Lion's Head — Local services in Cape Town Ward 77

WARNING: We were robbed at knifepoint and threatened with guns!

While hiking down from Lion’s Head, we were approached by what seemed to be a "safeguard" talking on the phone via speaker. At first, we felt bad for him having to walk all the way up, but something about the situation felt off. About 10 minutes later, we heard a woman’s voice saying, “I can’t find my phone.” We looked around, saw no one, and continued walking. Suddenly, two men passed by and greeted us. As they walked past, they circled back and surrounded us — and two more men jumped out of the bushes.

They pushed us to the ground, stole both our iPhones, wedding rings, and a backpack with a camera. They threatened to shoot us if we made a sound and forced us to give up our phone PINs. It was absolutely terrifying.

We went straight to the police — and were shocked by their lack of empathy or action. No urgency, no real concern. When we warned them that another girl was still heading up the trail, their response was, “Let’s hope she’s okay.”

This was one of the worst experiences of our lives. If you're planning to hike Lion’s Head, please be extremely careful and don’t go alone or without proper...

We did a sunset hike, started at 5h30pm and got to the top at 7pm in December. We walked on a gravel road for +-1km which was a steady incline and fairly easy to do. After the 1km the hike goes from easy to moderate as you start ascending and slope increases which includes stairs. Certain points have stairs/chains but alternative route is available if scared of heights. The last 250m of the "hike" to the peak becomes a sort of a climb/clamor. There is enough footing but it is quite steep. The view at the top is AMAZING. You do a full rotation around the "lions head" so take a camera/phone to record the views. I would not advise the full ascent to people who have knee/hip issues. Older people who are clumsy and don't have good footing/grip unless you have a walking stick People who have fear of heights. There are a lot of seats on the way up so if at any time you can't go further you will still have a great view and place to rest. Take enough water and maybe a snack. Shade is created by the shadow of the mountain so take a hat and sunblock. Total round trip of hiking excluding resting time 2.5 hours. Distance 4.6km....

After hearing countless recommendations, my girlfriend and I decided to finally do the famous Lion’s Head hike. Google Maps confidently told us it would take an hour from Signal Hill. Sounded reasonable. Well, not quite. It ended up being an hour and a half each way, and let’s just say it wasn’t exactly a casual walk.

The hike starts off manageable, but the last part gets pretty steep, with rocky paths, ladders, and metal rungs to help you climb up. Add in a crowd of people all trying to get up (or down) at the same time, and it becomes a bit of a traffic jam in the sky. Good shoes? A must. Water? Take more than just a small bottle. And most importantly, leave yourself enough time to get back down before sunset—because scrambling down rocks in the dark is not the adventure you’re looking for.

That said, the view at the top is absolutely stunning. The hike is fun, just a bit more challenging than you might expect. Worth it? Definitely. It’s a fun experience—just know what you’re signing up for. And maybe stretch beforehand… you’ll...