Life is Wonderful!

The flowers are blooming in South Africa, because we went to the Kirstenbosch National Botanical gardens.

These succulents are soft like a puppy’s ear!

If you are ever in Cape Town, you must plan to visit Kirstenbosch

These gardens are a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  I didn’t know what that meant, so I looked it up.  It means the gardens are considered to be of outstanding natural or cultural significance to humanity. UNESCO stands for United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.

We had lunch while watching the beautiful views of Table Mountain and all the vibrant flowers.

This is the view from our picnic spot.

After we ate, a volunteer named Di, gave us a tour all around Kirstenbosh.

There were birds like guinea fowl and Egyptian geese hidden around every corner, and flowers in all shapes and sizes.

Our tour guide, Di, was very informative and by the end of the day, I felt like I knew every single flower in the whole wide world!

Ask for tour guide Di when you visit Kirstenbosch!

Have a listen to how very knowledgeable Di is:

South Africa’s national flower is the King Proteus, named after a Greek God, a deity that was able to change between many forms — to all my fellow Percy Jackson fans!

King Proteus has 81 Graden Varieties

There was a jungle gym tree that I climbed; and, a walkway called boom slang, because it’s slithers through the trees like the boom slang snake (tree snake).

The Boom Slang Bridge – Centennary Tree Canopy Walkway was built for the 100th Year Anniversary of Kirstenbosch and is 130 meters long and is designed to deliberately sway in the wind

Another section was full of plants and trees hundreds of years old, as well as statues of dinosaurs, because they are ancient, too.  We saw an owl hanging out as well.

There are nine “new” dinosaur sculptures that are attracting kids and families to Kirstenbosch

Just so you know, if you ever see trees with rough bark, you will know that they need more protection than ones smooth bark.

A Traditional Hut

There were so many flowers and trees — I can’t remember them all!

The pepper tree is believed to have medicinal qualities and is crushed into powder, mixed in water, and used for many ailments

Well I guess that is the end of Kirsten Bosch.

Kirstenbosch is at the base of Table Mountain National Park, the peak behind us is called Lion’s Head

Look for more posts from your Junior WorldTrek Reporter.

Keep Calm and Travel Around the World