I was recently in the Western Cape visiting my children and nearly froze my tootsies off. It was so cold. One of our favourite places to visit when in Cape Town is the Kirstenbosch national botanical gardens, a living display of the floral riches of southern Africa and internationally acclaimed as one of the great botanical gardens of the world. Situated on the eastern slopes of Table Mountain, it was opened in 1913, on 528 hectares, it includes a cultivated garden and nature reserve. The developed garden is 36 hectares and displays a collection of southern African plants including rare and endangered species. Then there are the theme gardens, they include the useful plants garden, water wise garden, the fynbos garden, forest braille trail, and fragrance garden. The conservatory displays succulents, bulbs, ferns and cliff plants. There is a bookshop, library, restaurants, tea rooms, education centre, research centre and the centre for biodiversity conservation.The garden is huge - buy a map when you visit, there is so much to see. Popular summer sunset outdoor concerts, beautiful picnic spots, guided tours, walks, and trails.
So, to celebrate its centenary and opened to the public in May this
year, is a raised walkway called the
Centenary Tree Canopy Walkway - informally called the Boomslang... (in English, the
tree snake.) as it was inspired on the form of a snake skeleton. It is situated in the Abortium part of the garden, also
known as the Enchanted Forest. A lovely snaking meander through the trees to the canopy with stunning panoramic views overlooking 450
southern African tree species, the mountain, and Cape flats in the
distance. And it moves. Its
designed to gently flex back and
forth to mimic the movement of a snake I guess. Not an unpleasant feeling. We
loved the motion and views, and walked up and down its 130 metres several times.
I forgot my camera at home, these were taken with my phone camera.
Here are some photos of the boomslang courtesy of Adam Harrower, horticulturist at Kirstenbosch
After that long walk, we were parched... it was tea time anyway so we went to the tearoom at gate 2. They always have delicious cakes. Here's what we had - I had the baked cheesecake, yum!
I found a fabric shop and happily added these to my stash
More about Kirstenbosch here http://www.sanbi.org/gardens/kirstenbosch
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IMUN4KIQgM
