Taking leave

Went to do some atlassing in the West Coast NP and bumped into a small flock of Grey-winged Francolin which I really wasn't expecting.  Consultation with the great oracleof Robert's however confirmed that I was not mistaken.  Have never before had the opportunity to photograph the species and though it took a while as they were intent on feeding, eventually managed to get one mid-peck.  Rather special markings I thought.

Even though it's 80 k's from Yzerfontein, on a clear day Table Mountain still dominates the skyline.  Had to go to Langebaan for meds and on the way there noticed a broken down Hyndai parked on the opposite side of the road.  As it was still there when I returned and the three guys with it were looking rather desperate, I offered to help.  The battery was flat and they needed a jump start so I got the cables out but the terminals were so worn it wouldn't turn.  Well I'll give you a tow, do you have a rope, no only an old seat belt, so I dug out my tie-downs and we made a plan.  When it was finally started it emerged that they had been there the whole night and were desperate for water, which I always carry - boy did that bottle disappear fast.

Still enjoy the novelty of the sun being swallowed by the sea,  but not yet had a really spectacular setting.

Yzerfontein really is a very pretty, clean and well cared for town but unfortunately property prices reflect it's desirability.  Just above the harbour is this well laid out park and of course at this time of year it is liberally daubed with scarlet and yellow.  While wandering around I heard a familiar call and there perfectly posed on an aloe.......

.........was this majestic beast.  Of course as soon as the camera came out he got shy and led me a merry dance around his patch, until I caught him in an ungarded moment.  Can't think of a more appropiate name than Malachite for this brilliant sunbird.

OK how's this for a garden bird - top that if you dare.  There are signs all around Yzerfontein with Ostiches on them but I really didn't expect them to be strolling around the streets.

A sudden buzz of activity occured one Friday a while ago with tents, flags and toilets popping up at the sports club and along the beachfront and come Saterday the caravan park was swamped with cars as hundreds of people set off on the inaugural Yzerfontein MTB Challenge.  Two courses were available either 43 or 71 km which took them along a sandy backroad to the National Park and back - and all for only R250 per person.  It's that old "make 'em suffer and they'll gladly pay" philosophy at work.

I was interested to see where they went in the park so drove there and caught up with the front runners (front bikers?).  They hooked up with the main road for a while then dived off onto another sand road along the shore of the lagoon  and eventually joined up with the tar road again.  From there the more athletic continued on another 30 k loop while the less adventurous headed back.  I came across a chap running with his bike which had a flat and asked if he'd like a lift.  He must've thought I was part of the sweeper team as he happily chucked his bike in then asked how far it was back to the finnish.  About 20 k's I told him, fine I'll run, just leave my bike at the start.   Riiiight.

As I was a liitle wary of getting the van back to the workshop without the dragging brakes destroying the bearings I moved to Die Ou Skip, a very pleasant park in Melkbosstrand.  Just up the road was Koeberg nuclear power station which is surrounded by a large swathe of nature reserve which they happily maintain your are welcome to visit at any time, so I did.  Went for a stroll to do some atlassing and came across this very laid back bunch of eland.  I'd left the water bottle in the bakkie so took a short cut along the road and was checking out some cute little Penduline Tits - not what you're thinking, look them up - when a van approaches and a jovial fellow asks what I'm doing.  Looking at birds, oh I thought you were taking photographs.  Er, these are binoculars you know.

Lucky he didn't see me taking this!  You're welcome to come and play in our back yard just don't make us nervous.

An ostrich farm about 30 k's from Cape Town boasts these signs.  Dropped the Beast at the workshop on Friday afternoon and as it was going to be at least a week I decided to take a holiday - it's hectic this retirement business.

Flew to Joburg, picked up a car and after a couple of nights with my sister and brother-in-law it was off to Kruger.  First night at Orpen and though expecting it, I almost missed the full moon rising.  This last occured on the winter solstice several years before I was born, so doubt I'll be seeing it again.

