Raphia Australis palms were first planted here in 1916 from seeds. The idea was to use the palm fibres to make brooms for the prison service, but, as the fibres were too short, the commercial enterprise soon ended. However, the palms (whose leaves are among the largest in the plant kingdom) flourished and by 1942 had been declared a national monument. The palms are home to the palmnut vulture (Gypohierax angolensis) , South Africa’s rarest breeding bird of prey.
