
If you’ve ever been to the southern suburbs of Cape Town, you’ll have heard of Tokai Forest, the pine plantation that comes off the southern side of Table Mountain and along the bottom of Constantia.

That plantation is now giving way as part of a long-term plan to Tokai Park, a re-establishment of the most critically endangered flowers and plants in the Cape Flats Sand Fynbos, a division of the incredibly diverse Cape Floral Kingdom.

Tokai Park is being rebuilt literally from the ground up over the next five to ten years as the concession to forestry expires in 2025. This, along with the extensive fires that took place in 2015 mean that there’s a perfect opportunity to restore the floral kingdom that grew in this area over 150 years ago. Amazingly, the very seedbanks that are needed to regrow the kingdom are still in soil in the park and as such, the work is in a sense archaeological – no species will be formally imported into the park but rather regrown from what is already to be found there.

You can visit Tokai Park for free (some activites like horse and bike riding require permits). We recommend staying at Majini Gueshouse where Suzy Digby-Smith offers superb self-catering cottages in a tranquil garden setting from R2 200 ($153 / £122 / €145) for two sharing per night.
