The Lower Mpushini Valley Conservancy will be holding its annual Ashburton Aloe Festival over the weekend of the 5th and 6th July. The festival is timed to coincide with the flowering of the magnificent Aloe candelabra which put on a majestic display in this beautiful bushveld area just east of Pietermaritzburg.
Our line-up of expert talks include Steve Woodall "Planting for Butterflies", Sithembiso Sangweni "Guided walk and talk on alien invasive weed eradication", Nick May "A Living Geology", Howard Bradshaw "Stories of Herman Charles Bosman" Pandora Long & Catherine Fennel P.E.A.C.E. Project Permaculture Production Garden "Story of a Garden" Granton Law "For the Love of Indigenous Plants" and Pat McKrill "Getting to know the Neighbours" See the full programme hereunder for details.
Five venues will be open to the public between 9am and 4pm. Tickets to visit all the venues for the duration of the weekend are R30 for adults and children under 12 are free.
• Venue 1 Galago Farm Pandora Long will host the conservancy tea garden under the sweet thorn trees alongside the Mpushini River. BotSoc speaker Steve Woodhall will be sharing his facinating talk, "Planting for Butterflies" at Galago on Saturday 5th July at 10am. Visitors can walk and talk with Sithembiso Sangweni about the problem of alien invasives and view the eradication clearing work that is being undertaken here in the riverine area. Visitors can enjoy two self-guided trails, the special 'Euphorbia trail' a circular 1 hour moderate walk and Tufty's trail, a short loop of under 30min or link to Toprock. Galago will be hosting 'Art under the Trees' and a campfire from 4pm on Saturday with Howard Bradshaw's "Stories of Herman Charles Bosman". On Sunday morning at 10am Pandora Long will introduce the Galago Centre for P.E.A.C.E. Project and Catherine Fennell will present "The Story of a Garden".
• Venue 2 Toprock Museum Nick and Nicole May will open their Palaeontology Museum and Minerals, Crystals and Gemstone Shop where you will see one of the largest collections of fossils and minerals in the world! There will be a feast of arts and crafts stalls, live music with Paul and students from Marshall's music and fire dancing. Also at Venue 2, Bill and Pam Kelland of Bundu Bistro will serve breakfast, lunch and refreshments from the beautiful rustic African style restaurant deck set right into the heart of the bushveld. Here Nick May will give an exciting talk "A Living Geology" on Saturday 5th July at 2pm.
• Venue 3 At Impala Bend hosts, Keith and Kathy Brown will serve their delicious festival light lunches and drinks from the game viewing deck at 'The Waterhole' accompanied by light music. Indigenous Plant guru, Granton Law of Valea-Vista Indigenous Nursery will be at Impala Bend with his warm smile and excellent selection of indigenous plants. On Sunday 6th at 12 noon, Granton will share a talk "For the Love of Indigenous Plants" with festival visitors and at 2pm snake expert Pat McKrill will present his talk "Getting to Know the Neighbours!". This venue also hosts stalls, African craft and two self guided walking trail with an amazing view through the most beautiful Aloe candelabra country! On Saturday Ponys4parties will offer pony rides at Impala Bend.
• Venue 4 Rocky Wonder Aloe Nursery - Here, the new owners Peter and Heather Poulsen will welcome you to this beautiful farm with over 200 African Aloes on display in the specially created feature rockery overlooking the valley. A large variety of indigenous aloe species are available for sale at special festival prices!
• At Venue 5 Spencers Place, a self-guided birding trail through the fully flowering Aloes opens from 6am.
The Lower Mpushini Valley Conservancy is home to a wide variety of animal, bird and insect life and consists largely of pristine Eastern valley Bushveld with high biodiversity and a number of protected species. The area is also one of the butterfly "hotspots" where numerous species of these beautiful creatures can be seen. Long term conservation efforts have been very successful and the area was proclaimed a Protected Environment under the Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife Stewardship Programme in February 2011, the first such community Protected Area in KZN. The Lower Mpushini Valley forms part of a Biosphere Conservation Corridor Initiative for the Eastern Periphery of Pietermaritzburg. All funds raised go towards the conservation of this last bit of 'Wild Africa'.
To find the Lower Mpushini Valley Conservancy take the N3 exit 69 at Ashburton, turn right toward Ashburton East for 5km and follow the signs.
Further particulars can be obtained from Darlene Bond at 082 933 5036
Submitted by: Pandora Long
Cell: 072 6928124
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