Many Capetonians are guilty of taking their own city for granted, and it often takes a friend visiting from further afield to remind us of exactly how much there is to do in the Mother City.

Two gents who certainly don’t fit that mould are the Cape Town Twins, Sifiso and Sibusiso, who are regulars on the city’s most popular hiking trails.

In the hopes of jolting us off the couch during these cold, winter months, we asked the twins to take us along on their latest hike, which was the weekend of June 23.

Here’s their story…

On Saturday, we woke up at 5AM and excitedly prepared ourselves for the climb, but our excitement was cut short by the dark clouds we saw as we stepped out. We did, however, expect the wind, because we had checked out the weather report the previous night.

Despite the dark clouds and wind, we decided to soldier on. Our three buddies were filled with doubts, but we convinced them not to worry. When we arrived in town the wind wasn’t as strong as it was at home, but it was still freezing and looked like the rain could descend at any time.

Fortunately, we were perfectly prepared with our K-Way Men’s Drake Down Jackets, which are not to be scoffed at. Despite wearing nothing but short sleeved t-shirts underneath, while our friends had on layers of jerseys, we were the warmest of the bunch.

That’s because the jackets are made from sustainably sourced duck and geese feathers, and each ounce of down has approximately two million fluffy filaments to keep you warm.

The initial plan was to hike Devil’s Peak, but we decided otherwise when saw it was covered by thick mist, with those threatening clouds overhead. We didn’t back down, and settled on climbing Lion’s Head.

When we arrived there it was 6:50AM, a bit dark, and very foggy, but we felt more assured when we saw other people going up and coming down.

The most disappointing factor was that we had to forget about witnessing the sunrise. As we ascended, we found that it was drizzling, and the higher we went the heavier the drizzle became.

At that point, we had to back down, which was very devastating. No, we’re not overreacting, but when we hike we like to finish what we start. At least we had durable, water-resistant jackets and weren’t soaked to the bone on the way down, which was a small victory.

Because we didn’t get our happy ending over the weekend, we decided to head to Kloof Corner on Monday afternoon, to take advantage of the early evening’s good weather conditions.

That meant navigating the Mother City’s public transport system, because we live outside of the CBD, but we managed to nip out of work and make it to the route on time.

You just have to turn onto Table Mountain Road from Kloof Nek and follow the winding road up to the cable car. The hike does involve some strenuous scrambling and steep drops, so make sure you have the right gear before you try and tackle the Kloof Corner hike.

This time around, the hike was a massive success. The sun decided to play ball, and we could get down to doing what we love.

What’s a hike without posing for a photo or two, right?

The best part of the day was enjoying the alluring view down over Camps Bay, during what we like to call the ‘Golden Hour’, when the sun sets and the sky’s colour palette works wonders.

The exact timing is going to vary on when you go, but check out the sunset time on the day you’re hiking (you can do that here), and aim to be close to the top a good 30 minutes before so you can soak it all up.

These are the moments that make the early morning and evening missions worth it, and why we have grown to love hiking so much.

When we hit the trails, we depend a lot on our gear to help the mission run smoothly, and the K-WAY Kilimanjaro 28L Daypacks always come out tops. Waistbelts to help evenly distribute the weight, side pockets so we can grab our cameras and snap pictures for the ‘Gram, and rain covers for when the weather turns nasty make them the ideal companion.

The Jackets and the Daypacks are genuinely must-haves for adventurers.

Hopefully we’ll see you on the trail this weekend, dressed warmly and making the most of our beautiful city.