Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens

Do you want your kids to know the inside story on the secret places of Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens?

That its flowers are rare and precious and use armies of tiny ants and stripy fieldmice to help them survive?

That it contains an Octopus Tree and a bevy of jolly, Fat Ladies as well as sunbirds galore?

Stick with us :-) We'll throw in a lazy picnic under huge shady oaks for good measure.

To prepare for the adventure, pay a quick visit to Cape for Kids (or stop at the Kirstenbosch bookshop) to buy a Monty the Mongoose book by Ali Corbett.

Easy Kirstenbosch strolls for Younger Families

The Main entrance gives you easy access to Monty's pond and this is where you'll find the shady oaks and open lawns for easy family picnics. (It's pretty popular, so on weekends and holidays, can be a bit like a beehive. For quieter spaces, start at Top Gate... details below.)

If you have toddlers and/or prams, this is a good bet. If your party has stronger, longer legs, you will enjoy venturing further afield.

Having read a Monty book (Monty gets Lost is a great introduction) your kids will easily identify many of the characters and locations as the book is beautifully and accurately illustrated.

Children find endless amusement in the Banana Palm 'House', the Xhosa hut and the stream and it's just a short walk to the fragrance garden which is delights the senses of sight, smell and touch.

If you fancy a tranquil stroll (again an easy route especially with prams or multi-generational groups) the Sculpture Garden and wetland boardwalk lie midway between the Coffee Shop and the Silvertree restaurant. You can wander along looking at fascinating soapstone sculptures and listening to the calls of the wetland frogs as you go.

The self-service side of the main Kirstenbosch restaurant is the most child-friendly option for getting refreshments and a bite to eat as it has a large outdoor seating area so that kdis can let off steam without annoying the heck out of you or your fellow diners.

During the April and July school holidays there are often free puppet shows held at the restaurant, to the great delight of younger Garden visitors.

Peace, Proteas, Restios, Hikes... Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens

For strong-legged visitors wanting to hike Kirstenbosch Top Gate gets you in at the top of the hill, close to the contour paths, Nursery Ravine and Skeleton Gorge. It also offers you a picnic spot with a loftier view of the city and a more peaceful space.

Also known as the Rycroft gate, this entrance gets you closest to the protea and restio gardens and in the late afternoons the tour bus groups beat a path to the King Proteas on the way back from Cape Point. I'm pretty sure they have time for little else, so if you really want to enjoy Kirstenbosch, don't tack it onto the end of a day tour!

Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens is a year-round venue!

One of the best things about Kirstenbosch is the distinctive character of each of season there.

Spring is glorious with Namaqualand daisies in flower as well as the proteas and pincushions. The gardens are buzzing with activity and there are squadrons of baby guineafowl and Egyptian geese everywhere...

Summer is bursting with every colour under the sun. The gardens lie languid under the sun and the velvety lawns and shady oaks offer a welcome respite from the heat.

Autumn brings out the the plectranthus with an amazing show of pinks, mauves and blues in all the shady places. March lilies abound. Shadows are longer but the temperatures are still balmy until the sun disappears behind Devil’s Peak at mid-afternoon.

In winter the aloes come into their own and the strelitzias enter their long flowering period. The Egyptian geese begin their battle for breeding territory with the pond being prime real estate for all of them! Make use of the Restaurant (almost deserted at that time of year), it has the most glorious crackling open fireplace.