Kirstenbosch Gardens, Cape Town

Kirstenbosch botanic gardens. Cape seal colony.
The botanic gardens are just magnificent and make for a nice sunday morning stroll. Kirstenbosch is one of the top seven botanical gardens in the world, habitually winning gold awards at the Chelsea Flower Show.
Sometimes there's openair concerts in the gardens.

This is worth a trip whatever the Season.

OPENING TIMES
08:00 - 19:00 (September -March)
08:00 - 18:00 (April - August).

ADMISSION
R20 Adults
R10 Students (I got in with my NUS Card)
R5 Scholl Chrildre (6-18 years old)
Free for children under 6
Free for SA Senior Citizens on Tuesdays except Public Holidays.
Free for Botanical Society members

Late afternoon Sunday summer concerts in one of the world's famous botanical gardens, running from November to April - tickets at the gate priced around £7 (UK). Arrive for a late lunch in one of several restaurants or BYO + a rug. Great setting and a lovely way to watch the sun set over the mountains.

The concerts are always popular so get there early to reserve your spot. While waiting for the concert to begin check out the world famous garden.

The concerts typically starts at 5.30pm - 7pm max but be seated by 4.30pm latest

Kirstenbosch Gardens is a world famous botanical garden that is "breathtaking" and "outrageously beautiful". The Botanical Gardens are situated along the slopes of Table Mountain , just picture it ......... brings back memories.

There are over 22000 indigenous plants in the garden, many of which are found only in the Cape Peninsula. The Peninsula is the smallest of the world's six floral kingdoms, and has one of the highest concentrations of different plant species anywhere. The special vegetation of the region is called "fynbos" and includes the protea. South Africa's national flower is just one of the thousands of beautiful, unique plants to see at Kirstenbosch.

For all the plant and garden lovers this is a must see. My mom is a bit of a garden guru and she was speakless when we first visited here.

So come on guys make this one of many stops , remember I told you there is lots to see.

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Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens!

This is a beautiful garden with great big African trees that look so alive (is it the giant baobab tree?) and other 8000 plant species! The garden is located at the eastern slopes of Table Mountain, and on the way I did see the clouds draping down the side of Table Mountain like a tablecloth.

In 1660, Jan Van Riebeeck planted a wild almond hedge to “demarcate the colony from the indigenous Khoi,” and the remains of that plant can still be seen.

There are free guided walks on Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday, and you can also pay for a golf cart tour. I just walked.

And after walking around, you can have a little snack at one of the restaurants in the complex (Fynbos, Silver Tree, Tea House).

Tours that take you to the Cape Peninsula normally stop here. However, they do not stay here long enough for you to explore the whole place. If you come in the summer come on Sunday afternoon for the free concerts and walk around. You need a whole day to really see everything that is here.

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Another must-see while in Cape Town are the beautiful Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens. Only a small portion of the hectares are actually landscaped, the rest is left to flourish naturally. Luckily I was there in late autumn when the notional flower of SA, the protea, was blossoming. According to a guide there over 1000 different species of them! Of course you'll see a lot more than proteas there, mainly indigenous plants.
During summer concerts are held in the gardens.
Opening times are from 8am to 7pm September to March and 8am to 6pm April to August.
Admission is 27 Rand and you can go on a guided tour in a golf cart for an additional 25 Rand.

If you have a guide, they usually take you at Kirstenbosch at the end of the day, in a hurry, and you can't enjoy this incredible huge garden; ask your guide to save at least a couple of hours...three is better; you can also take wonderful pictures; Kirstenbosch is not only a wonderful botanical garden: it's set between high mountains and the ocean (as all cape town is), so what you find is more than you expect!
Look at the first picture: the enormous trees around me are... Ficus... do you recognise the small plants we keep in our houses?

Tip: there are many concerts in Kirstenbosch (on Sunday I think...): ask your guide, or hotel, or tourist info office, and go there to enjoy a concert in a wonderful landscape, sitting on the grass :-)