The preparations for the 2014 Cango Valley Biblical garden safari which is planed for the 24th and 25th of October 2014, have started. 25 gardens in the Cango valley between Oudtshoorn and the Swartberg are open to the public. As in previous years these gardens form the nucleus of this exciting project. This is only possible with the friendly cooperation of the garden owners who make every effort to accommodate this initiative to generate funds for the maintenance of the Biblical garden at Schoemanshoek. By the way 98% of the plants in this garden have a Biblical connection and were selected on research that was done by two members of the management committee.
As in the past we have categorised the gardens to enable our visitors to plan their trips. As yet the categories are the following: Formal gardens, Farm gardens (as an alternative to formal gardens), Panoramic gardens, Water saving/indigenous gardens, and other gardens. The latter includes the Biblical garden and a nursery. The good rain we had will surely ensure luscious and beautiful gardens to supplement the Cango Valley which is itself so beautiful at this time of the year.
In an attempt to be innovative as far as the garden safari is concerned, we have added a few exciting new items to the program, e.g.
A flower festival in the church with flower arrangements based on a specific theme. It promises to be an uplifting experience. The management committee would like the community to participate and therefore we invite those that are interested in flower arrangement to contact Mariaan van Rensburg at telephone 0442728516. While the beauty of the flowers can be enjoyed, there is also beautiful music to be enjoyed and the lead glass windows of the church have symbolic significance.
Another exciting innovation is the Bonsai exhibition which will be there for the two days of the garden safari. The owner, Mr Swift, will be available for a limited time at 10.00 on both days to explain the concept to interested parties. It is obvious that much time, knowledge and love for the Bonsai trees are involved in this practice.
Compost is essential to the gardener. Therefore we thought it would be a good idea to have an information session on the process of making compos. A leading farmer will explain this process to interested parties at 10.00 on both mornings of the garden safari. Examples of raw material, compost in the half way stage and also well prepared compost, will be shown.
We also would like to make use of this opportunity to introduce the public to some of the “developing gardens” in our valley. Some of these gardens are situated in narrow ravines and places where you will never expect it. With this addition to the garden safari we would like to contribute to the potential that already exists.
The garden safari offers an opportunity to the early birds to obtain a weekend package at a bargain/give away price. The package consists of one night accommodation for two, a complimentary ticket for two to one of the many places worth seeing in our valley (Cango caves, Cango ostrich farm, Buffelsdrift game ranch, Cango Wildlife ranch ) and two tickets for the garden safari. The price for the package is R250. The accommodation is in private homes with a three or four grade standard. The purpose of this initiative is to offer visitors from outside the Oudtshoorn area anoppertunity to come and enjoy some of the exciting venues that the valley offers. For more information in this regard please contact telephone 0795580002 or bdanielategan@gmail.com
Over the past few years the hiking trails of the garden safari have become very popular. Several hiking clubs have made use of this facility. The distances of the various routes differ e.g. 5km. 10km and 15km. However we can alter the distance to suite the specific hiking group. The different hiking trails will enable the hikers to visit some of the gardens e.g. the 5km trail will pass 6 gardens , the 6km. will pass 10 gardens and the 15km trail will pass 2gardens. More information at 0795580002 or bdanielategan@gmail.com •
