Stellenbosch (www.tourismstellenbosch.co.za/) is the second oldest town in South Africa and lies about 50 km east of Cape Town. It has a very rich architectural heritage, with more than 100 declared monuments, and its streets are lined with oak (Quercus) trees – hence its colloquial name, Die Eikestad (Town of Oaks). It is the center of the Winelands District of the Western Cape Province, a region renown for its vineyards and mountains.
The symposium will be held in the university’s Music Conservatorium (see above), on the corner of Victoria and Neethling Streets. The oldest university botanical garden in the Southern Hemisphere (http://admin.sun.ac.za/botanicalgarden/) is a two minute walk from the Music Conservatorium and town center is a ten minute walk away.
The Neelsie Student Centre is located approximately 200 m from both the Botany/Zoology and Music Conservatorium buildings, in the centre of campus. Downstairs you will find a variety of fast food restaurants, photocopying and printing services, an internet café, cellular phone shops, a laundromat, and a small, basic grocery store. The centre also hosts banks (notably branches of Absa and FNB), ATM’s, the Neelsie Travel Agency, stationary shops, and coffee shops.
September is Spring in South Africa and the Stellenbosch region will be full of springflowers. Temperatures will range between 10 °C and 25 °C, but can fall as low as 5 °C in early morning. Rain can be expected as Stellenbosch is located within the winter-rainfall zone.
