After a morning aerobics session which was used to limber up the players for what lay in wake later in the day, Ertugral had his team working their way up the famous Lions Head Trail which is part of the Table Mountain National Park in the Mother City and lies adjacent to the world famous Table Mountain after which the National Park gets its name, mid afternoon Monday. Chiefs hike up to the top of the Lions Head Peak which lies 669 meters above sea level took approximately an hour, the more quicker members of the group managed to get to the top in under an hour.

Lions Head which got its name from the Cape Dutch settlers in the 1700’s has along with Table Mountain formed a spectacular back drop to the city of Cape Town. The hike up to the peak afforded the Chiefs players the opportunity to see some of the most spectacular views of the Mother City as well as the Atlantic Ocean. Part of Ertugral’s idea of his two week-long camp was to firm up the bond between the players in his team. The outing to Lions Head allowed him to both test his players resolve as a unit as well as to gauge how well their physical training has gone over the past week.

Veterans View

Since 1994 Thabo Mooki has visited Cape Town as a professional player. On Monday he for the first time got to get an aerial view of the city, and was well impressed by the scenery. As he explained “ in fourteen years of coming to Cape Town I got to see the real beauty of the city for the first time, usually we just fly in for the game and leave soon after. This camp has given us the opportunity to enjoy the true beauty of the Western Cape in general”, for Mooki it was a leisurely stroll up to the summit of Lions Head and one that he thoroughly enjoyed saying. “It was quite hot during the hike so I opted to take it slow and easy and took in the magnificent view, overall I did enjoy the hike at least I know that these old legs can still carry me to the top”.

Bhasera blasts

Long known for his ability to blast his way past attackers, Chiefs left back Onismor Bhasera demonstrated that it is not just on the field of play where he can show off his speed. The Zimbabwean international along with his countryman Tinashe Nengomasha were amongst the fastest to the top of Lions Head on Monday, and he said afterwards.

“There was no way that Tinashe would be able to beat me to the top so I gave everything that I had and beat him to it”. After a day that saw them go through two strenuous work outs the Chiefs players were rewarded for their efforts and were treated to a meal by coach Muhsin Ertugral, at a restaurant in the up market camps bay area of Cape Town.