Cloudless South Africa
Table Mountain is still under the clouds, so that day trip is out of the question. I then decided to go to Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden. It’s located at the foot of Table Mountain and is considered the smallest and the densest of the floral kingdoms. The Dutch, uprooted most of the indigenous plants to plant their own, but the Fynbos (indigenous plant) survived only in Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden.
It took me over an hour to hike the garden, the greenery and the flowers, even though it’s not flower season. The garden has a spectacular view of Table Mountain, is seems so inviting and so serene. Too bad it’s enveloped in clouds today. While exiting the garden, I saw a section of ‘Endangered Plants’. The Protea was on the list and this plant is South Africa’s national symbol.
That’s so telling, don’t you think? What we humans beings do in our normal every day lives has a devastating impact on nature. Standing among the endangered plants, and a few that are extinct, except for that small corner of the park, was like being in a world lost. A world future generations will most likely not be able to experience.
But, what got me out of my slump was seeing a 70 plus grandmother hike in the garden, she was more agile than I was and her countenance was radiant.
From Kirstenbosch, I went to the World of Birds. It’s the largest bird sanctuary in South Africa, carrying over 3500 bird species and it was built by an individual without government support. That too brought me out of my endangered slump as well. It’s amazing what an individual can do. The sanctuary itself was somewhat scary, with all the predatory birds that weren’t caged.
It was time for dinner by the time I explored the bird sanctuary, so I headed back to my room at one of the boutique hotels South Africa offers and freshen up a bit to go out clubbing tonight. Maybe since my cloud was lifted today, there will be no clouds tomorrow on Table Mountain.
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