Day 5 Companies gardens

Route of today:

I am driving down to the company's gardens. A park in the middle of the city surrounded by historic buildings like the Slave lodge and the st. George Cathedral. A park with statues of important persons . People are lying on the grass, enjoying lunch, enjoying. South Africa constantly gets me confused in knowing where I am. It feels very english, reminds me of London, years ago, walking with friends through hide park. The statues are from important men with fierce faces and a uniform. Even without a statue I suppose they looked like a statue in those days and acted like statues . Jan Smuts, Jan van Rietbeek. Some people are talking a language I recognize the words from. Dutch heritage. Afrikaans. It is talked with an intensity that makes me feel warm inside. I sat down on the grass, on my plastic bag...you never know what comes out of the grass. And than in front of me I see them . Yellow almost orange.. I smell them.

Afrikaantjes..... lots and lots of them. And for the first time I repeat the name of this, what i have always known as the most common flower , Afrikaantjes, Afrikaantjes. As I say it out loud it gets more intense.. like the Afrikaans language. As if I hear it for the very first time. The meaning of it, Afrikaantjes, has changed forever.... here in south africa in the company's garden, the most common flower becomes precious and forever special.