Travelling Cheap

My mother is a nature freak, as I have surely mentioned before. She is a bit of a hippy and now that I’ve moved away and taken all my cynicism with me she has let all her “natural goodness” free. Which is great, she’s a lot happier now that she can express her love of nature all the time without me sniggering in the background. Unfortunately, living in a European city where there are no parks, she has to go on a 2 hour bus drive to get anywhere near nature. So when she visited me in London, I thought I would give her a special treat, and take her to a place where there are plants from all around the world, places that she might never see up close.

I woke up unusually early and took her to Kew Botanical Gardens in Richmond, London. It isn’t difficult to get there, either by underground or overground rail. However, you want to get there early in the morning because the place is massive. There is a extremely large area for you to wander around so you need the better part of a day to take full advantage of the Botanical Gardens. We saw so much that day, that I have to pick out the best moments for you.

The rainforest greenhouse was exquisite. Walking in, the change in temperature and moisture is so great that your glasses steam up in seconds. Nonetheless, they quickly adjust and after getting through that initial fog you will see trees of shocking shapes and sizes. A crystallising image for me was seeing my mother stand under the leaf of some rainforest tree. Said leaf was about three times my mother’s height, and she’s a tall lady. You are also given the opportunity to go up to the second level of the greenhouse and look down onto the the upper branches of the trees. Pepper trees, cacao trees, all huge and beautiful.

Another great greenhouse is the the cactus area. Walking into that construct you feel like all the moisture is drawn out of your lungs in seconds. The air is hot and dry, reminding me of Tunisia, closer to the desert rather than the beaches. Hundreds of cactus species that we are only used to seeing as tiny malnourished pot plants grow wild and to very large sizes. To be quite honest that was more a treat for myself, seeing as I used to collect cacti as a child (I had 70 different species).

Finally, apart from all the amazing trees and animals (there are geese, peacocks, ducks, squirrels and a whole host of other animals roaming the Gardens), there are the buildings. The rainforest Greenhouses look like a Victorian futuristic moon base, and are lined by statues representing various houses of England. Then there are fountains and lakes, strewn around the grounds until recently were a wide selection of Moore sculptures.

But the best bit as far as building and structures are concerned was a royal holiday home that looks like a fairy tale cottage. It is at the bottom of a little trail, surrounded by tall trees and all boarded up. There is no way to go in or look in, which just adds to the mystery. It truly looks like where a wicked witch might live, and there is an eerie feeling if you get too near.

I have to say that walking around Kew Gardens is so great that I have already visited twice and will surely do so again in the future. However, I am lucky and live close by. If you are visiting, I recommend you book somewhere nearby, as walking for hours and hours will take it out of you and you will need to rest. Take your camera, pack a picnic and fill up your canteens and you are off into the civilised wilderness.

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