Back and forth

On the morning of Christmas eve, I was brushing my teeth when a mighty explosion rent the air.  I assumed it was something that had happened underground as the area is quite often subjected to minor quakes due to rock bursts in the abandoned mines, but it was far worse.  The driver of a tanker carrying 60 000 litres of LPG took a wrong turn and got stuck in an underpass and in spite of the fire brigade being fairly quickly on scene, it was soon ablaze and then exploded.  Unfortunately a lot of locals had been attracted to the scene and at least 30 were killed including a dozen kids and two firemen.  Not a good start to Christmas.

On Christmas Day I was busy cooking a pork belly roast when I noticed a lot of activity around this flower spike.  Think it is some kind of chlorophytum with a large wasp in attendance and a bee on it's way from the right.

On what was traditionally Boxing Day but now Family Day apparently, I headed off for Durban for a house-sitting stint at a friends beautiful place in Kloof.  Duties included food and love for dogs including Rolo, who's party trick was to sit up on his haunches.......except when you wanted him to!

 

This is the very laid back and gentlemanly Larry, who was a bit aloof at first but soon became my favourite.............

.............and the very Tiggerish Brin who was all licks, bounces and mischief..........

................such as this that greeted me one morning!

Jenny's garden is superb and host to many species of birds...........

........including these two woolly-necked storks who waited for breakfast to be served every morning.  This consisted of small lumps of cheese that needed to be thrown onto the garage roof to maintain peace between them and hysterical mutts.

We were sitting having sundowners on the veranda shortly after I arrived when Jenny spotted something unusual in the adjacent reserve.  Fortunately the camera was within reach and I managed to get a shot of this European roller with dinner.  Only remember seeing them in the area on two previous occasions.

Took the Honda out along the Old Main Road to Pietermaritzburg one morning and stopped for a break in Monteseel with views of the Valley of a Thousand Hills.

Attention was drawn to some scarlet flowers which turned out to be a dwarf coral tree Erythrina humeana. 

Returned via Inchanga and was pleased to see that the Umgeni Steam Railway yard is still a hive of activity.  Must be one of the last trains running in RSA as most of the others have been brought to a halt by rampant thievery and corruption.

Was joined by Wendy for a stroll in Pigeon Valley which has been badly affected by the floods and was fairly quiet.  Did find something that my brain refused to identify but fortunately it had a label, wild loquat Oxyanthus pyriformis

All too soon it was back to Boks but the bike at least provides some entertainment.  Mostly I just take roads I don't know and see if I can find a way home.  There are still some quiet tree lined suburbs but the potholes are ubiquitous.  Most of the parks are either going or have gone downhill and Jo'burg central is now a high-rise squatter camp.  Almost all of the traffic lights don't work and those that do are generally ignored and the whole of Gauteng is returning to darkest Africa status as only a fraction of the street lights are still functional.   

Stopped in at the War Museum for a break and found this monument to those South Africans lost in the First World War.  That's an angel of mercy on top but the light was wrong so she's facing the other way!

As it is right next door to the Zoo, I assume that is where these little ground squirrels came from.  Was cameraless so had to use my phone, hence the limited magnification.

Suikerbosrand Nature Reserve is only about 30 km away and is always worth a visit.  When I got to the gate I was told I could pay on the way out as the cashier was running late.  When I left I was told that their card machine wasn't working so I should pay double on my next visit!

Always fascinated by these mushrooms that are strong enough to crack open a termite mound, guess the phallic shape helps.  The spores are apparently carried into chambers where other fungi are grown for food and obviously require some roof repairs once they die back.

First up a mountain wheatear whose stance would please any sergeant major...........

...........while a Levaillant's cisticola preferred a slouch.  The dark streaked back and reddish cap make this one of the easier members to recognise in a notoriously difficult group of LBJ's.

Suikerbosrand which boasts the highest point in Gauteng, is very hilly compared to the surrounds and covers an area of just under 12 000 ha.  It is home to a range of ungulates including large herds of zebra, black wildebeest and red hartebeest.

After some of the heaviest rains in many years it was sporting some flowers including African bluebells Wahlenbergia undulata ...........

.............a pineapple lily Eucomis sp............

..........and these that I believe are rabbit's ears Haemanthus humulis as they have hairy stalks.  Not a species I have ever encountered before so rather exciting.

A particular treat to see these days, was a pair of secretary birds doing their stately rounds.

They eventually had enough of the loon with the camera and took to an even more stately flight.

Finally on a ride to nowhere in particular I came across a small group of the prettiest little falcons around, Amur's.  First the female...........

.......and here a male with his dashing red pantaloons.

Getting things back together

The surgery to remove the cataracts over (thanks Giles), it was time to head back to Boksburg.  Decided to use Hlalanathi to store the Beast as their rates are good and it is so beautiful that I stayed for three nights before heading off.  Just outside the gate the hillside was swathed in this tassel topped grass.....

...... and the Natal bottlebrush Greyia sutherlandii growing near reception was in prolific and magnificent flower.

A wash away due to the floods has left only one access to Royal Natal and the Amphitheatre via Rugged Glen and in places the roadside was lined with Natal red top grass, which is more pink than red.

In one spot there were also patches of  a tiny helicrysum with attractive grey leaves that combined rather well with the pink, Bishop's Art Appreciation 101.

Back in Boksburg, Pete was kind enough to lend me a camera which enabled me to get a picture of Little black-nose who is still a little wild but is gradually taking over the house.  His 14 or so family and friends have all been trapped and rehomed but he evaded capture and now rules the roost.

 

The resident Karoo thrushes were busy rearing a very demanding chick and one of them took refuge in the tree outside my window for a well earned rest.

