Children in Shantytown.

Guides explain the settlement.

The difference a garden can make.

Girls dance vigorously for money.

This duo serenaded us at the restaurant.

A new 10 Commandments/bill of rights.

Remembering students shot in 1976.

Farewell to Ronnie, the best bus driver!

To fully understand South Africa’s experience with Apartheid (racial segregation), we were taken to Soweto. Originally a mining area, it became a place where poor Africans would be concentrated in shacks. More than 30,000 people are concentrated in a very dense area. I was surprised that this was considered a tourist attraction but the idea is for people to not leave the country without appreciating this side of it. It's also an opportunity for the residents to get money from tourists.

Earlier in the week, our guide, Elsabe, explained public policies related to housing and the nation’s promise to provide homes for all. Vote for Mandela, and those in shacks will get houses. One million units were promised and 600,000 have been built so far. But refugees from other African countries have been pouring in seeking shelter. The difference in being in a shack in a designated area versus the countryside is access to police protection and transportation, jobs and better schools. The goal is to not have any more shacks by 2014. An estimated 15 percent of the population is in shacks.

We also visited a plaza that is an open market and a space for freedom. Inside a brick monument are 10 Commandments that are like a Bill of Rights, expressing the country’s objectives for its people and how it will achieve equal rights.

The nearby Hector Peterson Museum commemorates the students who were shot during riots in 1976, when students and educators were protesting being forced to teach in the Dutch Afrikaans language versus native languages. The majority of South Africans speak Zulu and there are at least nine official languages today.

We had a traditional lunch in Soweto at the Sakhumzi Restaurant’s buffet. On the street corner there were children dancing for money. We were serenaded by a woman with a beautiful voice accompanied by a guitarist. She sang native songs, pop songs and jazzy ones. I was hoping she had CDs to sell, but she didn’t. So I did video tape her for about two minutes.

The Apartheid museum was very compelling and well presented. At the entrance, visitors were handed passes that indicated whether they were whites or nonwhites and they entered segregated entrances. We learned about the people and policies involved in constructing and eliminating Apartheid policies and the triumph of democracy in 1994.

 The really sad unintended consequence that was most obvious is how the city of Johannesburg is completely overrun with crime and decay 14 years later. All the wealth and businesses transferred to a brand new city called Sandton. So the country went from an oppressive regime to a powerless one rather quickly.  I hope the pendulum can swing back to the middle someday.

We spent our last night eating at a very nice African restaurant called Moyo. Food was served family style and we all go tour faces painted before heading to the airport. It was great fun. Reinoud and Rian Hagen from Fides were terrific hosts and I believe this was the best possible way to experience South Africa. It truly was a chance of a lifetime.
 

Looking up at the Union Buildings

Terraced gardens below.

Youth with attitude.

Jacarandas in bloom.

Debra and Sim McMurry at the Blue Crane.

We spent the night at Monte Casino.

We also visited one of South Africa’s seats of government, Pretoria. The branches of government are in three different cities with the executive branch in Pretoria. There we saw hundreds of beautiful jacaranda trees in bloom. The flowering trees in pretty shades of periwinkle purple came from Australia and South America.

There were tourists and school groups all over the terraced steps and gardens leading up to the government buildings. After taking pictures there, we ate lunch at The Blue Crane Restaurant in the Austin Roberts Bird Sanctuary. The blue crane is South Africa’s national bird. Then we spent the night at Monte Casino, where we had a fantastic dinner at the Meat Co. The interior of the casino looks like an open-air Italian city, just like the entrance of Paris looks like an outdoor French city in Las Vegas.

Elsabe in front of the Voortrekker Monument.

The Dutch circled their wagons for protection.

Gardens are planted at the base.

Elsabe, our guide, was extremely knowledgeable educating us on the early Dutch settlers’ (Afrikaaners) history battling the Zulus for land after evacuating areas claimed by the British. We had also learned that this famous battle became a religious holiday, Dec. 16, because the victory was an answer to prayers the week before. This is her own family’s heritage, which is why she was so passionate in retelling it. The Voortrekkermonument was built after World War II to make sure future generations never forget what was sacrificed to establish their way of life in South Africa.

The monument itself is like a temple. Inside, you walk around the perimeter and read the stories following relief sculptures depicting the scenes. It is very much like observing the stations of the cross at a Catholic church. The monument is encircled by a wall of wagons, symbolizing what the Dutch settlers did to protect themselves from the onslaught of Zulus.

