Ashford school pays Steenbok a visit

What a pleasure it was to meet teachers Dirk and Rita Lagerwerf and be asked to take their 8 students from Grade 4 & 5 from Ashford School around Steenbok!(picture left)

The sharp-eyed youngsters were extremely good at spotting our Knysna dwarf chameleons and were keen to learn about fauna & flora facts.(picture right)

 

Starting with the Seedpod and its significance to the whole town, we then walked along the pathway to identify trees such as the Outeniqua yellowwood (Afrocarpus falcatus) and the Candlewood (Pterocelastrus tricuspidatus).

A beautiful Knysna Rock was found and re-hidden by one of the pupils, and all were keen to include rock painting as a school art activity – and including the teachers!!! Watch this space as they are keen to come back to Steenbok to hide their treasures.

We finished our little tour with a tasting of the berries from Harpephyllum caffrum (Wild plum), which all the children adored, and thanks to Dirk’s help with reaching the slightly higher ones, they all managed to try them.

The youngsters were also able to witness the caterpillars’ keen hunger for Sersia crenate (Dune crowberry) along the tow path and share their knowledge of these insects and their life cycles. Finally, they discovered how aromatic some of our indigenous plants can be, with some smelling better than others it was agreed, and the many uses these can have.
All in all, a lot of fun was had and a lot of knowledge and experience shared.