Clivia mirabilis habitat tour


clivia_mirabilis_tourclivia_mirabilis_tourclivia_mirabilis_tour

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mr Hein Grebe has kindly offered to assist the Clivia Society in organising a tour to Clivia mirabilis habitat.  Please contact Hein at hgrebe@pgwc.gov.za for more details or to make a reservation. Wet your appetite by visiting our photo gallery showing Clivia mirabilis photographs taken by Hein Grebe in their habitat – a wide range of beautiful neon-like colours of  Clivia mirabilis, beautiful sun sets and rises and breathtaking views on the way to the mountain

Hein has supplied us with the following information. 

Because of limited accommodation only small groups will be accommodated. This will be a once-off opportunity to see and study the Western Cape mirabilis in its natural habitat. To protect the plants from possible theft there won’t be any tours to these plants after the 2006 mirabilis flower season. The site will be made known a few weeks before the visit.

To make the trip affordable to everyone we will cut out tour companies and any profits and try to stay away from booking fees.

Guidelines prices are as follows:

  1. Ten seater modern air conditioned tour bus from Cape Town to the nearest town and back....R4000 ...approx 750 km. This is only a guideline price and the final price depends on the petrol price during the second half of 2006. I suggest you travel with a South African friend to the mirabilis site. Petrol costs will be between R300.00 and R400.00 per return trip from Cape Town, depending on what type of car you drive. Say R100.00 per person per car of 4 people.
  2. No 4 or 5 star accommodation is available. Accommodation is limited and mostly self-serve. Prices range from R200.00 to R400.00 per person per night. It is important that you overnight in the town nearest where the mirabilis is found as the temperatures rise quickly from under 10 degrees Celsius to the mid 30's and 40's. Budget for at least one night's stay.
  3. Price to see and photograph the mirabilis in its natural habitat will be R250.00 per person. This includes an hour's drive from the nearest town to the farm where the plants grow and back in an air-conditioned 4WD six seater. Along the way you will see how the vegetation changes from semi-desert to a type of forest in certain areas high up in the mountain. Along the way you can see breathtaking views and maybe a stop to admire some rare desert and succulent plants. The first trip to the farm will depart around 5h00 from the nearest town as the sun rise at 6h00. The best time to photograph the plants is between 6h00 and 10h30 after which the sun starts to shine on the plants and flowers and which make photographing them difficult.

Every hour the owner will return to town with a group and to fetch a new group to limit the costs. This is something we still have to sort out as my feeling is that 1 hour is too little time to spend with these special plants.

I convinced the farmer's wife to serve breakfast on the farm at extra cost. The price will probably be approximately R30.00 per person.

You can also visit one of the best desert plant collections and one of the biggest growers of succulent plants found in Namakwaland. A guided tour will cost you only R10.00 per person and you can easily spend 2 hours or more at the nursery without getting bored. Plants are for sale ranging from only R10.00 upwards. I have noticed that this owner also have clivias, but they do not look like mirabilis to me. The leaves have a strange colour I have not seen before.

It looks like that you can enjoy a trip to mirabilis in its natural habitat for under R1 000.00 per person. There are many other scenic spots worth while visiting en route and nearby like Bird Island in Lamberts Bay, Bushmanskloof near Clanwilliam, Gifberg near Van Rhynsdorp, Niewoudtville, the world’s flower bulb capitol, numerous waterfalls etc. . It all depends on how long you want to stay in the area. In most cases the entrance fees is under R50.00 and sometimes free.
For now it is important to let me know by e-mail whether you are interested so that the necessary preparations can be made. My mail address is hgrebe@pgwc.gov.za . Please tell me what you think and if you have any good ideas or suggestions please let me know. Also what dates it will be
suitable for you to visit. This is the most important so that the owner can make arrangements before the time as he does not work or stay on the farm. I suggest you arrange small groups between yourselves which will make things easier. There must be a minimum of 12 people interested on a specific day to make a tour worthwhile.

Regards
Hein
Cape Town

Note: Mirabilis flowering time is unpredictable and it looks like they start to flower after the last winter rain. In 2004 the flowering time was short and between 15 September and 5 October. In 2005 they started to flower around 20 October until mid November. If they flower later in the year the flowers open and die quicker as the sunshine for longer periods on the flowers and the air is drier and day temperatures higher. So let us hope and pray that this year they start to flower in mid September so that everyone will be able to see them in flower.