Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens

It is a spectacularly beautiful park covering 1320 acres with 89 acres under cultivation, on the slopes of the mountain, southeast of the Table Mountain range. The plants grown here are only indigenous to South Africa and represent one of the most important botanical collections in the world. (Ok enough boring information which I got out of a book and certainly not out of my head, now for more important things!)

It is really though, a most beautiful place and Tony and I both feel that we could easily go once a week just for the peace and tranquility of it. (Entrance is free on a Tuesday for pensioners, whooohoooo). On a Tuesday when we went we saw many older people with their little picnic baskets just sitting quietly under trees overlooking magnificent views, nibbling their sandwiches and sipping their hot coffee from their flask. We intend to do that regularly when we're there, again, Inch Allah.

We hadn't taken food with us but just water and we walked and walked and walked. It was a hot day and, sweating profusely, still managed to enjoy the beauty, which is saying something because when I'm hot and sweaty I don't enjoy much. We found little shaded paths and sat under old majestic trees, saw an owl hiding behind some branches, drank our water which was tepid by now, and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. We treated ourselves to a coffee at the little restaurant and watched all the tourists with their expensive labelled clothes and giggled at their sight because a lot of them were dressed in khaki! I suppose they think because they are coming to Africa, they must blend with the bush.

When Cathy and I went in May, we were a bit more organised, food-wise (Cathy's idea), and brought brioches with us for breakfast (from a real French bakery at her shopping centre next to where she lives), with take away coffees bought from the shop, and for lunch had brought sandwiches and a chocolate eclair (same French bakery) each for desert. Aren't we good girls? The sammies and eclairs were heavenly and the French eclair's taste brought a million taste memories to my palate but couldn't really place them. Had a feast and most of the time sat eating and then resting! We were very full but we did manage to walk a bit and find old, interesting, wise, knotty trees to talk to. This particular one wasn't very talkative though.

As the gardens are set on the slopes of the mountains, the higher you climb the better the view of the suburbs below. So you are constantly surrounded by beauty, with the mountains to one side, the magnificent, well-kept and sometimes manicured gardens and the panorama below. Wow, who could ask for more?