After visiting two greenhouses that produce finished plants from cuttings earlier in the week, we visited Fides’ 15-acre cuttings farm in South Africa called Safropa – blending South Africa with Europe. The facility was originally built to supply chrysanthemums but that production has moved to Uganda. Today, the facility is completely focused on kalanchoe cuttings. Frank Enthoven moved to South Africa from California to manage the operations.

Safropa produces 1.8 million cuttings per week. While 65 percent of the production is the double-flowered Calandiva varieties, the remaining 35 percent are single-flowered kalanchoe. In just four years, the double-flowered varieties have dominated the European market.

Adjacent to the property is a strawberry farm, also owned by a Dutch entrepreneur. Dutch ingenuity has come into play at Safropa, building canals to catch rainwater and securing a stable year-round supply of water, which isn’t found on most farms on South Africa. The primary heating source is coal and Safropa uses between 15 and 20 tons of coal per night. While coal is abundant and cheap compared to other fuels, the price has doubled from 400 rands per ton a year ago to 800 rands per ton. For electricity, the facility has two generators to compensate for blackouts.

Frank Enthoven manages Safropa.

Workers wear matching smocks.

Close up of kalanchoe cutting.

Cuttings awaiting shipment in the cooler.

A box of cuttings headed for Canada.

Coal is the most cost-effective heating fuel.

Canals deliver a year-round water supply.

Safropa employs 350 workers. While 20 take cuttings at any given time, the rest are involved in crop maintenance and shipping. While some come to the greenhouses by foot, others come by bus and Fides pays for the ticket. Workers get paid by the unit. While you wouldn’t think there would be a lot of worker protections in a Third World country, because of the legacy of Apartheid, there are a lot of social reforms and laws employers must follow under the Employment Equity Act and Basic Conditions of Employment Act.

One thing we noticed across the kalanchoe varieties was differences in leaf shapes and size. Large leaves are taken off to enhance cuttings production. Supplemental lighting is used to keep plants in a vegetative state. Safropa has been testing energy saving bulbs from Philips. Lights are on 10 minutes and off 20 minutes.

The rooting medium consists of coco fiber, bark and Styrofoam. It is steam sterilized and reused for three crops. “We had to learn a lot with coco, making sure it wasn’t too wet or drying out” Enthoven says. “We were almost not sleeping at night testing the cocos.”

Stock plants are changed out every 40 weeks, which keeps production fresh. “When I came here, the place was full of kalanchoe trees!” Enthoven says. “This system works. The main thing is the plant needs to be ready for the next order in three weeks.”

This was a great opportunity for the kalanchoe growers to ask Enthoven questions about their own production concerns. He says he fields between 30 and 40 emails a day on these matters.

When we went into the shipping coolers, the growers had fun finding the boxes of cuttings addressed to their operations in Canada. A few even put surprise notes in the boxes for their employees to find. Cuttings were shipped to arrive on Monday for sticking Tuesday. They are packed in Styrofoam-lined boxes for temperature control. Transportation takes longer to the United States and Canada. If temperatures are consistently high or low, that’s okay, but when temperatures fluctuate, the plants sweat.

Another logistical difference between North America in Europe is what happens when substitutions need to be made. In North America, where there is usually a broker in between, the substitution needs to be cleared through the broker before it can happen. In some cases, brokers will allow growers and Fides to resolve these issues directly. For blooming potted plant specialists with 52-week programs, timing is critical to receive the same colors on the same date. They need all the colors in the box of cuttings.

Lesedi showcases tribal villages and customs.

My humble Zulu abode.

Our warrior guide challenges Tony Gutta to a duel.

Warrior Sim from the Metrolina tribe.

Bert and Jane bare their teeth and look fierce.

The guys strike a group pose.

Now it's ladies' night.

Imagine going to a place like Colonial Williamsburg, where all the participants are dressed in period garb. Well that’s what the Lesedi Cultural Village is like with workers dressed in tribal costumes, singing and dancing. About five of the region’s tribes were featured and the village was groups of huts in each tribe’s style. I slept in a Zulu hut, which was like an igloo made out of straw, but with a concrete foundation, electricity and a shower. Doors are small and low so that intruders are required to go in head first. I had never thought about that before. 

