May 20, 2022 – iEXPOSED.us Blog

Stellenbosch – 28 May 2021 – South Africa

Editor note:

Another article from Tom Allin – World Traveler. I know some of us Harrison County travelers should see what real travelers do.

By Tom Allin

We are back on the road but without the 4Runner. We packed last night, had breakfast, packed the rental car and began our drive to Franschhock with a walking tour stop scheduled for Stellenbosch and a lunch afterwards.

Other than the light rain it appeared to be a good day – don’t you hate optimistic people.

OK — light rain, a rental car that is low to the ground rather than our high 4Runner, first time driving in South Africa and my memory has blanked out several other issues that may have had led me to be slightly stressed. But I had Nancy, my navigator and entertainment director, in the right hand seat so let’s get on the road.

I don’t remember any wrong turns. For the most part the highway driving was easy and the highway was well signed. The highway was well maintained, hell I wish I-20 in Texas was as well maintained as the highway out of Cape Town.

Maybe we made one or two wrong turns, but it didn’t take us to long to find downtown Stellenbosch and most importantly a parking space – a head in parking space!

We paid the city parking attendant and began walking towards Stellenbosch on Foot. As you probably guessed from the name it was a company that provides walling tours. Drops of rain were falling but I not going to say it was raining but more like a drizzle.

Use the links below to read Tom’s complete story

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Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens – 24 May 2021 — South Africa

Editor note:

Today I received this email from Tom Allin – World Traveler. He forwarded photos and a story. I know some of us Harrison County travelers should see what real travelers do.

By Tom Allin

Today was a day to stretch our legs and begin our self-education on South African plants. We arrived at Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens by Uber a few minutes before 9:00 am and left a little after 3:00 pm. We did stop for lunch.

Let me begin with why we are here. Seven years ago, when putting together our Drive Around the World one of the things to see on my list were the world’s best Botanical Gardens. Nancy and I both enjoy flowers, plants, cactus, succulents, trees, where they grow and botanical gardens. You would be hard pressed to look at any list of the world’s best botanical gardens and not find Kirstenbosch on the list.

I am going to get the scientific stuff out of the way early. South Africa has over 140 of the 200 natural orders of plants in the world and over 25,000 species of flora, including a floral kingdom found nowhere else in the world. The Cape Floral Region Protected Areas is a UNESCO World Heritage site and is recognized as one of the most special places for plants in the world in terms of diversity, density, and number of endemic species.

In short, South Africa’s is one of the most unique flora locations in the world.

Use the links below to read Tom’s story