The area where Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden (KNBG) is today used to be home to the Khoi San people. These are the hunter gatherers who thrived here before the first Europeans came to African. Today KNBG is one of the best botanical gardens in the world.
It changed hands many times over hundreds of years before finally owned by Cecil John Rhodes in the late 1800s'. When he died, be bequeathed the garden to the country.
The setting for the garden couldn't have been more perfect - it sits on the eastern slope of Table Mountain. It will take weeks to see the entire garden. I took a free guided tour of the garden given by a volunteer. There are several people on the tour, many of them South Africans. It was an enlightening tour understanding the many different varieties of plants and how the garden works. The Cape Peninsula area is a Cape Flora Kingdom, which has 9,000 species, two thirds of which are native to the area. That means you can't find them anywhere else. That's why the KNBG is designated a UNESCO Heritage site.
In spite of its notoriety, the garden is difficult to get to. There is no public transportation there so you have to rent a car, take a taxi or get on a hop-on hop-off bus, which is what I took.
It changed hands many times over hundreds of years before finally owned by Cecil John Rhodes in the late 1800s'. When he died, be bequeathed the garden to the country.
The setting for the garden couldn't have been more perfect - it sits on the eastern slope of Table Mountain. It will take weeks to see the entire garden. I took a free guided tour of the garden given by a volunteer. There are several people on the tour, many of them South Africans. It was an enlightening tour understanding the many different varieties of plants and how the garden works. The Cape Peninsula area is a Cape Flora Kingdom, which has 9,000 species, two thirds of which are native to the area. That means you can't find them anywhere else. That's why the KNBG is designated a UNESCO Heritage site.
In spite of its notoriety, the garden is difficult to get to. There is no public transportation there so you have to rent a car, take a taxi or get on a hop-on hop-off bus, which is what I took.
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| Entrance to the garden |
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| Beautiful setting behind Table Mountain |
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| Guinea Fowls |
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| Mandela was here |
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| Vast open green area |
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| Statues from Zimbabwe scattered around the garden |
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| More beautiful statues |
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| Kei Cycad (I think) tree, that has been around for millions of years |
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| A Protea |
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