UKZN Alumni Tour Shangrila Indigenous Garden on the KZN South Coast

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Over 100 UKZN alumni from across KwaZulu-Natal braved inclement weather on Saturday, 19 July 2025, to travel to Bazley on the South Coast for a visit to Shangrila, a magnificent indigenous garden.

The garden surrounds the home of fellow UKZN alumnus Ms Elizabeth Forsdick, who generously hosted the visit for the third time in eight years.

One of the country’s foremost indigenous landscapers, botanical artist, botanist, as well as a prolific author and UKZN Honorary Doctorate recipient, Ms Elsa Pooley, has provided landscaping advice at Shangrila for over a decade. She has slowly shaped the land’s flow, including its gardens, driveway, rock features, and stormwater channels. During the visit, Pooley provided an overview of the project and described the garden’s evolution before leading a walk through the space, identifying plants and their benefits for landscaping and biodiversity.

Shangrila is now teeming with wildlife, including birds, butterflies and insects. Winter provides a particularly vibrant display, with a wide variety of aloes in bloom and marine life such as sardines, whales, and dolphins visible offshore.

Light refreshments, UKZN publications, and memorabilia were available on the home’s scenic wrap-around verandah. Guests also had the opportunity to purchase Pooley’s various publications.

Guests networked and reminisced about their time at the University. It was interesting to note the wide range of professions represented among the alumni, all united by a shared passion for indigenous gardening.

This tour was one of several events organised by the Durban Alumni Association, co-ordinated by UKZN’s Alumni Relations Office.

Words: Finn Christensen

Photographs: Calvin Govender