During the summit the Mohair Meander was launched. Its basically a route map that takes visitors through the Karoo region and points mohair related places. One of the main features of the route is the newly launched Mohair Experience Museum in Jansenville. On my way home to Port Elizabeth I stopped at the museum to have a look.
The museum is the first mohair museum in the country. The theme of the museum is ‘From the veld to the fibre and the future’ and the displays follow a logical sequence of the actual production processes from shearing to yarn to end product.
The displays include historic articles, coupled with an educational experience of the mohair story. There is also a shop selling mohair products and visitors can also browse through the Jansenville town museum which is on the same premises.
So to avoid boring you with all this Angora goats / mohair stuff, this will be the last post on the topic. Its not the last post about the trip though, as I have lots to show you as far as places and scenery from the area. So stay tuned. 
An intricate part of the whole International Mohair Summet was the two days of Angora goat competitions. Now I'm not a Angora goat expert, not by a long shot, but I will try to explain some of it in layman's terms. All the goats that took part in the competition were kept in pens under a big marquee for everybody to look at.
During the judging they inspect everything. They check the hair to see the length as well as evenness all over. They also check the teeth and then ask the handlers to let the goats walk away from the judges. This is to see if they have straight legs and not knock knees.
I was very impressed with the trophies handed out at the end of the two days. In Afrikaans we would say: "Dis nie sommer so nie." (Its not just any old trophy).
During the International Mohair Summit there were several shearing demonstrations both with scissors as well as the electric shearer. Although the electric one is probably the way of the future, I found the guys shearing with the hands much more interesting. The Angora goats get sheered twice a year, before breeding and before kidding. They are first sheared when they are only a couple of month old, as the hair of the kids are the finest and the most sought after.
They had the best of the best doing the demonstrations. On the Angora goat side the demonstration was done by Sameel Nkomoye. He is a 5 times South Africa and 3 times World Angora goat shearing champion. 
There was a demonstration of Merino sheep shearing as well which was done by another 3 times world champion. This time world sheep shearing champion Zolile Hans. Now this man knows how to shear a sheep. Apparently at the last world champs he finished his last three sheep in just over 1 and a half minutes per sheep. That takes some doing.
After Zolile finished his sheep, they spread the fleece on the table for everybody to see and touch. It is absolutely amazing how these pro's keep the fleece together like this.
One of the most popular mohair products are mohair blankets. There were several stalls with blankets, but some of the most exquisite ones must have been those on the stand of Jan Paul Barnard (Mohair Weavers).
People always go mad about Persian carpets, but if you ask me, I would much rather prefer a mohair carpet from Elsa Barnard Mohair Carpets. The designs are absolutely awesome, the colours great and then there is the fact of "Local is lekker".
I was very impressed with the mohair collection of dresses by Natalie Creed. Her mohair collection is called Bon Foret and the designs are done mostly in earthy colours.
Although not a mohair product, probably the stand that got the most attention was the one with Angora goat meat products. An Angora goat can produce quality mohair until they are about 7 or 8 years old. Elna van den Bergh (elna001@telkomsa.net) and her partners are from the town of Jansenville and they have started to produce angora meat for the market. Now don't go and imagine somebody braaiing angora steak and chops. The products include burger patties, boerewors (sausage), cheese grillers, salami, brawn, droë wors (dried sausage) and the most divine liver paté. 
Last week I attended the inaugural biennial International Mohair Summet. Hosted by Mohair South Africa, the summit took place in the Karoo towns of Graaff Reinet and Jansenville from 3 to 8 November and brought together role players in the mohair farming, production and fashion sectors from all over the world. 
In 1839, the Mosenthal family first imported angora goats from Turkey. The region in Turkey where the goats came from is called Ankara or Angora, hence the name ‘angora goat’.
The majority of the activities took place in the Karoo town of Graaff Reinet. Graaff Reinet is situated about 270km north of my home town of Port Elizabeth. The town must be one of my favorite places and is the fourth oldest town in South Africa, with over 220 heritage sites. The town is also surrounded by the Camdeboo National Park with its main feature being the Valley of Desolation. The area is also well known for its rich wealth in fossils.
The Summit included a conference, trade show, shearing demonstrations and various Angora goat and mohair competitions. Before this I knew very little about mohair, but I have learned tons during the two days I attended. Over the next couple of days I would like to share with you some of my new found knowledge as well as the sights and sounds (ok, so I don't really have sounds to share) of the mohair summit and the Graaff Reinet area. 