Heard something knock over the dustbin and arose to find out what was potting .  Opened the sliding door and heard the clack of claws on concrete and a silver wraith emerged at my feet.  Had to hastily close the door or I would have had a ratel (honey badger) rummaging in my drawers - not that I had any on.   Sunrise brought home just how bad the drought has affected the area but the animals are still in remarkably good condition.

Saw a flicker of movement in the grass at the side of the road and there were Mr and Mrs Sandgrouse finding breakfast.  Mr is the more colourful of the pair and a one point gave a fine view of the double-band from which the name is derived.

Enter the "ag shames" in the form of a group of Dwarf Mongoose.  Unfortunately they are such hyperactive little sods that despite dozens of attempts this was the best I could do.

First major of the trip, perched atop an anthill not much more than 10 m away - sublime.

There was a scrum of five vehicles and I eventually managed to get closer and it decided that a lie-down might be in order - a really special cat.

I had lunch with me so pulled into Muzandzeni picnic site and was presented with this spectacle - who's watching whom?  Signs specify that visitors must stay within the enclosed area but who tells the ellies?  That single gum pole is all that seperates the two species but then up popped the enforcer......

...........not sure what he was saying but he certainly gaves those guys a good talking to.

All the camps and picnic sites have their resident scroungers and among them here was a delightful group of Arrow-marked babblers, continuously chatting away to each other.  The one below appeared to be the lookout as he sat up in a tree while the others fossicked on the ground.

Later at another water hole - can you work it out?

And two hours after the cheetah, the first of three for the trip and not a decent shot of any of them.  Kept forgetting to take pics as I was so gobsmacked about my good fortune, the only reason I got this one was because he was taking a nap but the tree was at least 50 m away..

Satara was next stop for two nights and on a early outing another scrum announced that something was up.  Well not quite, there were three of them and they all looked as though they had been to a hell of a party the night before.

For those who have not previously made it's acquaintance let me introduce you to the prettiest antelope on the planet, the Steenbok.  Not quite sure how it got the name as steen is stone in Afrikaans so I reckon in English it ought to be a Rockbok.

The weather became overcast and some rain fell over the next three days.  The road from Satara to N'wanetsi has a number of culverts, almost all of which have been taken over as hyena warrens.  So when it wet and miserable, who the heck wants to get out of bed?

Moving on to Oliphants I came out one morning a found these two Yellow-billed hornbills attacking their reflections in the windscreen.  The one on the left was really punishing the wiper.

Though still overcast, the sun made a brief appearance on my second morning at Oliphants.

A viewpoint just before the camp gates begged a photo and after taking it I just sat marvelling at the wonder of Africa. Noticing a vague movement below I trained the binoculars on the spot and a small herd of elephants came into view.  A book I read recently had a passage in it about the "Elephant Pause" and though I'd never heard of it before what I was seeing certainly seemed to substantiate it's existance.  I have been unable to find anything about it on the internet and though I scrutinised every word in the elephant museum at Letaba found no mention of the phenomenon, so it may just be hunter's stories.  However these animals were pausing in the middle of a barren piece of ground with one foot forward and standing completely motionless for minutes at a time, quite extraordinary.  Seems to be running on a bit so more next time.

On the road again.

Running out of things to do Cape Town-wise I headed for Stellenbosch as I wanted to check out the varsity campus that I last visited before the rinderpest.  It was the only University offering Automotive Engineering and I toyed with the idea of going there back in the days when I was still a mechanic - several lifetimes ago. Though I loved the campus, the fact that the course was conducted in Afrikaans made me settle for Wits and Mechanical Engineering.  The mountains surrounding the place lend it a special air and of course the vineyards may be an attraction to some who are able to afford it.

Finding parking on a normal week day was a challenge but out came the bike and off I went in totally the wrong direction but found the Danie Craven Stadium with a staue of the fellow outside.  He played scrum half for the Springboks in the '30's, was the national coach and founded Craven Week, an annual schools
rugby fest.

