A 'CONOTHON': CONOPHYTUM HUNTING IN THE WESTERN AND NORTHERN CAPES - PART ONE

摘要

Its 4.00 am at the check-in desk for KLM at Manchester Airport and I'd already been up for an hour and half when I was greeted by an equally bleary-eyed Chris Rodgerson. Chris and I had been planning for this trip for many months: we were to spend just two weeks in the Western and Northern Capes but little did I know quite how intensive a trip this was to be - nor quite how enjoyable and successful it would be. For Chris this was his sixth visit to South Africa but for me it was my first time. A trueveteran of succulent plant hunting, Derek Tribble joined us at Schiphol Airport prior to the long haul down to Cape Town. I must admit I had some reservations as I had often (but not always) been disappointed by the condition of plants in some travelogues that I had seen at my local BCSS branch. Such reservations proved to be unfounded.