The short answer
South African buyers on Culture Cave have two routes. You can order from a vendor based in South Africa, which means prices in rand, domestic courier delivery and no customs, or you can order from one of the international vendors whose stores list South Africa as a shipping region. CB Shroomy is the South African vendor on the marketplace today, and the full list of local and international stores sits on the South Africa page. This guide walks through how each route works and what to check before you pay.
Buying from a South African vendor
CB Shroomy is based in South Africa and ships domestically. The store lists spore swabs, genetics as liquid culture and on agar plates, and a wide range of lab supplies such as agar powder, sterile petri dishes, parafilm and scalpel blades. Prices are in rand, so there is no exchange rate to work out and no foreign transaction fee from your bank.
The biggest practical advantage of a local vendor is that the parcel never crosses a border. There is no customs inspection, no import VAT and no wait at a sorting hub in another country. The store's dispatch note currently reads "1 to 3 day lead time", which is the time the vendor needs to prepare an order before it leaves. Courier time comes on top of that.
Pudo locker or door delivery
Within South Africa, CB Shroomy offers two delivery options at checkout: a Pudo locker or delivery to your door. A Pudo locker is a self-service locker at a shopping centre, petrol station or similar site. You choose one near you and collect the parcel with a code when it arrives. If you pick the locker option, enter the locker's name and address in the delivery address fields, as the vendor asks, so the parcel is booked to the right locker.
Door delivery suits anyone who would rather not make the trip, or who lives far from a locker. The current price of each option shows in the cart once your delivery region is set to South Africa.
Paying in rand with PayFast
CB Shroomy takes card payments through PayFast, a South African payment gateway. You pay the vendor directly, in rand, with a Visa or Mastercard. Culture Cave does not sit in the middle of the payment and never holds your money: the vendor receives it and sends your order.
Buying from international vendors who ship to South Africa
Several overseas vendors list South Africa as a shipping region. They include Fungus Frequency, Sonoran Spores, Telly Monster Myco and Moondaddy in the United States, What The Fungi in Australia and Kaiju Cultures in the United Kingdom. Ordering from them opens up much deeper libraries, including rare lines that no local vendor stocks.
The trade off is distance. An international parcel passes through South African customs, can attract import VAT or duty, and takes longer to arrive than a domestic one. Each vendor sets its own price for the South Africa region, and some only send certain products abroad, so read the store's shipping section before you fill a cart. Paying in dollars, pounds or Australian dollars also means your bank converts the amount, which may add a fee.
For a first order, a local vendor is usually the simpler choice. For one specific rare line, an international vendor may be the only option.
Which spore formats you will see
Vendors list spores for microscopy in three main formats:
- Spore swabs. A sterile swab rubbed across the gills of a mature cap and sealed in a tube or bag. Dry and compact, and the spore format CB Shroomy lists. Browse spore prints and swabs.
- Spore prints. Spores dropped onto foil or card and sealed. Dry, light and long lasting, and the most informative format for print colour and pattern.
- Spore syringes. Spores suspended in sterile water, ready to put a drop on a slide. Convenient, but liquid, so they keep for less time and dislike heat. Browse spore syringes.
Isolated genetics on agar plates are a separate category aimed at experienced hobbyists. If you are new, the guides to prints and swabs and using a spore syringe for microscopy cover the basics.
What to check on a store page
Every Culture Cave store page shows the same key information. Read it before you order, whichever vendor you choose.
- Shipping regions. The store lists the regions it ships to. If South Africa is not listed, the vendor cannot send to you.
- Dispatch note. How long the vendor needs before your order leaves. Made to order plates and isolates usually take longer than swabs or prints.
- Reviews. Reviews come from customers who ordered from that store. A handful of reviews for a newer vendor is normal, so read what people actually say rather than counting stars.
- Product labels. A good listing names the species, the line, and whether it is an isolate or multispore. A vague label is a reason to message the vendor first.
The guide to choosing a spore vendor goes into more detail.
Natalensis and other lines with South African roots
South Africa holds a special place for microscopists because Psilocybe natalensis was described in the 1990s from the Natal region, now KwaZulu-Natal, where it was found in grassland and pasture. Much of the material sold as "natalensis" in the hobby has since been matched by DNA sequencing to a closely related species, Psilocybe ochraceocentrata. That is why labels such as "aff. natalensis" and Natal Super Strain are common. The post on natalensis vs cubensis explains the naming in full.
A few Psilocybe cubensis lines also carry South African names. Transkei takes its name from the region in the Eastern Cape, and one vendor describes OG Transkei as a cubensis collected in southern Africa. As with most strain histories, treat these stories as the vendor's account rather than documented fact. CB Shroomy's own range includes named lines such as Jack Frost and Hillbilly Pumpkin, and the strain library shows every vendor carrying each line.
The law, briefly
In South Africa, psilocybin and psilocin are controlled under the Drugs and Drug Trafficking Act and listed in Schedule 7 under the Medicines and Related Substances Act. Spores contain neither compound, but that does not answer every question, and knowing the law is your responsibility. Psilocybe and Panaeolus spores on Culture Cave are sold for microscopy and taxonomy use only, and buyers must know their local law before ordering. Nothing in this post is legal advice.
A simple first order
If you are starting out in South Africa, a sensible first order is a spore swab or print from a local vendor, plus a box of slides and cover slips and whatever you need from the mycology lab supplies sold locally. Set your delivery region to South Africa in the cart, choose a Pudo locker or door delivery, pay in rand, and keep the parcel somewhere cool and dark when it arrives.
If you live elsewhere in Africa, the Africa page and the guide to ordering spores across Africa cover delivery outside South Africa.