23rd May, 2016, Monday:
We woke up fresh and excited in our lovely apartment. The
weather forecast said rains after 3 pm and clear days for the next 2 days.
Botanical gardens:
We are very fond of
Botanical gardens. We have had the good fortune to visit many top notch ones
across the world. Kew gardens (London), Royal Botanical gardens (Edinburgh),
Jardim Botanico (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) and the lovely Ho`omaluhia Botanical Garden, Foster
Botanical Garden, Wahiawa Botanical Garden, Lyon Arboretum, Waimea Botanical Garden
all in Oahu, Hawaii and the awesome Tropical
Botanical Garden in the Big Island come to mind.
So off we went to enjoy
Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden!
Kirstenbosch:
Kirstenbosch:
Kirstenbosch is nestled
at the eastern foot of Table
Mountain
is the site which has the map and all details of what the
particular season holds.
We knew the fynbos won’t be in full bloom and we won’t catch
sight of the famed Proteas.
We were fascinated by the Silver leaf tree and looked
forward to hikes on the trails.
There was a nice contemporary African sculpture exhibition
going on in the entrance.
Bonsai exhibits were great too! Personally I wonder
why stunting a magnificent tree is an art and if the poor specimens feel any
pain? Anyways, it’s no doubt very skilled work!
Trails:
We went on the waterfall trail… nothing specifically marked
as such but a maintenance guy confirmed the route on the map.
We went on and on in the wild part of the gardens where only
birds kept us company.
Of course the drinking water fountains etc were not present in these parts and the sign boards became ambiguous. We went all the way up watching the yellow wood trees and in the stinkwood trail and stopped short of Constantia nek.
Of course the drinking water fountains etc were not present in these parts and the sign boards became ambiguous. We went all the way up watching the yellow wood trees and in the stinkwood trail and stopped short of Constantia nek.
Heard water gurgling on the other side, the trail seemed closed with rock
falls. We just saw a stream. We turned back without seeing a waterfall. We tried
to retrace our path.
Silverleaf tree trail:
The silverleaf tree trail was more rewarding…. The leaves
glinted like real silver and looked beautiful.
We had walked to a high view point from where we could see the city stretched out below...
They had a bed of silverleaf plants...with informative sign boards
Here we are using a welcome drinking water fountain
FYNBO:
We were now in the fynbo section….
Some were in bloom and all looked lovely with their fine leaved foliage.
All the while, Castle Rock towered in the background ….
There were nice water bodies, water birds and it was all a tranquil scene.
Lunch:
By now we were hungry, our food and water was in the car. The
wind was picking up. Son went to the car and brought the bag. We sat near
Mandela (statue of course!) and had our lunch.
When we resumed our foray into the manicured parts of the garden, it started to rain. We had one umbrella. We went to the Glasshouse and admired all the specimens and the info provided there.
Here's the famous baobab, it provides food and shelter to many creatures. Monkeys and elephants eat its seeds. Insects living in and around the tree attract birds, lizards and snakes.
The bark of the tree is used to make mats, baskets, ropes, fishing nets. It is also medicinal treats fevers. The fruit has a powdery sweet pulp making a refreshing drink. The pith is used for baking as a source for cream of tartar. Once the pulp and pith have been removed from the fruit , the shell makes a good dish. The seeds are eaten fresh or cooked. The young leaves are rich in Vitamin C and eaten like spinach,
This is the famous Quiver Tree...
The rain did not look like abating. After some 30 minutes we reluctantly decided to leave.
When we resumed our foray into the manicured parts of the garden, it started to rain. We had one umbrella. We went to the Glasshouse and admired all the specimens and the info provided there.
BAOBAB TREE:
Here's the famous baobab, it provides food and shelter to many creatures. Monkeys and elephants eat its seeds. Insects living in and around the tree attract birds, lizards and snakes.
The bark of the tree is used to make mats, baskets, ropes, fishing nets. It is also medicinal treats fevers. The fruit has a powdery sweet pulp making a refreshing drink. The pith is used for baking as a source for cream of tartar. Once the pulp and pith have been removed from the fruit , the shell makes a good dish. The seeds are eaten fresh or cooked. The young leaves are rich in Vitamin C and eaten like spinach,
This is the famous Quiver Tree...
The rain did not look like abating. After some 30 minutes we reluctantly decided to leave.
The gift shop area displays lovely specimens of Proteas and
other pretty fynbos and we were happy to see them
Incessant Rain and Misses:
In retrospect, we should have taken our ponchos and hiking
sandals which I had packed for Victoria falls
and used effectively there. We missed out on the walkway, the arboretum etc and
terribly regret it!
We drove in the direction of World of Birds but despite
having seen it on google maps in our preparation, we missed and went round and
round in pouring rain. The localities were lovely but precious day light hours
were being lost. We did manage to land at World of Birds but they close entry
by 4. We decided to go back home and call it a day.
The rain continued almost into the night and now the weather
site was predicting rain for the next 2 days too!
Yes, we knew May—July was the rainy season but had hoped we’ll
luck out. We love traveling in the shoulder season and we usually have great
weather in the window of our visit.
http://adventuretrav.blogspot.com/2016/06/south-africa-trip-report-day-5-cape.html
covers Cape point drive, Chapman's peak drive, sunset at Signal hill
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