Little Oasis in the big city

Company Gardens (Cape Town)

Not even there 5 min and the pigeons
are happy to see us

We went to Cape Town to have a look at the Company Gardens in the center of town. A garden in the center of town that has a relaxed atmosphere? Who would have thought that if they haven't been there before. Parking was a little bit of a problem but it is a popular part of town so we were mentally prepared for it....woosa! The effort is well worth it. 

The gardens are beautiful and full of life......families having a picnic on the lawn while surrounded by doves that gets the attention of the little ones.Romance is in the air as couples relax on the grass, holding each other in their arms while the time slows down and they notice how lucky they are. Groups of friends relaxing and listening to music. The professional photographer making the sky twinkle like stars in the day light. The air is filled with laughter, smiles and appreciation for the atmosphere/beauty that mother nature provides.

The Company Gardens has a little restaurant that provides delicious meals for reasonable prices, it is not fine dinning but it is nice comfort food. The Company Gardens is surrounded by 5 museums, the South African Museum, SA Museum Planiterium, SA National Gallery, Slave Museum and the Jewish Museum. Unfortunately all the museums were closed when we were in the area because it was a public holiday.

Snakes and old places

It's Summer in Cape Town and there so many places to go!!!!

A few weekends ago we decided it was about time we dug into the adventure fund and go to Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens for a picnic. I think we had the same idea as every other Capetonian but fortunately there's enough trees for everyone and we found a lovely spot with the guinea fowl. It really is a beautiful place to spend and afternoon.

There's so much to see at Kirstenbosch that I never knew existed. If you walk to the top of the gardens you'll find a little coffee shop and gift shop as well as a huge nursery with all sorts of plants. We wandered around the garden for about an hour along different path ways and found some stone art and a big black SNAKE!!! Living life on the wild side...one things for sure,I'm glad he didn't join us for a picnic or my nature days would be over.

On our way out we decided to stop an have a quick drink at Moyo...what an experience! Such friendly staff and the most delicious ice tea under the African Sun. The menu is great and unlike some of the other Moyo's they have an Al la carte menu which is very affordable - Spring onion and cheese samoosas are a definite winner and were accompanied with delicious complementary bread. The best part of this experience was the fact that we had our hands washed before our meal by our lovely waiter.

Around the corner from Kirstenbosch is Rhodes Memorial* and everytime Pieter and I drive through to Cape Town he asks 'What's up there?'.
So off we went to Rhodes Memorial. Other then the lovely view of Cape Town it's really forgotten about and could be a little more looked after and enjoyed (Although I hear the tea room has a great reputation). There must have been at least 3 very brightly colored wedding parties having their photos taken which was sweet but they took over the 49 steps -one for each year of Cecil John Rhodes life- and made it very difficult to get to the top of the memorial. It's worth seeing at least once though.

*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhodes_Memorial
* Entrance to Kirstenbosch is R42 for adults and R10 for children under the age of 18.
   Gates are open from 8am to 7pm in Summer.