Ashburton Aloe Festival
– Impala Bend (venue D) line-up
Visitors to the Ashburton Aloe Festival will love visiting Impala Bend (Venue D) as part of the festival meander, where they can sit down for delicious hot home cooked meals, including delicious curries and breyani and refreshments at the Waterhole & Bar served by hosts Keith and Kathy Brown and friends.
This is a lovely spot to sit on the deck and relax, enjoy the beautiful views over the valley, admire the majestic aloe candelabrum flowering in the wild and watch for wildlife, including impala, nyala, kudu, wildebeest and zebra. The festival is a meander of five venues situated in the Lower Mpushini Valley Conservancy, 10km east of Pietermaritzburg.
Here is the line-up for Impala Bend (Venue D) over the weekend of July 2 and
There will be two talks at this venue. On Saturday at 3pm, Mark Lederle will share his experiences of being an Ezemvelo KZN honorary officer with the talk, ‘The role of EKZN Honoury Officers in the fight against poaching’. Lederle is well known for his work as an honorary officer in the Pietermaritzburg area. The checking and removal of snares is the most essential activity to protect wildlife. This is an important talk for everyone wanting to help protect the remaining wildlife in Kwazulu-Natal in this way, especially in and around urban and developing areas.
Snake catchers Nick Evans and Pieter Potgieter are again a highlight of this year’s Ashburton Aloe Festival with a talk and live snake demo titled ‘Understanding snakes’ at 2pm on Sunday, July 3.
As founder of KZN Amphibians and Reptile Conservation, Nick captures and rescues snakes in the eThekwini area and works towards conserving the amphibians and reptiles of KwaZulu-Natal through educational and awareness programmes. Potgieter works alongside other snake catchers to manage the Pietermaritzburg area and surrounds. Hear about the incredible lengths these snake catchers go to, to successfully capture and release often dangerous snakes from the most difficult places and learn more about snakes, to be less afraid of them and how to protect them in the area where you live.
Visitors exploring all that the festival has to offer can choose from a range of awesome activities, walks and talks to tailor make their ‘Day in Nature’.
Tickets to the full festival activities are
R50 adults, pensioners R30 and children R20, with children under six free. Tickets are on sale at the venues and one ticket gives visitors access to all five venues in this beautiful private Biodiversity Stewardship Nature Reserve for the day.
Held to raise funds for anti-poaching and conservation, the Ashburton Aloe Festival has been connecting city folk with the beautiful bushveld and tranquility of the Lower Mpushini Valley, since the festival began in 2007.
Because this is a wildlife area, strictly no dogs allowed. For more information on the Ashburton Aloe Festival, phone Pandora 072 6928124 or Heather 083 665 8010, for Ashburton Aloe Festival Market enquiries phone Debbie on 082 820 3238. Watch the Maritzburg Sun for further updates and for the full programme.