The Cactus Trip Diaries

In 1995 my job was IT Documentation manager for an international benefit consultancy and used to knock up websites for fun. A lot has changed, not in the least my energy levels and my ability to find solutions that the software that I now have available produces.

So the program of presentations is much later than I had intended.

My Blog allows me to publish pages for dates in the past – not in the future. I should have tested this feature out sooner – but here we go.

Friday 11 September – 18:00 hrs Central European Summer Time
(= 17:00 British Summer Time)
INTRODUCTION and OPENING COMMENTS
Ronald Fontyene & Paul Klaassen

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89721742891?pwd=SGxua0l2Rk9IU21PQTBmODFNY3kzQT09

(SWiS2020 (1) Meeting ID: 831 4751 2741 – Passcode: Welcome

Ronald has collected cacti and other succulents since the early 1970s. His interests in all aspects of the adaptation of succulent plants to arid and semi-arid ecosystems has resulted in a mixed collection of both cacti and other succulent plants. He says: ‘This interest goes hand in hand with my pleasure in photography, which comes in handy when illustrating articles and giving lectures.’ Ronald is a member of the Flemish cactus & succulent societies Grusonia and Lophophora, Succulenta, the BCSS and the DKG (Deutsche Kakteen Gesellschaft). For 15 years he was treasurer of Grusonia. Since 2006 he was involved in the organization of the ELK, first as secretary-treasurer and now as chairman.

After the opening comments, Ronald will entertain us with his presentation From Cederberg to Richtersveld (South Africa).
The wide surroundings along the Atlantic coast of South Africa consist of areas famous for their extreme richness of succulent plants of which many are endemic to this region. Succulent Karoo, Cederberg, Namaqualand, Knersvlakte and Richtersveld are place names that trigger the imagination of a succulent plant lover. Here we are introduced to the great botanical diversity of these regions, from the tiny Conophytum minitum to the tall Aloe pillansii, photographed during a six-day tour through fascinating landscapes.

Friday 11 September – 20:00 hrs Central European Summer Time
(= 19:00 British Summer Time)
by Ian Woolnough: “Some Pediocactus, Sclerocactus and selected associates”.

Ian first joined us on the 2003 Copiapoathon in Chile. Here he is preparing dinner at Secret Valley, south of Taltal. Since then he has travelled to the USA (to avoid language problems), Mexico, the Caribbean Islands, Argentina and Peru, often with his wife Sarda. You may recognise them from their plant sales at ELK where Sarda is often seen selling the plants while Ian is sampling Belgian beers.

Tonight he will entertain us with images of the Sclerocacti and Pediocacti plus other flora, fauna and scenery in the USA from multiple visits.

Friday 11 September – 20:00 hrs Central European Summer Time
(= 19:00 British Summer Time)
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88675872734?pwd=U2ttYm9HOFh3YjlMN3JsS3NCaEh6UT09

Meeting ID: 886 7587 2734
Passcode: PedioScler