By Alec Hogg
After our rugby champions delivered the goods again last night with that hard-fought victory over Scotland, South Africans are officially back in a good mood. With so many scumbags desperate to divide us for their own selfish ends, it’s great for the nation to rediscover a common love to unite us – at least for the next month or so.
Something else that we should be making more of, methinks, is our natural heritage. Having grown up in a small town and been a dedicated Boy Scout throughout my teens, the outdoors has always been a happy place. Until yesterday, though, a ‘Safari’ was a game drive. Now I can add a new branch to the definition.
___STEADY_PAYWALL___Since moving to Hermanus, friend and tribe member Rory Steyn has urged me to visit Grootbos, a 3,500 ha five-star fynbos nature reserve where his brother-in-law Sean Ingles is the GM. The resort is about half an hour’s drive from our new home, can accommodate 120 and brings in lots of forex from foreigners. It took a while, but we finally got there.
It didn’t take long to see what Rory has been raving about. Grootbos’s setting is spectacular, and all five stars are well deserved. What blew me away, though, was my first-ever ‘Flower Safari’. There’s a knowledgeable ranger and open-topped Land Cruiser just like in the Sabi Sands or Shamwari. But on this Safari, the flora (above) is the star of the show, with each one of Grootbos’s 900-plus species with its own story.
After the Flower Safari, we were shown around Grootbos’s ‘Florilegium’, a botanical art gallery housing works by global leaders in the field, and the only one in the Southern Hemisphere. I’ll stop there because saying more about the place will expose my ignorance. Something I intend to rectify, however.
My point, though, is not to give Grootbos a free punt – it is priced for the foreign market and is fully booked most of the year, so it hardly needs my endorsement. Rather, it’s a reminder of what a spectacular country we live in. One that might have lost its way lately, but is so worth fighting for. Not just when the Bokke are winning.
Sterkte
Alec
Read also:
- How world sees SA: Mangosuthu Buthelezi’s mixed legacy
- How the Boks can tackle the burden of expectation and bring light to the nation – Dr Greyling Viljoen
- South Africa’s great white sharks: Conservation issues, climate change and shifting populations
