Everyone knows of Burchell's Zebra and Burchell's Coucal. But did you know he has 35 plants named after him, 1 plant genus and 1 insect genus named after him, while some 700 plants were described by him for the first time.
He spent almost 4 years travelling beyond the colonial border in the early 1800s, travelling over 7 000km and collecting 63 000 specimens of plants, mammals, insects, birds and reptiles. This extraordinary man learnt Dutch (he spoke multiple languages) so he could speak to his Khoi and Hottentot travel companions. He also signed employee contracts with them, unheard of at the time. He was a botanist, musician, artist, draughtsman, naturalist, cartographer, geographer and ethnologist.
He wrote two wonderful volumes recording his travels, in Travels in the interior of Southern Africa, and created an annotated map of his entire journey. Join me to hear more, dip into the volumes, study the map (bring your magnifying glass!), and admire a selection of Burchell sketches and paintings in Museum Africa's archives.
- Date: Friday, 2 June
- Time: 8.30am
- Meet: at the entrance to Museum Africa (park on Mary Fitzgerald Square, guarded parking)
- Duration: 2.5 hours
- Cost: R250pp
Payment is cash at the start of the tour, or EFT:
L Davie
FNB
50330055548
258605
Let me know: lucilledavie@gmail.com
Look forward to seeing you!
Lucille Davie
https://www.lucilledavie.co.za/jozi-tours
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