Inspired Photo Blog

I thought I’d share a special gift I received from my father, who just returned from a trip to South Africa. This is the second trip he’s made to South Africa. He offers his lifetime experience of running a business to small business owners, focusing on a township called Graff-Reinet. The items he brought back from his last trip have inspired an idea to import these items, as I’m sure others would enjoy these specialties as much as my family.

Rooibos Tea. I’ve always enjoyed tea and drink a lot of green tea. My father brought back some of this interesting tea on his last trip. It’s called Rooibos and makes a red tea. Technically, it’s an herbal tea, but it doesn’t taste weak like many herbal teas. It has a smooth, robust flavor with a hint of sweetness. Since there are no tannins in Rooibos tea, you can let it steep longer than you would black or green tea and it never gets bitter. I fell in love with this tea and quickly went through my stash. It’s quite common in Africa and I’ve seen it beginning to show up in blends at local caféand tea sites on the internet. It’s supposed to have medicinal powers and lots of antioxidants and minerals. All I know is that it tastes wonderful and I never get tired of drinking it.

This is a brand called Eleven O.clock. I’ve seen this brand of coffee at Trader Joe’s, but I had no idea they distributed tea. I love this packaging.

Another brand of Rooibos tea. You can never have too much Rooibos in the house. This brand, in individual tea bags, When you know what’s good for you.

Honey Bush tea is also a red tea, very similar to Rooibos, but with a slightly sweeter, almost honey-esque taste.

Boot Grip. I’ve saved the best secret for last. My father picked one of these up on his last trip and put it in the trunk of his car. It’s amazing, simply put. No matter what you put on this mat, groceries in plastic bags, tools, they will not move! I kid you not! I can’t tell you how many times my plastic bags spill their contents all over my trunk by the time I get home from the grocery store. I looked all over for my very own mat and found out that no one sells them here. This is definitely an item that has a market that doesn’t know it exists. So, my father bought two of them for me. My wife went to the grocery store this evening and tested it out. Not one bag moved from the time she left the store to the time she pulled in our driveway. Even she was amazed!

The funniest thing to me, is the difference in cultures and terminology. What we call a trunk on our cars is called a boot in South Africa. The insert states: “BootGrip. The anti-slip mat that grips! The answer for things that go bump in the boot!” I couldn’t have said it better myself!