CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA: KIRSTENBOSCH NATIONAL BOTANICAL GARDEN

Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden is reputed to be the most beautiful garden in the world. Situated on the eastern slopes of Cape Town's Table Mountain, covering more than 1,300 acres, and home to over 7,000 species of South African plants, the Garden's grandeur is hard to overstate. 

I think of some of the other beautiful gardens we have visited--Buchart Gardens in British Columbia, the Los Angeles Botanical Gardens, the gardens at Versailles, the Huntington Library Garden in Pasadena--and I have to say that Kirstenbosch is my favorite.

But first, Nelson Mandela.

I had done a bunch of Mandela-related reading before this trip, and from the time I set foot on South Africa soil, I was on the lookout for references to this great man.  Kirstenbosch did not disappoint.


Just inside the Visitor's Center entrance to the Garden I found a bust of my hero on a pedestal next to a pepper-bark tree that he planted on a visit to the Garden in August 1996.

In addition, botanists at Kirstenbosch have developed a special gold version of what I have growing in my own front yard, a Bird-of-Paradise, and they have named it after Mandela:

Nelson is a pretty popular guy, maybe even more beloved that Abraham Lincoln is in the United States.

Time to move on. There are several "neighborhoods" in the garden. The first one we wandered through was the "Boomslang" Tree Canopy Walkway:

Are you wondering what a "boomslang" is? It's a highly venomous snake that, if it bites you, will cause you to bleed from every orifice and perhaps turn blue because of internal bleeding. Luckily there is an antivenin, but I hope I never need it.

Luckily, we didn't seen any boomslangs hanging from the trees when we were there.

Kirstenbosch grows only plants indigenous to South Africa, and as mentioned earlier, there are 7,000 of them. This is truly a Garden of Eden kind of a place.

There were detours that kept distracting us:

We finally made our way to the Tree Canopy Walkway, a new steel and wood bridge (built in 2013-2014) that slithers through and over the trees of the Garden for about 425 feet. Aha! This is where "Boomslang" comes in!

There were a lot of picnickers on the grassy areas, but there weren't many people on the trails:

At its highest point, the walkway is almost 40 feet above the ground:

Signage along the way helps visitors understand the world surrounding them:

Castle Rock straight ahead:

The weather could not have been any better; it was about 70°, and the air was refreshingly clean.

And off to the right . . . Oh my! It's an Aardonyx celestae, or Earth Claw dinosaur!

And here are two Dracovenator regenti, or Dragon Hunters! Life-sized, anatomically correct dinosaurs sculpted in tin graze among the cycads, a plant species on the brink of extinction, drawing attention to the fact that the cycads could soon face the same fate as the dinosaurs:

Really, it felt like we were in a scene from Jurassic Park: 

 Or maybe it's a scene from Attack of the Killer Birds of Paradise:

Or Hitchcock's The Birds? Nah, this guy is too cute for that:

I think that is Cape Town, seen from a high point in the Garden:

The diversity of plant life is stunning. It was hard not to take 14,000 photos of the 7,000 plant varieties: 

We often talk about the extinction of animals, but rarely of plants. This flower, called a "Silkypuff," is critically endangered . . .

. . . as is the "Cape Flats Conebush":

Here is my favorite photography subject AGAIN:

Strategically placed benches dot the verdant landscape, places for contemplation, snacking, conversation, or (let's be honest) a brief nap for those who have recently arrived in the country:

Landscaping details add a lot of panache to the garden and made me want to re-landscape my yard:

Speaking of panache, how about these folks in their polka dot suits?

They came to join the party with Egyptian geese at the lake:

Yes, yes--of course the humans can come too.

Bring some flowers for the hostess:

Take a good look in the mirror to make sure you don't have crumbs on your shirt:

Hey! Maybe we could do a little matchmaking here!

Yentas at work:

After all, who could beat this setting for a first date?

 

Finally, on our way out, we noticed some beautiful stone sculptures that are part of a changing outdoor art exhibit. Some of them were carved on site. These two are my favorites:

I think this one is a permanent piece:

Wild Seed Pod by Arthur Fata

A quick shopping stop on our way out:

I didn't buy this, but isn't it gorgeous?

Instead, I got some guinea fowl salad tongs and guinea fowl-patterned pie server. I LOVE those polka dots!

Here is one more reminder of the water crisis. I always thought "If it's yellow let it mellow, if its brown flush it down" was an invention of the place where I went to girls' camp as a youth. Apparently not.

You know things are bad when the water in the restroom sinks is turned off and there is hand sanitizer next to the sink.

It made me wonder how the Kirstenbosch Garden stays so lush and green. They must have a special water allowance.