An afternoon at Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden.

While on safari in Mana Pools I met a group from the States traveling together.

They were headed to Cape Town afterwards and we made plans to meet up for dinner when we were all in the city the night before they were to travel home. They made the most of the few days they had in Cape Town. A highlight for them was visiting the collection of southern African cycads at Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden. They were most excited to have seen the Encephalartos woodii, which is extinct in the wild, and of which no females had ever been found in the wild.

I kept meaning to visit the gardens, but kept putting it off. Sometimes it was due to the weather, sometimes it was due to laziness on my part. Finally, after checking the weather, I put the gardens on my calendar to make sure I’d go before leaving.

From my apartment it’s about a twenty-minute cab ride to the entrance. I pay my fee and purchase a map of the gardens. I feel like I must have been before, on my first trip to Cape Town in 2010 to watch the World Cup. And while the main entrance doesn’t necessarily ring any bells, seeing the sculpture that welcomes you when you enter certainly did.

In 1660 a hedge of wild almond and brambles were planted to protect the perimeter of the Dutch colony by order of Jan van Riebeeck. Then, the area now encompassed by the garden was used for the harvesting of Timber. The 1811 handover of the colony to Britain brought with it changes as Colonel Bird built a house and established a bath fed by a natural spring. In 1823, the land was acquired by a succession of families who farmed it more formally, planing oaks, fruit trees, and vineyards.

In 1895 Cecil Rhodes purchased the land and let it run down, allowing large gropus of pigs to feed on the acorns and wallow in the pools. The Camphor Avenue was planted in 1898 by Rhones to line a favored riding path.

The history of the area as a gardens begins with Henry Harold Pearson, a botanist from Cambridge University who arrived in 1903 to become the newly-created chair of Botany at the Sotuh African College. In 1911 he visited the area to assess it as a site for a boatnical garden.

In 1913, the government of the colony set the area aside and Pearson assumed the position of director, without pay, living in the gardens themselves, working to the land of wild pigs, weeds, and orchards. He began work in “The Dell,” planting the cycads which exist to this day.

He died in 1916 of pneumonia and is buried in the park. A small stone cross stands above his grave. His epitaph reads “If ye seek his monument, look around.”

It’s a beautiful space to wander, a beautiful place to sit. Were I ever to move to Cape Town, I’d purchase a membership to come and bring a book and a picnic and while away many an afternoon in various spots on benches and on lawns. One section has a beautifully-constructed raised walkway that winds around the canopy. It’s relatively new and it’s one of the highlights of my visit. I love a canopy walk.

Dinosaur sculptures prowl the area in the Dell by near the cycads. I love the kitsch that comes with them and I’m reminded me of my visit Chak Wak Park in Tozeur almost a year ago.

After seeing the cycads I wander aimlessly, heading up towards the edges of the park for the views and to explore the gardens above. The gardens sit at the base of Table Mountain and there are paths from the back of the garden up to the summit.

Seeing signs for the Skeleton Gorge trail I decide to walk for a bit to see where it leads, hoping perhaps to see the waterfall. I don’t realize quite how far the path leads, however, nor quite how far the gorge is. I run into a man and his companion coming back the other way and ask about the trail. He tells me it’s quite a bit of a hike to reach the gorge and the summit. I am without water and alone and don’t want to do the hike without company and turn back to return to the gardens themselves.

Reaching the uppermost limit of the garden I find a bench installed under a tree with sweeping views over the lawns out to the lower Cape. On arriving in the park I saw advertisements for picnic lunches that could be bought from one the restaurants near the entrance and now I wish I had. Nothing would have been better than to have sat under this tree on this bench eating lunch and admiring the view.

I walk back towards the entrance, hugging the edge of the park as the path winds around back towards civilization. Through a distant gate I can see traffic moving along one of the streets that abut the gardens and am surprised how completely I can feel ensconced in nature when the sounds and trappings of the city are so close.

I’m hungry and decide to have lunch at Fynkos, one of the two restaurants in the park. Along the way I pass one of the many ponds and linger before a statue of a Cape clawless otter. I’ve not seen many animals in the park other than the occasional bird and my mind wanders to the wild pigs that once dominated the area. I wonder where I might find some now.

Nearing the restaurant there’s a path leading off to the left called the braille trail. A rope guides people along a beautiful wooded path with plaques in braille describing the surroundings, and encouraging people to sit and listen to the gardens. I take the detour and am thrilled at how fulfilling it is.

The lunch is surprisingly good. I order a grilled veggie sandwich with fries and sit in the shade on the outdoor terrace. There’s a decent number of poeple in the restaurant and I go in and out of listening to the conversations around me and reading my book.

After lunch I take the time to visit the sculpture garden, the only major area of the gardens I have yet to visit. The sculptures adorn the various lawns, at times almost hidden amongst the foliage, at other times dominating the landscape. You’re encouraged to step onto the lawns to see them all and I happily zig zag around seeking out all the sculptures I can find.

On my way out I pass once again the Camphor Avenue. It’s one of the most dramatic aspects of the park and think of how wonderful it might be if there were a way to structure the entrance around the Avenue itself. Or create another one so that you walk under this canopy before emerging out to the open spaces of the gardens with views of the mountain. A fantasy, but what wow what an impression it would make!

I leave happy, so glad that I’ve finally made the time to visit. I’m planning to come back to South Africa next year and I’m already making myself promises to return to the gardens, this time with a packed lunch and a picnic blanket so that I can make good on my desire to while away an afternoon laying on a sloping lawn, letting myself be one with the nature that abounds. 🇿🇦