Boksburg or bust

 From PE it was inland to the wonderfully evocative Camdeboo National Park near Graaff Reinet in the heart of the Karoo.  Whist enjoying a sun-downer I noticed movement near the electric fence that surrounds the camp (for some unknown reason!) Then up popped an enormous pair of ears belonging to a Cape scrub hare.  Not sure if the fence was live but those ears were mighty close.

On an early drive around the reserve the only other animals sighted were these mountain zebra, not exactly dangerous - perhaps the fence is to keep out humans!

My father was a superb photographer who had a thing about churches.  He took quite a few of this one in the heart of the town and I'm sure he'd be pleased to see that it is still beautifully maintained .

The reserve surrounds the Nqweba Dam and a board near wall details that even though the name means "the meeting place" because it's at the confluence of three rivers, it's not particularly well sited.  It has only overflowed a couple times more than it has been totally empty.

A cloud formation that looked like a huge question mark had unfortunately dissipated a little by the time I thought to get camera out.  Quite appropriate in 2020 though.

Close by, the intriguing pillars of the Valley of Desolation stand sentinel over the vast plains of Camdeboo.  Not quite so desolate though, a very loud red-chested cuckoo was rather enjoying the echos of his Piet-my-vrou call.

In the other direction Spandaukop is typical of many koppies throughout the Karoo that resemble the conical hats that are popular in Lesotho - or should that be the other way round?

The summit of another koppie has a toposcope that details distances to many towns and cities in Africa and also provides a superb view of the historical town that is almost encircled by the Sunday's River.

A splash of pink caught my eye and revealed itself as a Coral aloe, A. striata with it's pin-striped leaves.

A reasonable drive up the road brought me back to the Forever Resort at Gariep Dam.  There are 20 odd sites with private facilities for R180 pppn, a real bargain I thought.......

..........especially as the bathrooms had recently been upgraded.

An early morning stroll took me down past the harbour to a look-out with a spectacular view of SA's largest dam.

It is possible to get right around the dam which I did on the bike, stopping regularly for pictures

Near the hamlet of Bathulie the R390 crosses the Orange River by way of an enormous rail/road bridge. Not quite sure why the bridge is so out-sized as the next stop is the even smaller Venterstad.

Was sitting on my "stoep" one evening when I saw a bird feeding on the lawn and noticed something I'd never seen before................any ideas what the bird is?

Not called a crowned lapwing for nothing!

Next stop was Aldam Resort on Willem Pretorious Dam near Ventersburg as although I was heading for the 'Berg, I needed to go via Villiersdorp to see the agent about my caravan movers which died in Cape Town.

A big red ball rose shortly before 6 am and laid a golden path across the water and a very chirpy white-browed sparrow-weaver greeted it lustily.

The nearby Willem Pretorious Reserve beckoned mainly because it is one of the few places where it is easy to see what has to be one of the most enigmatic and graceful antelopes, the sable.

When you run out of pretty, colourful species you have to start looking at the LBJ's (little brown jobs as Bill Oddy calls them). One of the most difficult groups to get to grips with are the larks.  This little guy doesn't have much in the way of visible cues, but one of it's favourite pastimes is singing and mimicking other birds  from the top of a tree.  That, the strong white eyebrow and speckled breast indicate that it's a Sabota lark.

A group of giraffe sought shade under under one of the few trees big enough to accommodate the biggest, while a couple of youngsters were on the periphery.

As there is covered storage at Hlalanathi near Royal Natal in the 'Berg, I spent a few days there prior to heading to Boksburg for Christmas.  Another amazing site looking out over the Tugela River towards the Amphitheater.

It even had a downstairs porch with a braai clinging to the side of the cliff.

On a ride up Oliviershoek Pass I came across a patch of these members of the milkweed family with their lime green flowers.  As I recall they are an Asclepias sp. but as the book is still in the van I'm unable to confirm.

I also tackled DeBeer's Pass near the new pumped storage scheme called Ingula, but had a rude surprise at the top when I ran out of tar at just over 100 kph.  Not the best thing on slicks, but when I'd managed to stop the bike and myself shaking, I noticed this panorama.

Back at the camp, some frantic tapping drew my attention to this Cardinal woodpecker, which is easily distinguished from the similar golden-tailed by the barring rather than spots on it's back.

Once the van was covered and packed it off to the cottage and a few days later, a report dwarf bittern had me in the bird hide at the Walter Sisulu Botanical Gardens in a hurry.  The bittern failed to co-operate so had to content myself with my namesake, a Southern red bishop, who was very intent on finding a mate but having about as much luck as I am. 

With abundant rain, the falls were in full spate and looking very attractive......