Making my way through the narrow, tree-lined streets eventually brought me to the main campus where hundreds of students were doing what students do best - nothing.  Needless to say the scenery was amazing and I think I drooled now and again. It was also pleasing to see that a lot of the original buildings are still in use.

On another day Paarl was on the agenda and as I'd never been before I popped in to the Afrikaanse Taal (Language) Monument. While the symbolism was all eloquently explained, to me it was like a giant chimney and you can't even use it for a braai as there's a dirty great water feature where you'd light the fire.

Lovely Aloe ferox in the gardens though.

Ther's a walk along the beach front at Kommetjie (small basin) that I'd seen on a previous visit and on a perfect day I headed over there and found this little group of Lesser flamingos having a kip in the Kom.

 Winter of course is aloe season and this mass of Aloe arborescens just begged to be photographed.

As Muizenburg caravan park was closed, moving everything back into the Beast was going to be a mission, I took some of the larger items with me when I went to collect it on Thursday and left it overnight in a campsite in Belville - R102 on one side, N2 and a railway line on the other - fortunately I didn't have to sleep there. Next morning I loaded up the bakkie with the rest and went to collect the old girl.  When I tried the movers nothing happened and what I'd suspected for a while, finally showed itself - dead battery. Bellville is chaos and especially so when you have 1700 kg of van attached.  I eventually found a Battery Centre and they relieved me of R1500 for a 102 amp, deep draw battery and I could finally escape.  The N2 towards town was backed up as usual so I took the scenic route and on arrival in Yzerfontein noticed a cooking linings-smell, sure enough the wheels on the right side were too hot to touch - over-adjusted brakes.  As they had also discovered some wood rot in the bathroom it is now scheduled to go back to the workshop for a week on 20th June - I'm heading for Kruger.

One thing Yzerfontein is not short of is shells and even as late as 1976 they were still using these kilns to reduce the shells to lime which was then mixed with sand and salt to make mortar for building, which is the reason why most of the old houses around here are white - no need for paint.

Something else in no short supply is plastic, I've read articles about it but it's a bit of a shock when you see the high water mark littered with myriad tiny shards of plastic - why are we so careless about this planet?

The sun is very lazy on the west coast as there are no time zones in RSA, hence at present it rises is just before 8 am.  When I opened an eye the other morning the sky was dappled with clouds being highlighted by the first rays so had to pop over the dune for a pic.

As I was already up I took a stroll northwards along the beach and came to a section where the sea looked like a coke-float.  Not sure if it was a red tide or more pollution.

There is a minute reserve just up the road where I found another aloe species that I'm pretty sure doesn't occur naturally in the area but can't seem to identify, any ideas?

And here's something you don't bump into every day a free ranging camel!

Quite impressed with this camera as Dassen Island must be about 5 k's offshore but still managed to get a hazy pic of the lighthouse to add to my collection.

Shortly thereafter I noticed what looked like a gigantic oil slick but realised it was moving and getting the binos out discovered a massive flock of Cape cormorants which then started to come ashore to roost.

The West Coast NP is just up the road so spent a pleasant few hours cruising, first to the far side of Langebaan lagoon where the game count amounted to three eland and two steenbok, which was good compared to zip for the rest of the park.

Eventually ended up at Tsaarsbank where the Atlantic was being particulaly fierce.........

...............and when this Hartlaub's gull saw the camera he couldn't resist striking a pose.  Only noticed later that there was another one in the air above him, probably his mate.

On the other side I found the perfect retirement home - just need to persuade National Parks to let me move in.

Heard a pathetic little meow outside the van the other afternoon and on investigating found this fellow who was desperate for a bit of love and immediately became my new BFF.  He then disappeared but when I was cooking later on, I thought I'd overindulged as there were three of them - brought the whole family for dinner.  Sorry cats that's MY chop.