We had a guided tour through the village and learned about ancient customs and strategies for protection, which really drove everything in their societies. Then we gathered for a big show demonstrating various warrior dances, which were full of high kicks, and it ended with us joining in. I shot video clips of many parts of the show and tour. The night ended with a traditional dinner feast and we all got to pose with props at the restaurant.
 

The sun always shines at Sun City resort.

Bert and Jane De Bolster

We spent Wednesday afternoon and evening at the famous Sun City resort and casino complex. As you approach the buildings, they almost look like they were made out of tan-colored legos and plunked down in the middle of nowhere. But the greenery and bougainvilleas are nice. And it sure was sunny. While a group of the guys went golfing, the rest of us went swimming at the water park and pools. I rode inner tubes on the lazy river with Rian Hagen and Debra McMurry. Later, when we were poolside, we were surprised to see more than a dozen monkeys scampering around like cats an hour before the pool closed. They like to steal pineapple fruit garnishes from drinks and one even knocked a pina colada over! We were told to keep our windows closed because they will break into guestrooms and steal sugar packets and who knows what else. Must be fun to be a party animal with impunity!

That night we were treated to a theatrical show, “Let There Be Rock,” which meshed well with my interests as a charter member of Cleveland’s very own Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum. We had a few rockers in our group. Duane van Alstine used to sing in bands and is a huge Beatles fan with a tattoo of their faces. And Sim and Debra bought 22 tickets to an upcoming ACDC concert! Their entire family rocks!

We had great seats front and center for the show, which was about a newer group learning the roots of rock and roll from the 1950s to the present. All the singers, dancers and musicians were great. I especially was amazed at how creative the costumes, props and use of the stage were. It takes real ingenuity to make a confined space like a stage really dynamic.

Mother and child feeding together.

Baboons were on the move.

Another majestic giraffe.

Rhinos stick together.

A zebra crossing Abbey Road. :-)

Did somebody say wildebeest???

Zebras and rhinos and baboons, oh my! Our early morning game drive on Wednesday was even better than the night before. We rose and shine at 4:45 a.m. to be on our way by 5:30 a.m. for our morning safari at the Pilanesberg Nature Reserve. We saw even larger groupings and more types of animals. Mornings are cool in Africa but heat up by 9 a.m.
Sun rises early, too. We saw more families of elephants, zebras, rhinos and giraffes. One of the craziest sights was seeing more than a hundred baboons of all ages and sizes run down a hill. They must sleep at the top of the hill and spend the day on lower land.

My favorites again were the elephants. I love this picture I took of a mother and child feeding near a tree. They have their heads, trunks and tusks the same, as if they were posing for a portrait. I would like to frame it and give it to all my friends who have babies. All of these animal pictures would be great in a child’s room. It was like being in a scene from The Lion King. We saw Raffiki the baboon/mandril and Pumba the warthog. No predators though.

Ed and Joanne Boekestyn

Mickey Ferragine and Tony Gutta

Sim and Debra McMurry

Bob and Joanne Newhouse

Duane and Marion van Alstine

Stuart and Liz van Staalduinen

Our guide, Elsabe, with our hostess at De Wildt Cheetah Farm

What a wonderful experience this has been! Last Short Course, when Reinoud Hagen from Dutch flower breeder/producer Fides asked if I’d like to join a group of growers he would be hosting in South Africa, I knew it would be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that I couldn’t miss. The trip began immediately after Horti Fair, so many of the growers came to Amsterdam early to catch a couple of days of the show before heading more than 10 hours south to Johannesburg. We arrived Sunday night and our journey began on Monday. Most of the growers are blooming potted plant specialists in Canada. Kalanchoe is a specialty for them and Fides, which has been producing cuttings in South Africa for many years. Here are the growers I’ve had the pleasure of traveling with this week:

Ed and Joanne Boekestyn, Boekestyn Greenhouse, Jordan Station, Ontario
This family runs a growing operation and a wholesale division. They specialize in weekly blooming pot crops, including mums, kalanchoes, poinsettias, Easter lilies, potted bulbs. An additional spring crop is geraniums. While they do not grow bedding flats from see, they do buy them in prefinished from local growers. In addition to producing crops in 220,000 square feet of greenhouse, the wholesale division buys and sells products Boekestyns don’t grow.

