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In Search of the Horticultural Big FiveSouth Africa Trip Expedition Log
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Day 18, Monday February 22
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After lunch at the waterfront, we headed off on our final stop to visit Rod and Rachel Sanders of Silverhill Seed. Silverhill Seed ((www.silverhillseed.co.za) is an amazing company that specialized in South African natives, many of which we had seen during our trip. Along the way, we stopped at the Mercedes dealership to try and purchase hubcaps to replace those that we lost along the way. Missing hubcaps on these vehicles were obviously a problem, since every Mercedes Vito that we had seen along the trip also had missing hubcaps. The gentleman at the parts department seemed to remember a problem with hubcaps falling off, but would have to research it for us. He was also delighted to order the hubcaps, but they kept nothing in stock. Since this was our last day, we would have to return our van sans hubcap.
We arrived at Rod and Rachel's Capetown home and spent a wonderful 2.5 hours touring their garden, library, and seed fulfillment area. Since many of us purchase regularly from Silverhill, it was great to see how their operation works. We were also quite eager to purchase books from their amazing stock of native plant books. After loading up with books and seed, we were off again for our final dinner in Capetown.
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Day 19, Monday February 23
We made a quick morning stop at the downtown Post Office, which was nearly impossible to reach with a vehicle. The drive into the parking lot was so tight, that we nearly scraped the sidewalls off our tires, but somehow made it out without losing another hubcap. From here, it was back to the waterfront to get a refund on our VAT tax. For those who haven't traveled much, many countries have a national sales tax of VAT (Value Added Tax). The 14% tax is refundable to tourists when they leave the country. We had gathered up our receipts and now waited in line. Upon reaching the counter person, we found that we could not get a refund on anything other than goods to leave the county. In other words, no refunds on food or hotels, which was our largest expense. After examining our receipts, we were informed that we would only receive a fraction of the amount we had expected. We would then have to take the paperwork to the Capetown airport, unpack each item and then receive more paperwork. Next, we would take that paperwork from the Capetown airport to the Johannesburg airport to get our money. Forget it. The government has succeeded in making the system so convoluted, they are in effect charging an income tax to tourists with no chance of getting a refund. At least our return trip to the waterfront allowed us to see the nearby Table mountain sans fog.We reached the Capetown airport by noon for our 230pm flight and headed directly to the car rental office to drop the rental van off at the airport, dreading the consequences of losing the two hubcaps. Upon our arrival, they instantly notice the missing hubcap, but not the VW replacement that we found to replace the original. We discussed the reasons for the missing hubcap as they poured over the vehicle checking for further damage. They still haven't noticed the VW hubcap. We settled up for the one lost hubcap and headed back to the terminal and our long 10,000+ mile flight back to the US.
Addendum: I would like to say another special thanks to our tour guide, Cameron McMaster, who is without a doubt the finest tour guide that I have ever had the pleasure to accompany. Cameron is available for other groups as his schedule will permit. He can be reached through his nursery African Bulbs (www.africanbulbs.com).
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