The last day of our long weekend away in the Garden Route had finally arrived, and as luck would have it, the good weather that we had been enjoying up until now finally gave way to some rain, making the last morning of hotel breakfast and packing up a bit of a grey, overcast and wet affair!
While Evan and Natasha opted to stick around and spend some more time in George, the rest of us decided to call it a day and head back home via the N2 – but not before making a scheduled stop at the Alcare Aloe shop in Albertinia,to pick up some supplies that Monty and Cheryl had ordered before they had left for the weekend.
Pleasingly, the shop has attached to it a great little coffee stop in the form of the Giant Aloe Cafe, which was exactly what the doctor ordered on such a cold and wet day.
Featuring a centrally placed fireplace and loads of home made nibbles to choose from, we quickly settled in for a nice warming cup of coffee and a small treat for the girls.
(Also, it gave Chantelle and Cheryl an excuse to do a bit of browsing through the multitude of aloe products on display!)
Of more interest to me however was the giant, super realistic aloe statue erected outside. Naturally, a closer inspection was called for!
Unveiled in 2010, this 9 metre tall statue of a Cape Aloe plant (Aloe ferox) features individually sculpted leaves, flowers and thorns, weighing in at approximately 2,500 kg!
This beautiful piece of art (designed by George-based sculptors) took approximately 8,800 man hours to complete and now stands as a beautiful and eye-catching landmark for the small town of Albertinia (which is already kind of known as “Aloe Country “anyways!).
In other words, you can’t miss it.
Related Link: Giant Aloe Statue | Alcare Aloe | Albertinia