February 19^th - Bryan King - 'South Africa Contrasts'

Once again, Bryan brightened up a dull February winter evening with a talk that combined humour, education, and some fascinating views of the Rainbow Nation.

His illustrated journey began in Cape Town, with views of Table Mountain. Brian's tour (booked through Explore Worldwide) did not allow themselves the luxury of using the cable car, but instead used some of the paths created by Jan Smuts. There are apparently, more native varieties of flowers on the mountain than in the whole of Great Britain.

From there, we were taken down to the Cape of Good Hope with its fauna and flora, and from there to Boulders Beach complete with resident colony of jackass penguins. We were then shown the Kruger National Park, complete with giraffes, elephants, rhinos, hippos, and crocodiles. While views of those wild beasts was probably not unexpected, the spectacular scenery of the Drakensberg Mountains probably came as surprise.

Brian's slide show, alas one of the last we will see undigitised, included many scenes of native flowers, including the King Protea and beautiful fields of cape daisies.

A most enjoyable evening, sadly some of Brian's more wittier comments cannot be printed for legal reasons (and to protect the reputation of certain TV presenters!).