..........as was the Cape Chestnut Calodendron capensis or beautiful tree from the Cape.

Got rather carried away and climbed to the top of the falls and searched in vain for the Verreauxs' (black) eagles nest, not a particularly successful day.

Garden route revisited

In a previous blog I failed to identify this amazing beauty that I found near Nieuwoudtville, but someone came to my rescue with Lapeirousia oreogena, a bulb which only occurs in a limited area but is very popular overseas - thanks go to Sally Harris

There was a period of nearly a week when I was without the Beast and the Bakkie, so spent time doing some of the really wriggly roads around Cape Town on the bike.  En route to Chapman's Peak I rode through Bishop's Court and found that there really is one, though you'll probably need a magnifying glass to see the sign. 

Near the end of the drive is a spot that looks out over Long Beach towards Kommetjie.....

.....and the view from the top of Ou Kaapse Weg is also fairly nifty.

The Bishop, the Beast, the bakkie and the bike were finally reunited (thanks Jane) and headed for Klondyke Cherry Farm in the Matroosburg about 30 km from Ceres.

No shortage of flowers here either but not as prolific, pink oxalis with tiny leaves....

.....elegant bulbinella on a stem at least half a metre long....

.......and more babiana.  Unfortunately the flower book was one of several items that I managed to leave in the Beast, which is currently in storage!

The cherry (and cheery) trees weren't a problem to identify! Those clouds heralded a cold front of monstrous proportions and while there wasn't a repeat of the snow that fell here a month previously the wind cut you in half.  Not fun packing up for the move to Robertson.

Here I revisited Silwerstrand Resort next to the Breede River and the wind followed, though not nearly as cold.

The predominant species of lower in the area were Worcester vygies Drosanthemum speciosis and Ice plants Lampranthus sp. which in Greek means "shining flowers".  With over 120 species and only separated from similar flowers by the seed capsule, you'll forgive me if I don't go into detail.

The vygies vary from scarlet.....

......to orange or gold, but so do the ice plants - confusing but stunning.

There were others scattered about such as these which might be an ornithogalum......

As Franschhoek was fairly close and there's a magnificent pass between it an Robertson, the bike was called into action.  This taken near the top.

Had a regular visitor who rested in a tree in front of the Beast and gave little wittering calls now and then - a Cape Bulbul.

This whole valley is packed with vines which are mostly watered by the river that has carved a passage between these two massifs nearby.

With so much colour to please the eye, these sort of things get overlooked so felt sorry for them but don't what they are!

30 odd kilometers up the road is the Karoo National Botannical Garden,  which at this time of year is an absolute must.

Flowers packed so densely the foliage is invisible. Magenta....

.......................scarlet....................

.................and mauve.  Know the above are drosanthemum 'cos they were labelled!

Quite surprised to see a couple of oriental ladies enjoying the spectacle and chatting excitedly, hopefully tourism is picking up.

Next on the agenda was Sedgefield, where Titus the drone was launched to get a view of the now full Groenvlei.......

.....and the bike provided access to the Seven Passes road between George and Knysna which plunges up and down ridges........bisected by numerous rivers

.

Knysna seems to have mostly recovered from the deadly fire which swept through there recently, but there are still a number of skeletons of homes and lots of dead trees.

At the top of the Western Head one looks down to Buffels Bay with it's majestic beach.

Ever onward, to the Willows Resort near Port Elizabeth........ 

......... and a site right next to the sea but with it's nickname of the windy city, I didn't bother with the awning.

Had a couple of visitors in the shape of Cape mongoose, the white tip to the tail being diagnostic.

The son of a friend of brother in-law Pete is a skipper for an outfit called Raggy Charters and was coincidentally taking a group out on a Saturday and I was asked if I was interested, silly question.  We were diverted from the intended route by a fisherman friend of his, who had spotted some whales off Cape Recife.  What they didn't let on was the whales were Orcas or killer whales.

Someone on board had their phone on video so as a first on the blog, you'll hopefully be able to take a peek.

We then headed St Croix to see the African penguins but actually ran into a large flock on the way.

Shortly before reaching the island we were surrounded by a massive pod of bottle-nose dolphins and Jake explained that their research has shown that for every one you see on the surface, there are three below, which gave a estimate of 500 or so.

St Croix was named by Bartholomeu Diaz who sailed into Algoa Bay in 1488 and erected a wooden cross there to give thanks for his safe passage.  A replica was put up in 1988 to mark the 500th anniversary of the event. The island was originally covered with a thick layer of guano, that was stripped down to bare rock which deprived the penguins of their burrows and precipitated a drop in numbers that continues unabated. The abandoned buildings are a stark reminder.