Parks in Cape Town and Other Sights, Tuesday, May 3

Our last day in Cape Town will include some good destinations.  After another good night's sleep, we took a late breakfast in the executive lounge.  Sometime after 10 AM, we set out in a taxi for the Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden.  It is a large space in the southern part of the city and is highly recommended.  On arrival, we bought our tickets and a map and proceed to walk through the gardens.  It was really peaceful and pleasant, and the weather, yet again, is perfect.

The favorite plant that we saw was called the silver bloom or the silver tree.  I was planted in several locations, but it took bit of hunting to find an example with a label.  We wondered if this would grow in California?

We also learned about native plants called Fynbos.  I photographed a sign which provided a definition.  We completed our tour of the gardens around lunchtime and at 1 PM we took a taxi to another park.

We were back in the city center and planned to visit the Company Garden.  This is a lovely urban oasis surrounded by impressive buildings such as St. George's church (where Archbishop Tutu preached), the South African parliament building, the Natural History museum and the art museum.  There is also a prominent statue of Cecil Rhodes pointing north to indicate his desire to make South Africa a British colony.  We stopped at a recommended restaurant for lunch in the middle of the park.  We each had a Darling beer and a chicken sandwich, removing the lettuce for safety's sake.

After lunch, we continued walking through the Central Business District (CBD) to arrive at Cape Town's city hall with a large open space called the Government Parade opposite the entrance.  This is where Nelson Mandela addressed the people after he had been released from the prison at Robben Island.

We then proceeded to the Greenmarket Square to look at the souvenir stands where we bought an elephant carved from mahogany.  We notice that there is a lot of outdoor shopping in this town -- from socks to soap!  From here we made our way back to the Hilton to relax a bit, but not before a quick detour to the nearby Muslim neighborhood that features beautifully painted houses.

Dinner tonight is again in the executive lounge:  chicken with veggies and butternut squash.