On the eastern slopes of Table Mountain in Cape Town, Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden was surrounded in a veil of fog from the much-needed rain. Sunbirds, sugarbirds, and Cape Robins flitted through lush foliage, but my eyes were trained on a spot higher on the slopes. There weren’t many other people up here. Most of the tourists stuck to the lower trails. I wished to push higher and higher. At the edge of a patch of grass, I paused. There was a gardener working on the beds and he waved me over. I followed him around the back of a large shrub. And there was the magnificent king protea. Like nothing I had ever seen, I was stuck mute while the gardener told me how they carefully gathered the seeds from these enormous heads every year to ensure these plants would continue. Endemic to Southern Africa, it was just the first in a list of firsts on this trip to Africa, each more unbelievable than the next. Every experience on that trip was sweeter knowing that these were once in a lifetime moments. I lived in Alaska. What were the chances I would ever return to South Africa and Botswana?
So excited.