30 December 2010

Walk to Peer's Cave

I find it very satisfying to go for a walk from home without having to drive first. On a windy Wednesday, late afternoon, we set off from a suburb in Fish Hoek and headed off towards Clovelly. Lovely dune vegetation: shrubs and grasses - and some big stumps and piles of brushwood indicating a successful alien clearing job done a few years ago.


Metalasia muricata (Blombos) in the foreground


Pretty balloon seeds on Lessertia frutescens, the Cancer Bush. On another bush nearby the seed pods were papery dry and made a rustling sound. As I stepped through the long grass I yelped! - thought it was a snake. Further along there were a few pretty Moraeas - flowering rather late in the season.

After walking through dry vegetation where every plant is adapted to conserve water - leaves are minimised, grey or the margins are rolled under - the emerald green Clovelly golf course looked so alien - was I hallucinating?


The reality is that in this wind-swept, sandy, dry environment, a few acres of water-guzzling kikuyu grass are meticulously fertilised, watered and mowed. A large amount of resources are used (squandered?) for the pleasure of a handful of people. Cape Town is facing serious water shortages and yet golf courses are still allowed to use potable water. It seems crazy. It feels wrong.


Anyway after crossing the Silvermyn stream we headed up the valley on a gravel road towards Ou Kaapseweg. Lovely views towards False Bay.


After a few hundred meters on Ou Kaapseweg we turned off towards Peers Cave.

Got to leave - back on january. More later!

We stepped over a beautiful old Wild Camphor - usually a bush, here a magnificent tree with a proper trunk.











Mystery # 8 to #13

More pics taken at Cape Point Nature Reserve in March.

Mystery #8


Mystery #9


Mystery #10 (2 pics)



Mystery # 11


Mystery # 12


Mystery # 13

28 December 2010

Cape Point - Mystery #4 to 7

More pics taken on the Cape Point trail:

Mystery #4


Mystery # 5 (2 pics)



Mystery #6


Mystery #7

27 December 2010

Cape Point - Mystery #1 to 3

Earlier this year I walked the Cape Point trail. The landscape is stunning and so varied: from steep cliffs overlooking False Bay, wind-sculptured thickets, to sandy beaches and rippling restio plains - it is a wonderful way to experience the Reserve.

Along the way we passed so many irresistable things that I started a little game - taking close-ups for a quiz. Inspired by Zygoma (Paolo) who posts an item from the collection of the Horniman Museum every Friday as a 'Mystery Object', I've decided to something similar, just for fun. Feel free to guess what they are, or ask for further clues. Here goes:

Mystery #1:


Mystery #2


Mystery #3



The Cape of Good Hope Trail is a 2 day trail, starting at the Main gate of the Cape Point Nature Reserve. The first day one walks south, along mountains on the eastern side, overnighting in simple cottages not far from the Point. The second day the trail heads towards the western side of the reserve, following the coast for a while and then heading back inland towards the gate. Visit

26 December 2010

A Party of a lifetime

In December my friend celebrated his 60th birthday at the Two Oceans Aquarium with a sleep-over party. Pat is a passionate and sucessful marine biologist and Director of the Aquarium, so it could not have been a more fitting place to celebrate. We had supper in front of the Predator Tank and after the festivities, people dragged their matresses to wherever they liked.


I slipped off into the Diversity Hall and entered an enchanted world...




It was absolutely quiet except for the rhythmic swoosh! of the intertidal exhibit and aircon. There were no throngs of people, or screaming kids - just a silent, colourful world of the most beautiful and bizarre creatures.










The ethereal streamers of box jellyfish


We decided to make our nest in front of the Shark Tank, lit by moonlight. The fish all swim in a clockwise direction around a central rock: there were strong, powerful yellowtails, enormous white stumpnose, grunter, sting rays, a turtle and a few large ragged-tooth sharks, circling among their prey.


I was absolutely mesmerised by a school of shimmering mackerel which scattered nervously in front of the predatory fish. Apparently the size of the school has diminished considerably over the last few months as they are snacked between feeding times.


Next morning we woke up and shafts of sunlight lit the tank.



What an incredible experience and priviledge. Thank you Pat!