South Africa: Kirstenbosch

We have just returned from a eight day visit to Cape Town and Franschhoek which, as a gardener, had to include a trip to Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens. Indeed, we booked an additional half day visit to the gardens on top of the scheduled flying one hour tick tour offered by the tour company. Sadly, this fact hadn't been passed on to the fabulous guide who looked after us during our stay in Cape Town, so our half day was little more than another hour and a half at the end of a blistering and full on tour of the Cape Peninsular. 

So, now we have an excuse to return. Two actually, but more on that in a later post.

Please enjoy the following photos, I make almost no attempt to explain what you are looking at as it was quite overwhelming!

There were only a few protea still flowering so our next visit will need to be in a southern hemisphere spring.

Peeking over  hedge with stunning red ribs.

Sugarbird posing with Cape Town in the distance.

The gardens are a mixture of paved and grass paths, with guniea fowl marching around everywhere as if they owned the place, which of course they do!