The Nature’s Valley Trust ran a holiday program from 28 April to 2 May 2014. We run this program every April and December, and have several main outcomes we hope to achieve. Firstly, and most importantly, we aim to make holidays in Nature’s Valley FUN for both regular and first time visitors. The program is mostly geared at kids, although we have several moms and dads who also participate, and it is rewarding for us to see families having fun together with other community members. Secondly, we hope participants learn something about the magnificent environment they are in while on holiday – our programs are designed to be both educational and fun! Lastly, we use these programs to raise funds for the important work we do as the Nature’s Valley Trust, and to achieve some valuable public relations while we have a captive audience!
Last week’s program kicked off with a sandcastle competition on Tuesday which saw nine teams totalling about 45 people competing for top honours! The topic was sustainable family farming, and we had some wonderful creations in the sand by the lagoon in Nature’s Valley!
Wednesday morning the NVT team was up early, setting up mistnets in the Fynbos above Nature’s Valley to show everyone how and why we catch and ring birds. We were blown away by the turnout at what is fast becoming one of our most popular events! We had fifty children and forty adults arrive at 9am, all eager to see what we would catch in the nets. We netted 28 birds and everyone got a chance to not only see, but also touch and feel the birds, getting up close and personal. Many of the children got to release a bird too!
The highlight of the day was when Dennis from Radical Raptors brought out three rehabilitated raptors for Minke to ring. Mark auctioned off the right to release the two Forest Buzzards and the immature African Harrier-hawk, with children trying to outbid each other much to the chagrin of their parents! We managed to raise R1380 with the auction, half of which will be donated to Radical Raptors to contribute towards their valuable rehabilitation work. Seeing the looks of delight on adult and children’s faces as each bird was ringed and released was very rewarding!
Waking up to another perfect sunny day in the Valley, folks flocked to Blue Rocks at Nature’s Valley for the Rocky Shore outing on Thursday. After hearing Cindy set the ground rules, and getting a quick lesson on what to look for we had about 45 children and about 20 parents peering into every rock pool in the area eagerly trying to find something cool for Cindy! Several large starfish, some nudibranchs and a couple of cool octopuses were the highlights!
We wrapped up the program with a fantastic Easter egg treasure hunt in the Phyll Martin Park. Around forty keen participants lined up to receive their clues, each team trying to fill their basket with delectable goodies!
Our sincere thanks go out to all who came and participated in the program! Please go look at the rest of the photos on our Facebook page and feel free to tag yourself in the pics! We are grateful to the support we get from the Nature’s Valley community, and look forward to hosting you all again in December!