Couch potatoes love the Elephant's Eye hike

Elephant's Eye hike is a great amateur hike for lazy couch potatoes. For seasoned hikers it's more of a walk, for the potatoes it's a good starting point. The hike is roughly an hour up (I've taken into account the various food and water breaks) and is relatively flat. The only uphill bit is the last stretch, but it's hardly anything to moan about. In essence, give yourself 2 hours maximum for the hike, and another hour for swimming in the Silvermine Dam.

Picnic, tan, swim and float at Silvermine Dam

The panoramic vistas from elephants eye are breathtaking; and it's an incredible feeling sitting inside the open cave looking out over the Mother City. Here's an interesting fact - the shape of the mountain is said to resemble an elephant. The recessed cave like area in the mountain has fondly became known as the "Elephant's Eye".

Getting to the starting point of the hike is easy. It's located up the Ou Kaapseweg road on a turn off to the right coming from Cape Town. Silvermine is part of the Cape National Parks board, so it will cost you R20 to get through the gate. Dogs are welcome. Doesn't mention any other animals, so I'd leave your pony and monitor lizard at home. Simply follow the road to the car park until you can go no further. Park your Jaguar or Chevvy Spark and once you've locked the doors, follow the clearly marked footpath.

View from inside the Elephant's Eye cave

I've done this walk (I'm no couch potato!) quite a few times and it's still one of the top walk/hikes to do in Cape Town. I think what makes it that much more pleasant is the pristine, crystal clear Silvermine Dam at the start of the path, which is a fantastic ending point to a hike.  It's ideal for swimming, splashing around and cooling off before the trek home. As a matter of fact, many couch potatoes skip the hike all together and simply tan on the banks of the Silvermine Dam, armed with their beers and various blow up pool devices.

So, couch potato or eager beaver, haul ass and get yourself up that mountain!