Day 14 – Wednesday 27 August

Cape Town

We had one final morning together and the group asked Frank if we could visit the city centre. We started at The Company’s Garden, now a public park and botanical garden, the oldest garden in South Africa and a national heritage site. The garden was originally established by the Dutch East India Company to provide fresh vegetables to their new settlement as well as passing ships. By the 17th century it became more ornamental and was renowned for its great variety of trees, shrubs, vegetables and flowers from across the globe.

The Company’s Garden

Green Point Park with Lion’s Head beyond

From here Frank took us on a short walking tour, admiring the Art Deco architecture, visiting the flower market on Adderley Street where generations of families have sold flowers and perusing Greenmarket Square with its stalls of handicrafts. We then drove to Green Point Park, passing the colourful houses in the Bo-Kaap area. Green Park Point is an urban park opened in 2011 with an ethos to be environmentally friendly, for example rainwater harvesting, greywater recycling, solar-powered lighting and preserving the natural ecology of the area. We were thrilled when Frank, always on the lookout to find something special for us, spotted a chameleon in the biodiversity garden, which showcases the indigenous flora and fauna of the Cape region. What a fitting end to our trip.

Chameleon