Mickey Ferragine and Tony Gutta, Bradford Greenhouses, Barrie and Bradford, Ontario
Out of the Canadian growers on the tour, these are the bedding plant growers. Interestingly, Bradford Greenhouses has always relied on the Canadian market versus exporting plants to the United States. Two key retail chains they serve are Loblaws and Canadian Tire. They also have two independent retail locations of their own in Bradford and Barrie. Mickey says his wife has been decorating more than 80 trees for XMAS sales and that I really should see it. Tony, the production manager, has worked there since he was a kid, for 25 years. They have 15 acres of greenhouse production at the two locations. Mickey celebrated his birthday out here today. He got serenaded by the help this morning at breakfast and again at dinner, where we all got to try a kahlua like liquer called amarula.

Bert and Jane De Bolster of Hanemaayer Greenhouses in Vineland, Ontario
This operation is a true kalanchoe specialist, supplying 13 wholesalers with 10,000 pots a week. Production declines a little for Christmas and ramps up more for Mother’s Day. Greenhouse production is 3 acres under glass on a 13.5 acre site.

Sim and Debra McMurry, Metrolina Greenhouses, Huntersville, North Carolina
As many of you know, Metrolina Greenhouses is the largest of the Van Wingerden operations, owned by Tom Van Wingerden and now managed by eldest sons Art and Abe. Sim manages all the production for 150 acres! It was nice to meet Debra, who teaches second grade. Metrolina is a powerhouse in bedding and blooming potted plants.

Bob and Joanne Newhouse, Walden Gardens, Wainfleet, Ontario
They are blooming potted plant growers who sell to finished plant wholesalers. Specialities include kalanchoes, Calandivas, gloxinias and exacum.

Duane and Marion Van Alstine, Balfour Greenhouses, Fenwick, Ontario
This couple is the next generation managing Balfour Greenhouses, founded by Marion’s father. They have eight acres under glass and sell blooming potted plants to wholesalers. Key crops include kalanchoes, orchids, caladiums and poinsettias.

Stuart and Liz Van Staalduinen, Bayview Flowers, Jordan Station, Ontario
Bayview Flowers is one of the larger blooming potted plant specialists in the Niagara area. In addition to growing kalanchoe, orchids and bouvardia, Bayview produces cut gerbera. The company sells to supermarkets and the Van Staalduninens, along with most Canadian growers, are smiling that the U.S. dollar is improving again.

Reinoud and his wife, Rian, have been wonderful hosts. They are both from Holland but live in Canada, where they manage Fides North America’s activities.
We’ve also enjoyed our highly knowledgeable guide, Elsabe, a Dutch Afrikan from Exclusive Safaris. In South Africa, you need to pass rigorous exams to become a certified national travel guide.

Reinoud Hagen with Jan and Elvira Bronger

Two girls sleeve mums at a time.

10,000 mums are rooted every two weeks.

Growers Ed Boekestyn and Stuart van Staalduinen compare notes on the mum crop.

Our first stop was Patio Plant Nurseries, one of three growers in the Plantimex distribution alliance. Plantimex serves a mix of retail markets ranging from florists to nurseries, interiorscapers and chain stores. The owners of Patio Plant Nurseries are Jan and Elvira Bronger. While Jan is from Holland, Elvira is from Italy.

Pot mums are their bread and butter crop. The focus is on a limited assortment of varieties with strong colors. Cuttings are shipped in from Uganda. While quarantines are an issue with chrysanthemum cuttings coming into the United States, most other countries do not have restrictions. The greenhouses were pretty low tech even though they did have an automated pot filling machine. The Brongers schedule crops every two weeks, 10,000 pots at a time. They sell all that they grow.

Fides has been selling the local South African market with 120 million stems of fresh cut chrysanthemums in addition to supplying cuttings to growers. The cut flower market is stronger in South Africa than potted plants. While cut flowers represent $100 million in annual sales, potted plants are just 20 percent of that. In potted plants, Plantimex claims to have 55-60 percent of the market.

Bold pottery is a good match for striking plants.

Sleeving potted roses

This cart of Rieger begonias is ready for retail.

The Florist landscape gerberas from tissue culture looked really good.

LVG, owned by the Van Geest family, is the flagship grower for Plantimex and Ivo van Geest is managing director of Plantimex, the distribution arm. He and his father and two brothers run six hectares of greenhouse and all live on site. “The houses are just far enough apart to not fight,” Ivo says. The business is just 12 years old. The greenhouse facilities are modern and have attractive brick foundations that match the buildings throughout. It looks like a nicely landscaped industrial park.

