Abbots Langley Gardening Society

January 2012

Geoff Clintons talk about his wonderful trips to Uganda to see the Gorillas, its wildlife and natural beauty. Oh! And the AGM

 

The AGM !… now on to the interesting stuff !!

 

No! that is naughty of me. Our society has done very well this year and we have even more new members, which just goes to show what a great job everyone is doing.

 

The talk that Geoff gave to us and the slides he showed us were truly wonderful. The quality of the pictures and his explanations were excellent. By the end of the evening I think that some members were thinking of visiting there themselves.

 

There are seven main parks in Uganda of which Geoff has visited four. As Uganda is on the equator, the vegetation is so lush that a path in the jungle would be overgrown within two weeks if not kept clear. That would make for a productive allotment, but is probably why so much of our Tropical Rain Forests are being destroyed.

 

Armed guards are necessary on the trek, because of the danger of forest elephants and poachers, not because of the gorillas, as some groups of gorillas are ‘Habitualised’ so that the animals get used to seeing humans. Visitors are told not to go near the animals, but that doesn’t stop the gorillas coming near you as Geoff found out. His photos of the gorilla families and their babies, and of the silverback watching it all going on were beautiful.

 

Geoff also showed us pictures of Golden Monkeys, Tree Lions and other quite rare animals that he has been fortunate enough to see and photograph on his travels, along with hippos, hyenas, water buffalos, vervet monkeys, butterflies and vultures. The list goes on and on.

We were also shown some photos of the wonderful wild flowers which tested us all to see if we knew what they were called. Most of us failed. !!

 

If you get chance to see Geoff’s talk please go, you will not be disappointed.

 

P.S……It was a good thing that the committee members moved from the front before the gorilla slides came on…………..I will get the sack.

 

February is going to be interesting too. It will be a talk by John Noakes about “Flowers for the Autumn.” You need to start planning now you know.

 

Trips so far this year:-

From April 27th is a weekend trip to Holland to see the Floriade. It is only held every 10 years so don’t miss it.

We have a day trip to RHS Wisley on June 23rd too.

More to follow.

 

The social side of our society is wonderful so don’t think we are only about gardening, come and join us. It is only £5 to join but you can come to our meetings and just pay on the evening if you want to try before you buy. Our meetings are held on the third Thursday of the month in the Manor House Sports and Social Centre so you can have a drink before we start at 8pm. Visitors only £1

For more details visit our web site:  http://www.algs.org.uk/

 

 

Have a great month.

 

Pam Cotton J