Our Rhino - Sculptured

KEITH CALDER stayed at our reserve last year and photographed our rhino for a sculpture he was making. He has now completed the sculpture and sent us these photos.

 Keith has been sculpting for 20 years and lives in Cape Town.  For more information on Keith and his work, click here

Upcoming Events in Plett 2014

Info taken from: Show me

NG Kerk Suiderkruis – Summer Fete

Venue: Piesang Valley Community Hall
Dates: 29/03/2014 to 29/03/2014
Times: 10h00

Formosa Garden Village – Easter Mini Market

Venue: Formosa Garden Village Lounge
Dates: 04/04/2014 to 04/04/2014
Times: 08h30 - 11h00

Discovery Plett Easter Games 2014

Venue: Various Locations
Dates: 18/04/2014 to 21/04/2014
Times: Check Schedule

Pennypinchers Cairnbrogie Trail Run

Venue: Cairnbrogie Farm
Dates: 18/04/2014 to 18/04/2014
Times: Registration from 07h00 Start 08h

Pennypinchers MTB Nite Relay

Venue: Cairnbrogie Farm
Dates: 18/04/2014 to 18/04/2014

Artist Open Studios – Peak Inside Plett’s Creative Minds

Venue: Between Harkerville & The Crags
Dates: 27/04/2014 to 27/04/2014
Times: 10h00 - 16h00
 

Plett Fringe Festival 2014 

Venue: The White House
Dates: 20/06/2014 to 28/06/2014

Plett Wine Festival 2014 

Venue: Various Locations - Check Schedule
Dates: 19/09/2014 to 21/09/2014

 

 

Source: Plett Tourism

Plett Adventure Bike Week 

Start Date: 26 April, 2014.  End Date: 03 May, 2014

 

Adventure motorcyclists have a new event to look forward to. The Plett Adventure Bike Week will take place from Saturday 26th April to Friday 2nd May 2014. With Plettenberg Bay so conveniently located to some of the best riding terrain in South Africa including several iconic routes and passes such as the Baviaanskloof, the Prince Alfred Pass, the Montagu Pass, the Swartberg Pass (and the ride into Die Hel) to name but a few, Plett is the ideal location as the base for Adventure Bike Week.

Plett Adventure Bike Week welcomes all riders and all brands of adventure bikes. The nerve-centre of Plett Adventure Bike Week will be an exhibition area where vendors and manufacturers will be able to exhibit and sell their Adventure-biking offerings. The exhibition area will also serve as a meeting point for riders wanting to go out on one of the many routes in the area. “We have had a very encouraging response to the concept of Adventure Bike Week from the major manufacturers, who have indicated that they will be on-site to exhibit their latest models,” says Lance Rothschild, Creator and Organiser of Plett Adventure Bike Week. “We are also speaking to several vendors who have various offerings for adventure bikers and we will accommodate them at the exhibition area too.”

“We’re excited to introduce a new event to the Plett Tourism calendar, and we believe that Plett Adventure Bike Week will attract a large number of people to our beautiful area” says Peter Wallington, Chairman of Plett Tourism. “There’s so much more to Plett than people initially imagine and we are confident that visitors will have a fantastic time here.”

The Plett Adventure Bike Week offers an excellent opportunity for clubs to host annual gatherings, as well as for individual riders to gather and enjoy the company of like-minded individuals. More importantly, Plett Adventure Bike Week offers the opportunity for Adventure Bikers to enjoy their bikes in the terrain for which they were designed.

There is an abundance of accommodation in Plettenberg Bay with options ranging from Camping and Backpackers, to Caravan Parks, to Bed and Breakfasts to Hotels and even to home and apartment rentals. Plett also offers an abundance of activities and entertainment and there are many options to occupy non-biking family members and riders who want to do something other than biking whilst in the area.

A website for Plett Adventure Bike Week is already in process and details will be announced in due course. A Facebook Group has been started (Plett Adventure Bike Week) and a Twitter Stream (@PlettAdvBikeWk).

There’s a nice article about the Plett Adventure Bike Week in the latest issue (Feb) of MyFiets: www.myfiets.co.za. The publication is available for free online download.

For more details and information on Plett Adventure Bike Week, contact Lance Rothschild via e-mail (pabw@opportunate.co.za) or on 082 443 1530.

Biomes at Plettenberg Bay Game Reserve (2)

Wikipedia

The Knysna-Amatole montane forests is a subtropical moist broadleaf forest ecoregion of South Africa, covering an area of 3100 square km in the Eastern Cape and Western Cape provinces. The ecoregion, which is South Africa's smallest in area, covers two separate enclaves. The Knysna forest extends along the Garden Route Coast while the KwaZulu-Cape coastal forest mosaic lies along the coast to the north-east.

