04/08/2026
What an unforgettable evening! 💚🦉
A heartfelt thank you to the Upper Highway community for the overwhelming support you showed the African Raptor Centre's After Dark event at Cumec Park. We knew there was enthusiasm for our urban owl evening, but the incredible turnout exceeded every expectation. We were absolutely blown away!
The message is clear – our community cares deeply about wildlife, conservation and spending meaningful time together in nature. We will certainly be hosting more After Dark events... and next time we'll be ready for an even bigger crowd!
Truly memorable community events are created by the community, and this evening was made possible by so many wonderful people and organisations.
Thank you to Kloof Conservancy
Kloof Conservancy, Everton Conservancy, Hillcrest Conservancy, Crestholme Conservancy, Ranger Matt, and the volunteer teams from Kloof High School and St Mary's DSG Kloof for hosting such engaging activities.
A huge thank you to
Blue Security, MRC Energy, Charl Momsen for the lighting, L&G Tools and Machinery Distributors L&G Tools for the generator, and Jono , who helped make the magic happen and ensured everything ran smoothly.
Thank you to BainBru Coffee, Zubeda's Delights, and Dawn Melani and Name on the Drum for keeping everyone warm, well-fed and wonderfully entertained throughout the evening.
Special thanks go to Shannon du Plessis, our organiser extraordinaire, Debra and David Christie for expertly MC'ing the evening, Karin and Garry Salkow, Heather-Jean Craycraft, Tayla Gray, and our incredible core volunteer team: Christina, Kerryn, Kayla (NGI), Brandon (NGI) and Rachel (NGI). Your dedication behind the scenes made the evening such a success.
Finally, thank you to VLAMGAT for the incredible raffle prizes and to every single person who attended, donated, volunteered, asked questions, met our owl ambassadors and helped support raptor rescue and conservation.
Together, you've shown just how powerful a community can be when people come together for nature.
We'll see you After Dark again soon! 🦉✨