Prince William walks trails near South Africa's Table Mountain

CAPE TOWN, South Africa -- CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — Prince William went on an early-morning nature walk near South Africa's Table Mountain on Tuesday to promote the work of conservation rangers in a unique urban national park.

The Prince of Wales and heir to the British throne met with some of the rangers who guard the Table Mountain National Park, an 85-square-mile (220-square kilometer) area that overlooks Cape Town and spills into the city's suburbs in some areas.

William didn't go to the top of the famous flat-topped mountain, instead strolling through nature trails on Signal Hill, a foothill that sits by the ocean's edge.

The prince was accompanied on the walk by Megan Taplin, the park manager, and Robert Irwin, an Australian conservationist and the son of the late Steve Irwin, who was known as “The Crocodile Hunter.” William met with rangers, park firefighters and members of a K-9 dog unit.

“He got to learn about what they do on a daily basis and what challenges they face,” Taplin said. “We also spoke a lot about ranger wellness and how that's really important that rangers are supported, that their families are supported, because they are doing quite dangerous work and difficult work.”

William is in South Africa to promote his annual Earthshot Prize, which awards $1.2 million in grants to five entrepreneurs or organizations for innovative ideas that help the environment and combat climate change. William set up the Earthshot Prize in 2020 through his Royal Foundation and the awards ceremony will be held in Cape Town — the first time it's been in Africa — on Wednesday night.

The prince's four-day visit is a kind of environmental roadshow and is heavily focused on climate and conservation, though he did break away from those issues on his first day in Cape Town on Monday to attend a rugby practice at a local high school and play a little of South Africa's favorite sport with some of the kids.

William also met with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa at the president's Cape Town residence on Tuesday. The prince was joined by U.K. Foreign Secretary David Lammy, who is in the country for a bilateral meeting with South Africa's foreign minister.

Cape Town is renowned for its natural beauty and while Table Mountain is its most iconic landmark, the national park forms part of the Cape Floral Kingdom, which is a UNESCO world heritage site. Some of the plants growing on the slopes of the mountain and across the wider Cape Peninsula are not found anywhere else in the world.

William's engagements this week include meetings with young environmentalists, attending a wildlife summit, visiting a botanical garden and spending time at a sea rescue institute and with a Cape Town fishing community. At one event, he'll learn how seaweed is being used to help regenerate oceans.

Officials said he will wear sustainable clothes during his visit to promote a climate-friendly clothing industry.

William last visited Africa in 2018 but he has a long-standing connection to the continent. He traveled there as a boy after the death of his mother, Princess Diana, in a Paris car crash in 1997. He and his wife, Kate, got engaged at a wildlife conservancy in Kenya in 2010. And he said he came up with the idea for the Earthshot awards while in Namibia in 2018.

Before the visit to Cape Town, William said that Africa has always had “a special place in my heart.” William's brother, Prince Harry, also retains links to Africa and visited South Africa and neighboring Lesotho last month for a charity he set up in southern Africa.

William's wife Kate, the Princess of Wales, and their children Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis did not travel to South Africa. Kate only recently returned to some public duties after completing treatment for an undisclosed type of cancer.

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AP Africa news: https://apnews.com/hub/africa