It is now possible for persons with disabilities to experience and educate themselves about the beauty of the Karoo Desert National Botanical Garden in Worcester, which opened a Braille Trail recently at the end of tourism month.
This is a first for South Africa, and hopefully, it will encourage other businesses and tourist attractions to do the same.
The Braille Trail features a variety of specimens that has a beautiful fragrance or texture or both.
The garden made it accessible not only for those who are visually impaired but for other disabilities as well.
There’s comprehensive Braille signage, and is wheelchair accessible; offers an audio guide; and includes an interactive exhibition of the common rocks of the Karoo where visitors may touch, feel and learn more about them.
Lize Labuschagne, environmental interpretation officer at the Karoo DesertNational Botanical Garden, said: “The Karoo is home to some of the most spectacular plants on earth. It’s high time that everybody – whether with a disability or not – enjoys this natural splendour, learns more about the unique Karoo biome and how vulnerable and beautiful it is.”
It is thanks to the community, investors, and partners, Worcester’s Pioneer School, North West University and its Byderhand project, the Cape Winelands Municipality, Worcester Tourism, the Botanical Society of South Africa and the Rowland & Leta Hill Trust, who made this a success, even if it took them years. Dedication truly pays off.
Labuschagne said that throughout the year, the Karoo Desert National Botanical Garden sees many visitors each year from all around South Africa, and the fact that more pupils will be flooding in is a bonus.
“All persons have a right to enjoy and engage with the biodiversity of South Africa. It’s not a privilege that should be accessible only to persons without disabilities,” said Labuschagne.
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