As the cost of diesel is off the chart, I am using the bike more and more as is has exceptional consumption and petrol is slightly cheaper.  Took a ride out to some ponds I found on a previous visit near Kliprivier and managed to get a rather a good shot of a Golden bishop, which looks like and overgrown bumblebee......

.......and the ubiquitous yellow-billed duck, common but pretty.

Just outside the front door of the cottage is this hibiscus which I thought could only be described as a blooming marvel.

Another day, another ride I ended up at Zoo Lake where swarms of little brown-veined white butterflies were on their annual migration and only just visible in this shot.

Fortunately a lot of them were picking up nutrients so I was able to get a close-up of one of them.

I took my camera into the agents to get them to certify that it was a write off so that I could claim on insurance.  Two days later they phoned and asked what was wrong with it!  Seems it rectified it's own problem so I suggested that they service it and check that everything was working and a couple of days later I was back in business.  Went out to Marievale to check and here are the results, one of my personal favourites a white-throated swallow........

........and it's mate with material to add to the nest inside the hide.

A three-banded plover fossicking in the mud............

.........while a squacco heron imperiously surveys the scene.............

............and a Levaillant's cisticola scolding me for encroaching on it's territory.

This southern masked weaver was still in eclipse plumage but that didn't deter him from preparing a new nest site

A rather elegant fulvous whistling duck was sunning itself on a bank.......

..............and one of the many long-tailed widows was begging to be immortalised.  Well the camera is fine but I'm still waiting for the binoculars to be repaired in Austria and hopefully there will be more content in the next edition.

Slam dunk

Returning from Itala and just outside Pongola, the black monkey thorns Senegalia burkei were in prolific bloom and very evident. 

A personal favourite, though not particularly beautiful, is the yellow-bellied greenbul and their nagging peh-peh-peh call is a constant reminder of their proximity.  As usual as soon as you get a camera out they show you exactly what they think of you and you end up with the classic vent view!

Though there is a fairly large herd at Bonamanzi they are rarely seen, this mother was giving me the evil eyeball and daring me to get closer to her calf

This is Sarcophyte sanguinea , something I've never come across before. It parasitizes the roots of acacia species and is sexually diverse with the female plants below..............

..............and the males showing these white anthers.  According to the great oracle Richard Boon, they smell of rotting flesh and are pollinated by flies.  I didn't get close enough to confirm.

This is the time of year when the weeping boer beans Schotia brachypetala are copiously coated in scarlet flowers which literally drip nectar, hence the weeping appellation.

Always sad to leave such a beautiful spot but cataract ops were calling so started heading back to Durban where my cousin Sue's husband Giles, who is an eminent ophthalmologist, had kindly agree to sort them out.  I stopped for what was meant to be a brief stay at Umlalazi Lagoon in Mtunzini.  There appear to be only two zebra left in the reserve and on a couple of mornings I awoke to their soft snuffling right outside my window.

A few mornings later I went out birding on the Honda and had a senior moment.  I had taken the long route to a likely finfoot spot and decided to come back along a footpath shortcut.  What I hadn't bargained on was the wash away at this spot.  So I'm approaching from the far side of this pond and I'm confronted with this minor obstacle.  Why not turn around I hear you say, well I wont say impossible but the section is raised and only a little over a metre wide so I figured that riding over the pipe was the best option - which would have be a doddle 30 years ago!  The Universe decided to teach the old fool that he is no longer bullet-proof.

As the front wheel crested the pipe the back wheel snagged on a rock and I needed legs about half a metre longer to reach anywhere.  Result, 208 kg of bike on top of me in the water with very rough chunks of concrete below and my left leg trapped.  The extraction process removed a lot of skin and caused much damage to knee, ankle and foot.  So what now?  There's no way I can lift it by myself and the nearest help is 3 km away.  My binoculars, spectacles and camera all took a swim and even though the camera was in the backpack it expired.  I eventually located the bins in a metre of water (thank heavens for Zwarovski nitrogen sealing) but my glasses are still there.  So I'm pouring blood and barely capable of walking but set off gamely (or gammy-ly).  Had only made a hundred metres when I heard a bakkie approaching and was overwhelmed to a see couple of rangers with six other people on the back.  They were extremely concerned and we soon had the Honda back on the road, I pressed the starter button and viola, simply unbelievable. Back at base I showered and tried to find the first aid kit, which, unbeknown to me, must have been taken when the Beast was burgled in the Cape.  A visit to the pharmacy provided what I required plus, mercifully, a pair of crutches on loan at no cost - love these small villages.  A number eye-watering applications of merthiolate soon produced a scab which obviated nightly dressings.......

.............but the swelling of ankle and foot made progress painfully slow.  The bike got away with a few small scratches as I provided an excellent cushion. After 10 days I was able to return the crutches and proceed to Karridene on the south coast just past Amanzimtoti.

Fortunately found a willing assistant to help load the bike but setting up camp was a two day affair,  While the massive fig provided shade it also was very generous with it's fruit so a constant rain went on day and night with bats and birds competing for who could provide the most copious quantities of crap.

Fortunately the fruit was used up after about 10 days and after a flurry of campers who call themselves the Penny Pinchers left, there were only 3 other vans in this massive camp site.

An obvious difference between this and my last visit is that the trains no longer run, which is a country-wide malaise caused by rampant vandalism and theft.  I was astounded to find out that even the dedicated railway from the coal fields to Richards Bay no longer operates; which accounts for the massive increase in trucks on a road system already under strain.

It is a great pity to witness the gradual return to a very third world country but there are still some very beautiful spots if you take the time to look.