Meeting Place: Stellenbosch, the entrance to Music Conservatorium of the Stellenbosch University, corner of Victoria & Neethling Streets
Departure Time: Thursday, 4 September 2008, 8:00 for 08:30 a.m.
Cost: R3200 (South African Rand), excluding air ticket
Limit: 18 persons (1 small coach)
Guide: Prof Valdon R. Smith (Dept of Botany & Zoology, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, Merriman Avenue, Natuurwetenskappe Building, Room 1087 (office); vs2@sun.ac.za, Tel. office: 021-808-3111; Fax:  021-808-2405; Cell: 084-5172820; assisted by Frans Radloff (Email: frad@sun.ac.za)

NOTE: The cost of the accommodation for nights of September 6 and 7 (both in Stellenbosch―see the Programme below) are NOT included in the costs of this excursion. We suggest that the participants would book the nights of September 6 and 7 in the same guesthouses/hotels which they are going to use during the Symposium Week.

Day 1: Thursday, 4 September 2008 
Route: Stellenbosch – Gordon’s Bay – Harold Porter Bot. Garden – Hermanus (whale watching) – Cape Agulhas – Struisbaai
Stops: Harold Porter Bot. Garden; Hermanus (whale-watching experience); Cape Agulhas (the southernmost point of the African continent)
Vegetation: afrotemperate and riparian forests on the garden premises; endemic rich fynbos on sandstone (the heart of the Capensis); strandveld around Struisbaai
Accommodation & Dinner: Struisbaai

Day 2: Friday, 5 September 2008 
Route: Struisbaai – De Hoop Nature Reserve (Overberg)
Stops: De Hoop N.R. - Potberg section (grazing experiments); Koppie Aleen (whale watching & coastal vegetation); De Hoopvlei (lake; RAMSAR site)
Vegetation: shrublands and grassland on shale; fynbos on silcrete; endemic-rich limestone fynbos; milkwood thickets and shrubby strandveld; coastal vegetation
Accommodation & Dinner: De Hoop N.R.

Day 3: Saturday, 6 September 2008   
Breakfast: De Hoop Nature Reserve
Route: De Hoop N.R. – Swellendam – Tradouw Pass – Barrydale – Worcester (Karoo Botanical Garden) – Bainskloof or Du Toitskloof – Stellenbosch
Vegetation: excellent mesic/wet fynbos on sandstone, forest patches and waterfall in Tradouw Pass; succulent karoo & garden in Worcester
Accommodation: Stellenbosch (see the NOTE above)
Dinner: pre-booked venue for the whole excursion (joining IPE Excursion Namaqualand)

Day 4: Sunday, 7 September 2008
On this day we shall be joining the IPE Excursion Namaqualand (Leader: Prof L. Mucina); more field leaders will be present to assist (60-head strong troop of botanists!)
Route: Stellenbosch – Sir Lowry’s Pass – Hottentots Holland N.R. – Stellenbosch
Activity: moderately strenuous hike up the mountain in the Hottentots Holland (from Rangers Station to Landroskop Hut and back) through the species richest temperate flora of the world – the pristine mountain fynbos on Table Mountain sandstone (70-80%) of endemism!
Return to Stellenbosch around 18:00 to the venue of the Symposium registration (Conservatorium in Stellenbosch)

Dinner: cocktail/social mixer (Conservatorium; starting 19:00) followed by bigger dinner (if still hungry) or just a drink or two with friends on your own in Stellenbosch