Durban - Friday 18th March

We decided today to head out into the countryside to visit The Capture Site and some Cycad gardens. Our first destination was just outside Howick which is about 120kms from Durban.

We stopped for brunch at a farmhouse cafe just short of Howick then traveled a couple of kms down the road to The Capture Site. On the 5th August 1952 a armed apartheid police roadblock flagged down a car in which Nelson Mandela was pretending to be the chauffeur. Having succeeded in evading capture by apartheid operatives for 1 months, Mandela had just paid a clandestine visit to ANC President Albert Luthuli's home to report back on his Africian odyssey and to request support in calling for an armed struggle. He would be held in prison for 27 years after his arrest on this day.

In the exhibition shed they have an extensive history of Mandela's life then you proceed for a short walk to an amazing sculpture of his image made out of metal stakes.

A view from the distance. 

View from where the chairs are in the photo above 

When headed back to the botanical gardens in Pietermitorzburg ( PMB for short) to view the cycad collection that I had read about in the Africian cycad magazine I get quarterly. 

A nice view down a row of London Plane Trees just after the entrance

They had just started to make a new Cycad area to house the different species from the cape areas of Africa

Back into the car to visit the Cycad Centre which is a well known cycad nursery about 20 kms away.After a brief stop to look around we headed back into Durban to visit the world famous Durban Botancial Gardens.I had been planning a visit to these gardens for the last 20 years so got the realise the dream today.They have an incredible display of cycads with what is regarded as the worlds most rarest plant - Encephalartos Woodii  

Absolutely huge specimen of which there were 4 that were planted in the gardens around the start of 1900 - they have doubled in size since they were planted. There each have their own video security camera and are micro chipped . Photo of all four

Various photos of their well maintained varieties in the Cycad section

Whole group of blue leave species

Went back to the hotel for a rest and then Ciffy our taxi driver picked us and dropped us to an Indian restaurant for dinner.