Chilo Gardens are looking ever more lush, and our all-indigenous policy is paying dividends as the season progresses from drought conditions to intense rainstorms!
Oncoba spinosa flower and fruit
One of my favourite plants in bloom now, in front of our future dance arena, is Oncosa spinosa, the “Snuff box” plant. A spiny shrub with exquisite white flowers, (sometimes commonly called the African dog rose), this also bears intriguing round fruits, “snuff boxes”, which are used to make beaded snuff boxes and leg rattles. Many other plants also function as leg rattles and snuff containers, such as gourds and African oranges, as seen in my photographs. How fitting that this stunning plants grows right in front of the area that we are clearing to create a dance and theatre floor for our local troubadours!
so many uses for the fruit of the “snuff box” plant….
Green and gorgeous gardens………….
Chilo gardens-Oncoba spinosa in background
The future dance and theatre area will be an African version of Shakespearean “Theatre in the Round”-an open air experience not to be missed…can’t wait to hear the rattle of leg charms and the beat of hand-carved drums under an African sky.
the future dance /theatre area-African theatre in the making…
About wineandwilddogs
Lin Barrie
The Save Valley Conservancy stretches along the upper reaches of the great Save River in the south east of Zimbabwe. The Gonarezhou National Park laps against the southern banks of the Save River and between these two nestles the Malilangwe Wildlife Reserve. These three celebrated wildlife areas form part of the Greater Limpopo Transfrontier Conservation Area, (GLTFCA)- a unique wilderness jewel which is home to the “Big Five” (endangered Black and White rhinos, elephants, buffalo, lion, leopard) and the ”Little Six” (Klipspringer, Suni, Duiker, Steenbok, Sharpe's Grysbok and Oribi). Endangered African wild dogs, Cheetah, Brown hyena, Bat-eared foxes and a host of special birds and plants contribute to the immense variety of this ecosystem. Communities around the GLTFCA contribute to innovative partnerships with National Parks and the private sector, forming a sound base on which to manage social, economic and environmental issues.
This is home to artist and writer Lin Barrie and her life partner, conservationist Clive Stockil.
Expressing her hopes, fears and love for this special ecosystem with oil paints on canvas, Lin Barrie believes that the essence of a landscape, person or animal, can only truly be captured by direct observation.
Lin Barrie states: “Through my art, and my writing, I feel an intimate connection with the natural world, and from my extensive field sketches of wild animals, people and landscapes, I create larger works on canvas.
Lin's work is in various public and private collections in South Africa, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Australia, England, Canada, Sweden and the United States of America. She is represented by galleries in South Africa, Zimbabwe, England, Kenya and Florida, USA.
wine and wild dogs 