like a cornerstone.

Devil's Peak is about 1,000 metres high and is a very good place to look out over Table Bay and False Bay.

There are other stories about how Devil's Peak got its name and the one below is about the dividing devil.

Devil's peak mountain range appears to some to resemble a face profile emerging from the ground
Devil's Peak (the Devil's nose points up!) as seen from Rondebosch Common, Cape Town, South Africa.
The devil face view is a pareidolia type of image that some can't "see" immediately, so....

This image od Devil's Peak has an added illustrated eye to help the viewer "see" the devil face.
Devil's Peak (with added eye), do you see the pareidolia image now?

The devil of Devil's Peak hiding in plain sight, if you "see" it.

a pall of dense orange red smoke rising from the foot of devil's peak monster mountain
The Devil's Peak fire, that started near the Rhodes Memorial at about 9am on 18 April 2021, as seen from my back garden at about 11am.

orange red flames licking alight the trees at the foot of montrous mountain
Close up of the above photo showing a ridge with a line of trees in flames.

The Rhodes Memorial built in classical greek style lies singularly exposed surrounded by a vast expanse of ochre coloured burnt landscape.
After the fire, the Rhodes Memorial below King's Blockhouse on the east side of Table Mountain.

built from the same orange yellow sandstone as the mountain itself, the blockhouse survives the flames of the fire.
The King's Blockhouse on Mowbray Ridge built by the British in 1796 and survived the fire in 2021.

panoramic view of Rhodes Memorial surrounded by a brown burned lanscape on the east side of Table Mountain

the east side slope of Table Mountain under Devil's Peak showing wide area of burned vegeatation.

monstrous looking mountain looms on the horizon facing up in defiance of the clear blue sky overhead
The University of Cape Town campus amid scorched earth under Devil's Peak after the fire.

Construction cranes begin reconstruction repairs amid scorched buildings on the University of Cape Town campus .
UCT campus buildings scorched and burnt by the fire.

university of Cape Town (UCT) campus under Devil's Peak

Rhodes memorial appears bleached white amid scorched brown earth and trees. But some trees escaped burning.
Rhodes Memorial (named after Cecil Rhodes) appears almost unscathed!

an island of living green surrounded by expanse of burnt brown land
The fire has "jumped over" this patch of ground and left it unburned. The pale tracks are paths.

wide angle photo view of devils peak under bright blue sky with three quarter moon

an evil looking face appears out of the ground in the distance with face faving straight up
The east side of Table Mountain seen from Rondebosch Common.
Devil's Peak (right), Table Mountain, (middle) and the Back Table sloping down towards the Constantia Nek valley gap that goes to Hout Bay.

Panoramic view of the Table Mountain range under a clear pale blue sky with Cape Town city suburbs below and above the Black River.
Before the 2021 fire, the Table Mountain north facing range showing, from right to left, Lions Head, Table Mountain, Devil's Peak.
The Black River is in the foreground with the Liesbeek River inlet flowing into it.
The Rappenberg Bird Sanctuary Nature Reserve is on each side of the two rivers.

Bright sunlit distant view of Table Mountain, east side, as the cloud table cloth is being laid over the buttresses with Devil's Peak clearly shown tall and on its own with misty cloud slightly covering its peak.
Clouds rolling over the east side of Table Mountain towards Devil's Peak on the right of picture.

evil's Peak like a burning coal under warm orange red sunrise light.
Devil's Peak as seen from Claremont at sunrise.

Devil's Peak aglow and beautifully menacing under warm early morning sunlight.

Devil's Peak under cool blue grey light showing green clad sandstone rocky outcrop layers.

Devil's Peak stands alone rising out of Newlands forest as a group of Red Wing Starlings flutter around in the distance.
Devil's Peak and Red Wing Starlings.

a closer view of the sandstone layers on Devil's Peak lit by a yellow orange light from early morning sunlight.
The peak of Devil's Peak.

Mountain slope horizon of Devils Pealk in warm yellow sunlight and soft green shadows under early morning sunlight.

Close up view of the sandstone layers showing uneven levels from previous upheavals of the sedimentary layers.

Interesting in this view how almost all of the trees appear to be growing crooked on Devil's Peak.

It could be said of South Africa's awful racially segregated past that Devil's Peak is representative of a once immovable obstacle that has been overcome.

However, today, reinvestment in restitution and reparation payment has been shamefully slow in being realized from those moneyed individuals and commercial institutions that profited most from the past and still hold most of the financial cards inside and outside South Africa.

As a matter of fact, those individuals and institutions who have the most to give also have the most to gain from completely leveling the Devil's Peak of inequality.

The mystical Face on Table Mountain is an uplifting sign for South Africa, and probably also for the rest of the world, particularly in these days of our lives that are still left to us to decide.

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