Ocean and mountain days in Cape Town
Kayak, e-bike and hike, all from one base on the Promenade.
TRUTH runs kayaking, hiking and e-biking out of one base on the Sea Point Promenade. Guided paddles on the Atlantic, hikes up Lion’s Head and Table Mountain, and e-bike routes through the back roads of the Cape. You can do all three in a day if you want to.
Nothing we run needs a motor. You are low to the water or on your own legs.
Three ways to spend a day here, and what each one actually involves.
Kayaking through the glassy waters of Sea Point, Table Mountain framing the skyline
1. Guided kayaking in Cape Town
We launch off the Promenade, straight into the Atlantic. Sea level, no engine.
TRUTH Kayaking runs small groups off the Atlantic Seaboard with local guides. Sunrise launches, dolphins along this stretch most mornings in season, and seals that come to have a look at you. The water is cold. That is the Benguela current.
At Boulders in Simon’s Town there is a breeding colony of African penguins. They are endangered and the colony is managed, so how you arrive matters. We come in by kayak and stay offshore.
A TRUTH e-bike poised for adventure at Cape Point Nature Reserve
2. E-bike tours through the fynbos
The electric assist takes the hills out of it, which means you cover ground you would not cover on foot or on an ordinary bike.
The routes run through the Cape Floral Kingdom, the smallest of the world’s six and the richest for its size. Thousands of species, most of them found nowhere else. Proteas on the slopes, shade under the Constantia forests, and wine farms that have been working this ground for over three hundred years.
Your guide will tell you what you are looking at. Which plants belong where, what the fire cycle does, how the wine farming started and what this ground looked like before it.
The rugged ridge of Table Mountain, the Atlantic far below
3. Guided hikes on Table Mountain and Lion’s Head
These are the two peaks we guide most. We pick the route to your pace and the timing to the light, whether that is a sunrise start or a summit at the end of the day.
You will probably see dassies and lizards on the warm rock, and occasionally a caracal at a distance. Our guides greet people coming the other way, which is the local habit and worth keeping.
Tread lightly
These are living systems and they are under pressure. Stay on the path, keep your distance from the wildlife, and take out what you bring in.
Nearly everything we run is human-powered: kayak, e-bike, on foot.
Pick your element.
Ocean, fynbos or summit. Every one hosted by locals who live it.
Private, nature-led travel