Euphorbia

Today was hot!  We set out to visit the Karoo Desert Botanical Gardens, in Worcester.  We drove there over Bainskloof pass, and despite a considerable haze, the views were incredible - see 1st extra.  

Once at the gardens, we started with a cup of tea, then set out to walk around.  It was 34C, according to the car thermometer, so we very rapidly ran out of energy.  Sadly, there were few visitors, and the garden showed definite signs of neglect.  There were very few flowers, but that is understandable - it's a desert garden, and it's autumn.  But many of the signs were lost, and in the area labelled the Heritage Garden, where there were examples of huts of the Khoi, the huts were falling apart, and there were no information boards.

Partly because of the heat, and partly due to this somewhat depressing neglect, we couldn't summon up the energy for even the shortest of the hiking tracks.  We soon found ourselves back in the restaurant, where the service and food put the rest of the garden to shame.  We have to assume that there is a dire shortage of funding for the garden.  It was only R5 (about 30p) entrance fee to the garden - we would have expected to pay at least ten times that, and surely should have if the money is short.