Located on the eastern slopes of Table Mountain in Cape Town, South Africa, Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens are considered one of the most beautiful in the world. The property covers over 1,000 acres. However, only about 80 acres is actually cultivated.
The gardens were founded in 1913 to preserve the country's unique plants. It's the first botanical garden in the world that was designed for this purpose. Today the garden contains over 8000 species of plants.You can spend an entire day roaming through the gardens. There are plenty of gurgling streams, ponds, trails, and gorgeous plants to look at. If you want to get an education about the various species of plants, I'd recommend taking the guided Fynbos Walk. You'll learn all about the indigenous flora of South Africa. There are many other free garden walks as well. If you want to go on those, visit the gardens on Tuesday, Wednesday, or Saturday. Also, if you like to hike, there are many trails leading from the garden into the mountains.
If you visit in the summer, be sure to stick around for one of the summer sunset concerts. They are held every Sunday at 5:30 PM from late November to mid-April.
The gardens are open daily September - March from 8 AM to 7 PM and from 8 AM to 6 PM April through August. Admission is R40 for adults, and R10 for children.
Now that is an awesome location for a large garden! What a view.
ReplyDeleteThis is one of my most favorite gardens in the world!
DeleteAuthor/blogger Karen Walker just went to S Africa - I wonder if they visited it?
ReplyDeleteI hope she did. It would be a shame if she missed it!
DeleteI would have never imagined a place as beautiful as this in South Africa. I bet sunset there is A-mazing!
ReplyDeleteMost people picture South Africa like the Serengeti Plains. It's nothing like that!
DeleteBeautiful pictures. Sounds like a wonderful place to visit. A summer sunset concert would be nice.
ReplyDeleteIt's perfect!
DeleteAlso a good idea is to take the one of the guided golf cart tours. :-) It is an amazing place to visit.
ReplyDeleteIt most certainly is!
DeleteHi Sherry,
ReplyDeleteI was going to allude to Misha knowing that beautiful location very well. And there she is. Great photos and I really must go and listen to a gurgling stream :)
Gary
Beautiful gardens inspire the listening to babbling brooks!
Deletelovely and I"ve always been interested in S.Africa.The country has certainly had its problems thru the years, and is a land of great contrasts. But I've also heard that it is wonderful.
ReplyDeleteIt truly is a beautiful place!
DeleteGlad you enjoyed this post! Thanks for the follow!
ReplyDeleteIt's gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the nice and interesting post..
ReplyDeletecrimson queen japanese maple
Hi Sherry .. I love Kirstenbosch and always visit, whenever I'm in Cape Town - I haven't been for years .. and really want to go back NOW! The gardens are wonderful and it's all so natural .. just being on the edge of Table Mountain with incredible views over Cape Town and out across towards Robben Island ... with the Atlantic to the west and the Indian Ocean to the east ... it's a fantastic area for any number of reasons, but the flora and fauna is so unique and prolific ..
ReplyDeleteGreat to read .. cheers Hilary
Oh it has gone through ... blogger emailed me telling me it had bombed out ..
ReplyDeleteGood .. that's fine then .. cheers Hilary