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The Drakenstein mountain opposite Simonsberg Mountain named after ex military man and Colonial administrator of the
Dutch East India Company The United East India Company ( nl, Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie, the VOC) was a chartered company established on the 20th March 1602 by the States General of the Netherlands amalgamating existing companies into the first joint-stock co ...
Hendrik Adriaan van Rheede tot Drakenstein is part of the
Cape Fold Belt The Cape Fold Belt is a fold and thrust belt of late Paleozoic age, which affected the sequence of sedimentary rock layers of the Cape Supergroup in the southwestern corner of South Africa. It was originally continuous with the Ventana Mount ...
and are in the
Western Cape The Western Cape is a province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , and the third most populous, with an estimated 7 million inhabitants in 2020 ...
province of
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...
.


History

Both the mountain and the valley at its foot Groot Drakenstein were named in honour of Hendrik who visited the Cape as Commissioner-General in 1685; Drakenstein (modern spelling usually Drakestein) was the name of his estate in the Netherlands.Cf. The mountain is opposite Simonsberg named after the first governor of the Cape Simon van Der Stel.Internet.


Geography

They actually comprise two separate ranges, the Klein Drakenstein and Groot Drakenstein Mountains. The former located just to the east of
Paarl Paarl (; Afrikaans: ; derived from ''Parel'', meaning "pearl" in Dutch) is a town with 112,045 inhabitants in the Western Cape province of South Africa. It is the third-oldest city and European settlement in the Republic of South Africa (after ...
being punctuated by the
Huguenot Tunnel The Huguenot Tunnel is a toll tunnel near Cape Town, South Africa. It extends the N1 national road through the Du Toitskloof mountains that separate Paarl from Worcester, providing a route that is safer, faster (between 15 and 26 minutes) and ...
on the N1 highway and Du Toitskloof Pass () as the
R101 R101 was one of a pair of British rigid airships completed in 1929 as part of a British government programme to develop civil airships capable of service on long-distance routes within the British Empire. It was designed and built by an Air M ...
route. The latter is much taller and is located south of
Franschhoek Franschhoek (; Afrikaans for "French Corner", Dutch spelling before 1947 ''Fransche Hoek'') is a small town in the Western Cape Province and one of the oldest towns in South Africa. Formerly known as Oliphants hoek (as there were vast groups of ...
and
Stellenbosch Stellenbosch (; )A Universal Pronounc ...
, with Victoria Peak ( as its highest point. It is traversed by no mountain passes, but contains the Hottentots-Holland Nature Reserve and also holds title of the wettest place in South Africa in the upper reaches of the
Jonkershoek Nature Reserve Jonkershoek Nature Reserve is a CapeNature nature reserve located approximately south-east of the town of Stellenbosch in the Western Cape province of South Africa. It covers an area of approximately . Description The reserve lies north of the ...
, with over of precipitation per annum (precise measurement unverified), the reason for the Wemmershoek Dam to be built in this mountain. Most vegetation is of the Cape Floral Kingdom biome, and the primary rocks are of the
Table Mountain Sandstone The Table Mountain Sandstone (TMS) is a group of rock formations within the Cape Supergroup sequence of rocks. Although the term "Table Mountain Sandstone" is still widely used in common parlance, the term TMS is no longer formally recogn ...
group of the Cape Supergroup. The region falls within the Mediterranean climatic zone, with cool, wet winters, with snow on the higher elevations and warm, dry summers. The one peak facing Boschendal wine farm is named devils tooth for its big tooth look. British singer and songwriter
Lily Allen Lily Rose Beatrice Allen (born 2 May 1985) is an English singer-songwriter and actress. She is the daughter of actor Keith Allen and film producer Alison Owen. Her music career began in 2005 when she made some of her vocal recordings publi ...
shot the
Air Balloon (song) "Air Balloon" is a song by British musician Lily Allen. The song was premiered on BBC Radio 1 on 13 January 2014 and was released on 2 March 2014, as the second single from Allen's third studio album, '' Sheezus'' (2014). Allen wrote the song in ...
at the foot of the mountain at an unused castle (perfect for movies, photography, in her case music videos). The mountain is mainly untouched yet there is foothpaths crossing the baboon infested mountain, with an apex predator the Cape leopard roaming the mountains and surrounding farms. For the hiking enthusiasts a trail with camping cabins runs all the way to
Hermanus Hermanus (originally called ''Hermanuspietersfontein'', but shortened in 1902 as the name was too long for the postal service
.


See also

*
Wildlife of South Africa *
Southern Africa Southern Africa is the southernmost subregion of the African continent, south of the Congo and Tanzania. The physical location is the large part of Africa to the south of the extensive Congo River basin. Southern Africa is home to a number of ...


References

{{Authority control Mountain ranges of the Western Cape