Cape Town mountain walks and an inspirational woman

When my mother drives to work, as she does every day, this is where she goes.

Her 'office' is Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens, one of the most famous botanical gardens of the world and surely the one with the most spectacular natural setting.

As one of Kirstenbosch's leading guides, an expert on the region's flora, she has walked and talked many many hundreds of visiting botanists and plant enthusiasts from all over the world around these gardens.

(See here for why this UNESCO World Heritage listed area is one of the world's six Floral Kingdoms - by far the smallest yet by far the richest in diversity)

For her family, this means we score with the best possible guide for the mountain walks and trails that Cape Town has in abundance, and which she knows like the back of her hand.

Leading the way - on Table Mountain paths, in May last year ...

and at Silvermine Nature Reserve, April this year ...

 

Inspecting the cycads at the gardens of Babylonstoren, April this year ...

Passion for her work and for life is what has always driven her.

On her 80th birthday, her gift to herself was an abseil - she fulfilled a dream by launching herself 1000 metres into vertical space off the top of Table Mountain ... 

 

I've been a little afraid of what she might have been planning for today, her 90th birthday.

Celebratory lunch two days ago (photo Ann Swanepoel)


The only thing I'm sure of is that she'll continue to be an inspiration.


Happy 90th birthday, Mom! May the paths continue to open up in front of you 
with many great adventures ahead.

Cape Town, 2015 & 2016

Vineyard escapades

On freezing winter days do you dream of lying on a four-poster bed in a summer garden?

The Alphen, Constantia, Cape Town

You can, if you like, in these rose, herb and lavender filled gardens where a duel was once fought between an army captain and a doctor named James Barry, supposedly over the affections of a daughter of the house. Both missed, happily - and probably intentionally, since they were actually best friends! James Barry went on to a celebrated career as a surgeon, performing the first Caesarian section in South Africa.

The twist in the tale is that on 'his' death in 1865, James Barry was discovered to be a woman. A petite, fiery redhead, she had disguised herself as a man in order to be accepted into Edinburgh's medical school and later as a surgeon with the military in India and South Africa.
Look at her - good grief, surely somebody must have cottoned on?

The Alphen manor house and wine cellars (below) are part of the Constantia Valley vineyards, only 10 miles from the city of Cape Town.

Hydrangeas are called 'Christmas flowers' here, and already just past their best by late January

Today the Alphen is a beautiful hotel for people visiting Cape Town, though for Capetonians it's a place to go for breakfast under the trees after a walk through the vineyards -

My niece and I met up here for a drink looking over the pool right here one evening

and another friend and I for tea and carrot cake in the garden

 Besides pistol duels and famous cross-dressers, this area has seen a lot of colourful history. Nearby at Groot Constantia is where the wine-making all began, in 1685, when Dutch colonists found this lush valley to be perfect for growing vines ...

Napoleon supposedly had 30 bottles of Constantia wines shipped over to Elba once a month to ease the pain of exile (that's a bottle a night, which would surely have done the trick). 

King Louis Philippe of France, Frederick the Great, England's George IV and Bismarck all dispatched emissaries to fetch crates of the stuff, and Dickens, Baudelaire and Jane Austen waxed lyrical about them. (Austen recommended 'a glass of Constantia' for 'its healing powers on a disappointed heart', she and Napoleon clearly both knowing a thing or two about drinking for solace). 

You can drink Constantia wines here too, at The Cellars (above and below), down the road

which is where my friend Lorelle and I met one evening for a glass of bubbly

and had this terrace with a view to the mountains all to ourselves

barring a few ducks and a curious cat

Lorelle gets to come here for a morning coffee or an evening glass of Constantia wine whenever she likes

... lucky fish.
Happy birthday and Valentine's day, Lorelle xo

Business, African style

Gibson Rugwinya happened to be cycling down the road as I was getting out of my car at my friend's house one early evening. We smiled and greeted one another. This is not a country where strangers politely ignore one another, so I was only mildly surprised when Gibson, a total stranger to me, jumped off his bike to give me a great bear-hug.

He was interested in the camera over my shoulder, and in what kinds of pictures I like to take. We exchanged some life history and I learned that he was not local but from Namibia. Then he told me he was an artist and had a certain gift. 

Because I have a love affair with the kind of artistic creativity that flourishes here, usually involving recycled materials, I expressed an interest, and Gibson opened a battered box tied to the back of his bicycle.

(At this point I was really hoping I would like what I was about to see, because it was going to be awfully hard to turn down someone of Gibson's charm).

I loved what I saw. Working from discarded sheet metal, Gibson creates busy, active people, from hunters to athletes to musicians. 

I loved this quartet, but  there was a problem. I didn't have cash on me to pay for them.
No problem! said Gibson. Take them, and I will write down the number of my savings account.

So you're going to give me these sculptures and trust that I will pay you?

Gibson looked affronted. Of course I trust you! We're friends now!

Lunch with seagulls

A lunchtime business meeting in Cape Town can look like this

which is probably quite different to how it might look in any of these places, helpfully signposted

I was not doing business. I was just enjoying the feeling of having my bare feet in the warm sand under my table

which was only a couple of feet from the edge of the ocean

and enjoying these views from my glass of rosé 

... an ever changing passage of yachts

a couple of dolphins playing around this boat

and hopeful seagulls on the lookout for lunch

Bare feet in the sand, my solitary, spontaneous lunch on the beach was fabulous grilled calamari (my favourite thing at this place), salad, a glass of wine and espresso. Gulls, boats, ocean and sunshine tout compris, my bill came to all of £12 ($18). 

Which had me wondering as I left reluctantly (nobody rushes you here), how many other places in the world like this there could be ...

If  you visit Cape Town, you'll find this wondrous beach café here, not far from the harbour and waterfront. Just don't tell anyone else.