Proteas and More Proteas

Today, after our hotel breakfast at the Protea North Wharf, we headed to the Protea Fire & Ice. I had originally booked the North Wharf as it was close to V&A Waterfront and the Nelson Mandela Gateway with apartment-style rooms. I thought it would be good to have space, but also had originally planned a three person trip.

But as we booked a middle of the night return flight, I was concerned we would want a room to rest in and the North Wharf rates automatically included breakfast. So I decided to have in the back-pocket a more cost-effective hotel near the Bree Street neighborhood. So we checked into our 5th Protea Hotel of our trip.

Also, on our agenda was to visit Kirstenbosch, one of the national botanical gardens in South Africa. It sits right next to Table Mountain and has a heavy emphasis on indigenous plants. We learned about the fynbos or shrublands and the karoo or semi-desert climate of the greater Western Cape region. We enjoyed the day, getting our steps in, and taking photos of different types of proteas! The national flower of South Africa is the King Protea, but unfortunately didn't get to see any. But here are photos of other flowers, our day at the garden, and other types of proteas:























Here are some views of Table Mountain from the garden:









The gardens are known to be a popular place to picnic and we saw many families and friends gathering. There was also a summer sunset concert planned, so folks were grabbing space early:



Here’s our obligatory Botanical Garden selfie:



After our jaunt to the garden and some refreshments and scones at the Tea House, we returned to our hotel and rested by the pool. The hotel also has a view of Table Mountain:



For dinner, we went to nearby Sea Breeze Fish & Shell on Bree Street. The area is known for restaurants and art, and seemed really hip as we walked through. Amanda ordered the fish and chips and I enjoyed a seafood pasta. I also drank an appletiser which is a popular local sparkling apple juice, having had the grapetiser at the botanical garden.

Then we headed to the Airport to catch our Air France flight to Paris. We lucked out with the Sky Priority line being a breeze with a friendly agent who gave us restaurant vouchers as the lounge was closed. We perused shops and then boarded for our flight to Newark by way of Paris!