"Please look for penguins beneath your car
before driving off," reads the sign outside the
restaurant. We found none, but our search
served to remind us how very important
conservation is here in the parks and gardens
of Capetown's backyard.
First stop on our one-day tour of the
Cape Peninsula was Kirstenbosch National
Botanical Garden in a magnificent setting on
Table Mountain's eastern slopes, a mere 15 minute's drive from the city
centre. At the gardens' entrance a
display tells us that South
Africa's Cape area is by far the
smallest of the world's six floral
kingdoms and home to fynbos,
the large family of natural
vegetation unique to this balmy
but windswept region. Included
are hundreds of different proteas
and heathers, as well as many
iris, lilly and geranium species
which have since been
transplanted and cultivated by gardeners around the world.
"Please look for penguins beneath your car
before driving off," reads the sign outside the
restaurant. We found none, but our search
served to remind us how very important
conservation is here in the parks and gardens
of Capetown's backyard. 
First stop on our one-day tour of the
Cape Peninsula was Kirstenbosch National
Botanical Garden in a magnificent setting on
Table Mountain's eastern slopes, a mere 15 minute's drive from the city
centre. At the gardens' entrance a
display tells us that South
Africa's Cape area is by far the
smallest of the world's six floral
kingdoms and home to fynbos,
the large family of natural
vegetation unique to this balmy
but windswept region. Included
are hundreds of different proteas
and heathers, as well as many
iris, lilly and geranium species
which have since been
transplanted and cultivated by gardeners around the world. 