The Amatole forests lie in the Amatole mountains, which lie inland and 400km to the east of the Knysna Forest. The ecoregion has a subtropical, warm-temperate climate with rainfall occurring year round, and ranging from 525 mm to 1220 mm per year in the Knysna Forest, and from 750 mm to 1500 mm in the Amatole forests. The trees are of tropical and Afromontane origin, and include ironwood (Olea capensis), stinkwood (Ocotea bullata), Outeniqua yellowwood (Afrocarpus falcatus), real yellowwood (Podocarpus latifolius), Cape holly (Ilex mitis), white pear (Apodytes dimidiata), Cape beech (Rapanea melanophloeos), bastard saffron (Cassine peragua), Cape plane (Ochna arborea), assegai tree (Curtisia dentata), kamassi (Gonioma kamassi), white alder (Platylophus trifoliatus), and red alder (Cunonia capensis).

Wikipedia

The forests are home to African elephant, African leopard, rock hyrax, and other mammals as well as an assortment of bird species, reptiles, amphibians and insects. Despite the small size of the ecoregion, the Knysna and Amatole forests are South Africa's largest individual forests. The Knysna Forest has been exploited for valuable timber since the 1700s, and the Amatole forests since the 1900s. Currently the forests are mostly within protected areas, although managed timber harvesting is allowed.

Biomes at Plettenberg Bay Game Reserve

Fynbos Flowers: (The Fynbos Hub. 2011)

Plettenberg Bay Game Reserve stretches over 2200 hectares and embraces two of the natural biomes which occur in South Africa, Fynbos and Forest: Fynbos, meaning 'fine bush' in Afrikaans, is the natural shrubland or heathland vegetation occurring in a small belt of the Western Cape of South Africa, mainly in winter rainfall coastal and mountainous areas with a Mediterranean climate. The name refers to the fine, needle-like leaves of many fynbos species, the majority of which are evergreen sclerophyll (hard-leaf) plants.

Three of the characteristic fynbos plant families are proteas, ericas and restios. Proteas are represented by many species and are prominent in the landscape as one of the few large-leaf plant types, generally with large striking flowers which may be pollinated by birds. Ericas or heaths are generally smaller plants with many small, tubular flowers and needle-like leaves. The grass-like restios - only a few species of which are known outside the fynbos area - grow in wetter areas. More than 1400 bulb species occur among the fynbos, of which 96 are gladiolus and 54 lachenalias. Fire is a necessary stage in the lives of almost all fynbos plants, and is common during the dry summer months.

Many of the seeds germinate only after the intense heat of a fire. In readiness for fire, most proteas retain their seeds on the bush for at least one year, a habit known as serotiny. They do this in structures which resemble the original flowerheads. In some species these structures are strikingly beautiful and long-lasting, which accounts for their use in dried floral arrangements.

Man vs World filmed at Plett Game Reserve

We were lucky to be able to assist the guys from Man vs World film a segment of their show at Plett Game Reserve recently. 

Have a look at the great adventures that Rob Bell undertakes all over the world, using only man power and nature to help him travel vast distances.  He uses no motor, petrol, electric or other power.  This is the extract from his Garden Route leg of the journey: 

"4  Garden Route, South Africa

Rob Bell tackles the mountains, rivers and coastline of South Africa's legendary Garden Route. First up is Canyoning; Rob will be swimming, abseiling, sliding and jumping his way down the Salt River gorge. Then he's back on his bike, cycling the national highway to the infamous Bloukrans Bridge. The next day starts with Trail Running on the shores of the Indian Ocean, along the spectacular Otter Trail before cutting inland to finish his epic South African journey on horseback, riding with the giants of the African plains at the Plettenberg Game Reserve."

Read more here

1 million to ban the lion trade -- Big win in court!!

Hundreds of South African lions are being slaughtered to make bogus sex potions for men. But we can stop this cruel trade.

A global ban on tiger bone sales has traders hunting a new prize -- the majestic lions. Lions are farmed under appalling conditions in South Africa for "canned hunting", where rich tourists pay thousands to shoot them through fences. Now experts say lion bones from these killing farms are being exported to phony 'medicine' makers in Asia for record profits. Trade is exploding and experts fear that as prices rise, even wild lions -- with only 20,000 left in Africa -- will come under poaching attack.

If we can show President Zuma that this brutal trade is hurting South Africa's image as a tourist destination, he could ban the trade in lion bones. Avaaz is taking out strong ads in airports, tourism websites and magazines, but we urgently need 1 million petition signers to give the ads their force. Sign the petition on the right to build our numbers fast. Amazing win! A South African court just ruled that the government violated our right to free speech when they tore down ads calling for the protection of South Africa’s lions -- and we’re all over the news. Let’s use this momentum to get our petition to 1 million and save the lions.

Go to the petition by clicking here