Had an unexpected call from a lovely lady in the form of Wilma van der Walt who was in Cape Town and wanted do do some birding while her husband was in a conference. I suggested West Coast NP as the Postburg section, which can only be visited during the flower season, had just opened. Spent a most enjoyable morning pottering and picturing. The smear of orange "paint" will in all likelyhood only increase with time until the whole valley is covered.
There are some really strange outcrops up at Uitkyk picnic site including this very large 'up yours' finger. Also a spectacular view over the bay towards Langebaan but shooting directly into a low sun didn't make for memorable pics.
Saw more animals in this section than in the whole of the rest of the park including these Bontebok which were really enjoying the flowers!
Finally bid adieu to Leentjiesklip and mid-way to the next stop got a call to say that I'd left my tent poles in the toilet - aaaaah "oldtimers". Kuifkopvisvangers, while sounding like a dose of head lice is actually the Afrikaans name for the Malachite Kingfisher and the kuif refers to the quiff it sports - think Elvis Presley. This is a resort on the banks of the Berg River about 5 kilometers from Velddrift and smack dab next to one of the only profitable railway lines in RSA. Completed in 1976 it connects the iron ore mine at Sishen to a loading facility at Saldana, where ore is shipped mainly to China, who then make steel products which are cheaper than those manufactured locally. The gee whiz bit is that the trains are a shade under 4 km long and capable of carrying a load of over 41 000 tons. The format is two locos, 100 trucks, two locos, 100 trucks, one loco, 100 trucks and a final loco at the end - counting them made me dizzy.
This is where they end up in an automated unloading facility which is rather eerie to watch as the trucks are fed, two at a time, into one of two off-loaders and rotated without uncoupling them. The clattering that goes on when the train stretches as it starts moving is quite something.
Staying at Kuifkop allowed access to Kliphoek salt-works which was allegedly home to an over-wintering Red-necked Pratincole that three visits failed to turn up - though of course it has been seen since. But the number and variety of other birds was some compensation. See if you can guess what this is?
Rarely see flamingos swimming let alone doing 'duck dives'. Doubt that elegant Stilts would deign to stoop to such behaviour.............
...........and two for the price of one a Grey Heron and companion.
Next stop was going to be Clanwilliam so I took a drive up there to check out the caravan park which was adequate but definitely "municipal". Where the N7 goes over Pieniek Pass, just had to stop to take this, with canola fields turning large areas yellow.
A visit to a monster mall in Vredenburg of all places had me investigating the suburb built on a ridge above and I found a couple of pieces of land with the most amazing views and as a matter of interest took down the agent's number. The day I met her was one of those crystal beauties and Table Mountain over 100 km away was clearly visible with Langebaan lagoon in the foreground. Thought it was a good deal at R330 000 and may still invest, though doubt I could afford a house.
Had to go back to Langebaan to collect a battery for the computer and it had been snowing even harder. The Afrikaans name for these is reenblomme which is certainly apt as the more it rains the more they bloom.
Returning to Kuifkop I noticed something doing an aerial display while singing it's lungs out and when I stopped he very conveniently landed nearby. A Capped Wheat-ear obviously thinking spring has sprung.
Though the park at Clanwilliam wasn't up to much the view certainly was. What put a slight damper on was the 40 odd looney bass fishermen roaring around in over-powered boats.
This has got to be the most expensive and selfish hobby in the world. If you haven't got at least 200 horses driving your special 'bass' boat and a large 4x4 to pull the rig, don't bother coming. You're looking at around a million TO GO FISHING! I also didn't see a single boat with more than one person aboard, they obviously take their competitions very seriously. However only really massive fish were hurt during this competition, the rest were photographed and released - all that money to catch something you're not even going to EAT - the world is totally crazy.
A lighter moment was provided by this guy who didn't quite get it right on his first try at loading the boat on a trailer and obviously left it in reverse when he had to back the rig into deeper water to get it off again. Next thing the boat was puttering off into the middle of the dam with it's owner frantically wading after it. I was keen to see if he could swim fast enough to catch it but he got lucky as the steering was slightly off centre and it curved gracefully back to shore.
Remember that ORANGE I spoke of , well this house in Clanwilliam had a garden full of it - it must be visible from space on a sunshiney day.
Behind the town loom the Cederburg Mountains and they're pretty impressive, with fantastical rock formations and some nifty balancing tricks. Only found out about the more exotic ones after I left so will have to go back sometime.
Coming back down Pakhuis Pass I discovered another "snowfall". Lots of citrus grown as well and trees were being stripped and shipped while I was there.
There's a botannical garden on Ramskop just above the campsite and on two previous visits the flowers were past their best but this time it was pretty much at it's peak. Could go on at length about them but don't want to bore you.
The view looking back over the dam was pretty darn (dam would be tautological) special too, with the water a giant mirror.
30 km further up the road I discovered heaven in the form of Rondebosch Resort on the Bufelshoek Dam. Chalk and cheese, you have no idea. Similar sort of view but that's where it ended.
A massive site with car port, undercover braai, kitchen, shower and toilet for R250 a night - unbelievable.
Undoubtedly the best I've been on and a very pleasnt young couple who run it. Did see the maids baby-sitting their young daughter while they worked but assume they get extra for that - or is this still South Africa?
No comments:
Post a Comment