The Cape Leopard Trust and our ‘holiday club; group from Manenberg, had the privilege of having a Miss Earth finalist join us on our environmental outing to Kirstenbosch on Monday. Andrea Von Gunten, works for CREW (Custodians of Rare and Endangered Wildflowers), so she was a perfect partner to join us on our day in the world renowned gardens.

The weather on Monday was perfect and the day as spent walking around Kirstenbosch while learning about the various rare and endangered flowers which Andrea told us about. The group had done a lot of hiking the week before, including a 13 km hike up to the top of Devil's Peak, so the outing to Kirtsenbosch was welcomed as one of the more relaxed days.

One activity required participants to be blindfolded and made to walk the braille trail. This proved to be an interesting exercise, and some actually walked the whole trail without peaking!

A walk along the Boomslang took the group to the new Dinosaur/Cycad garden where there are a few dinosaur statues next to some of the Cycads, and this brought to life the need to help protect our endangered wild life. One of the Cycads is the only one left out of its kind, and as a male keeping this species going will need of scientific intervention.

The Cape Saffron is home to Spotted Eagle Owls, and they were there defending their terri'tree'.

It was an informative day out including some well earned relaxation. The young people enjoyed every aspect of it, especially the excitement of Andrea joining them. We hope to include Andrea in more of our programmes and outings. Thank you for the inspiration you give to the girls from Manenberg, they too can one day be budding Miss Earths. Thank you also to Rock Girls, Sydney & Cheryl Hendriks as well as the learners for making this holiday programme possible.