Specialty crops include orchids and Poulsen varieties of potted roses. While larger roses go to nurseries, smaller ones go to retail chains. One quarter of Plantimex’s business is Woolworth, which is different in South Africa than it was in the States. It is considered a higher end department store versus a discount store. Stores near Johannesburg receive deliveries everyday, Cape Town, every two days. Between 2,000 and 3,000 new units are planted every week. In addition to the orchids and roses, we saw Rieger begonias, double-flowered gloxinias, landscape gerbera from Florist,

Plantimex also has its own pottery factory to control its destiny with stylish plant upgrades. “It has improved our market tremendously on certain items,” Ivo says. “We’re not as cheap as China. Pots are $1.50 to $2 from our factory. We looked at importing but we can do shorter runs here, change molds. We’re not bound to huge numbers and we have less cost in inventory. Every six months, our looks change.”

Cheetahs meow just like cats.

Ostriches strut their stuff.

I can't remember if these are gazzelles or antelope.

The rare king cheetah

After a day of greenhouse visits, we checked in to De Wildt Cheetah Farm and had a private tour of this wildlife refuge. In addition to breeding cheetahs in captivity, the farm specializes in saving animals most farmers want to get rid of, like vultures, and the wild African dog, which is similar to hyenas and wolves. The farm works closely with farmers to find ways to restore natural balances between predators and prey and find natural solutions to these problems without forcing species into extinction.

The lodge was similar to a bed and breakfast, with each room being unique and the whole place feeling very homey, like being at someone’s farm house.

Vendors out front have an advantage.

He tried to match a sculpture with my interest in my family. But I was already done shopping by then.

The Chameleon Craft Market

After checking out of De Wildt Cheetah Farm and having a lovely, leisurely breakfast, our first stop was shopping at the Chameleon Craft Market in Hartebeespoortdam. This is the place to load up on souvenirs. Nothing is priced, which makes it very disorienting. You really don’t know what anything is worth. On the plus side, that means you can negotiate. On the minus side, if you don’t know what you’re doing, you can really get taken, as your incredibly naïve editor did. Especially if you are foggy on currency exchange or under a brief spell and lose your decimal placement until it’s far too late.

But you can’t blame these highly skilled sales people. For them, it’s a matter of survival and they need to get the most out of every tour bus that stops in. Half the country subsists below the poverty line. Unemployment is 26 percent. My consolation is that I helped people who really need it, even if I paid five times more than I wanted to pay. And I got a lot of Christmas and birthday shopping done and bought unique gifts that I probably couldn’t buy at home. Watch, I’ll see everything at World Market when I get home.

Elephants were very social.

Giraffes are very serene.

Everyone is trying to get a good shot.

The bird sanctuary is a nice place to stop and reflect.

We spent Tuesday evening at Bakubung Lodge near the Pilanesberg Nature Reserve. Pilane was a Zulu general. This is the place to see the “big five” in wild game – elephants, rhinoceroses, lions, leopards and buffalo. We went on the sunset game drive and saw rhinos, hippos, elephants, giraffes and a bird sanctuary. The nice part is the animals are in their natural state. They aren’t fed daily by humans and they are free to roam over 220 hectares of open land.

We got the most entertainment from the elephants. We even saw a mother with her baby, which reminded us of the classic Disney movie, Dumbo. And that mother, was just as protective as Mrs. Jumbo, shielding her baby from the cameras.

Tomorrow, we rise early for the morning game drive before heading to Sun City, which is similar to Las Vegas.

Just as everyone is coming home from Horti Fair, I will be flying to Amsterdam and then South Africa this weekend to join a group of U.S. and Canadian growers hosted by Dutch flower breeder Fides. The global company owned by Kirin has been producing cuttings down there for many years and is very pleased with the results. The crops Fides breeds and propagates include chrysanthemums, kalanchoe, geraniums, osteospermums, New Guinea impatiens, petunias, calibrachoas and dahlias. Fides also has farms in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Costa Rica.

This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and I'm very excited to share the highlights of the trip with you on our new international blog. I'll arrive in Johannesburg Sunday night. In addition to visiting the flower farms, a week full of cultural excursions are planned. I can't wait!