​Aloe striata, or coral aloe, is a small, stemless South African Aloe species.
It occurs quite widely over the southern parts of the Cape Floristic Region, in the Eastern Cape Province and Western Cape Province of South Africa. It is also found on rocky slopes in coastal and Karoo areas.
The Coral aloe's species name, "striata", means "stripes", and refers to the long lines (sometimes very faint) on its blue-green leaves. The leaves of this Aloe are not toothed, but have a smooth pink margin.
Aloe striata is cultivated as a popular ornamental plant for gardens and in container plantings. It is drought tolerant which makes it especially useful in our water limited Cape gardens.

World Rhino Day is on September 22nd and celebrates all five species of rhino: black, white, greater one-horned, Sumatran and Javan rhinos. World Rhino Day was first announced by WWF-South Africa in 2010. It has since grown to become a global phenomenon, uniting NGOs, zoos, cause-related organizations, businesses, and concerned individuals from nearly every corner of the world.
You can find out more about the cause here https://www.worldrhinoday.org/about/
 
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Saturday 15th September was Coastal Cleanup Day, when all over the world awareness-raising initiatives and practical beach cleaning operations took place. Coastal Cleanup Day, on the third Saturday each September, was established by the Ocean Conservancy, an organization that work to help protect the ocean from the challenges it faces every year. They serve as a voice for the ocean, speaking of the issues that aren’t often represented through social networking, publicized updates, and challenges like asking your waitress to skip the straw for your drink. Every little helps to reduce the amount of plastic which enters our oceans every day.

We have beautiful beaches all around the South African coastline, and with better awareness and on-going action, there's  hope that they will stay that way. For more information about environmental issues and initiatives visit - www.wessa.co.za

All my works are available as high quality prints on non-archival paper or on stretched canvas.
Visit the online gallery here to view my available work.
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The Cango Caves are located in the limestone at the foothills of the Swartberg range near the town of Oudtshoorn. The principal cave is one of the country's finest, best known, and most popular tourist caves and attracts many visitors from overseas. Although the extensive system of tunnels and chambers go on for over 4km, only about a quarter of this is open to visitors, who may proceed into the cave only in groups supervised by a guide.

Cave paintings and artifacts indicate that the caves were in use throughout prehistory over a long period during the Middle and Later Stone Ages.

The caves were rediscovered in modern times in 1780 by a local farmer named Jacobus Van Zyl. The chamber he first was lowered down into was found to be as long as a football field, and is named Van Zyl Hall in his honor. Further exploration was done and a second chamber discovered in 1792. The caves soon became a popular place to visit.

Mr. Johnny van Wassenaer, the cave’s first official guide is purported to have walked 29 hours to find the end of the caves in 1898. When there, he is said to have calculated that he was 25km from the entrance, and 275m underground; his route apparently followed an underground river. More and more caves have been discovered to support this story.

For more information about the Cango Caves follow this link - www.cango-caves.co.za

All my works are available as high quality prints on non-archival paper or on stretched canvas.
Visit the online gallery here to view my available work.
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Proteas usually flower during spring time and are used for ornamental practices as cut flowers and for decoration. Protea cynaroides (above), the king protea, is South Africa’s national flower, symbolizing change and transformation..

Proteas attracted the attention of botanists visiting the Cape of Good Hope in the 17th century. Many species were introduced to Europe in the 18th century, enjoying a unique popularity at the time amongst botanists.
The genus Protea was named in 1735 by Carl Linnaeus after the Greek god Proteus, who could change his form at will because they have such a wide variety of forms. 

Most proteas occur south of the Limpopo River. However, 92% of the species occurs only in the Cape Floristic Region, a narrow belt of mountainous coastal land from Clanwilliam to Grahamstown. The extraordinary richness and diversity of species characteristic of the Cape Flora are thought to be caused in part by the diverse landscape where populations can become isolated from each other and in time develop into separate species.
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​All my works are available as high quality prints on non-archival paper or on stretched canvas.
Visit the online gallery here to view my available work.
​
Place your order
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by email to gutmansolly@gmail.com
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