I may be wrong but I think I may be the luckiest guy in the world.

This week I took a wonderful group from New Mexico and/or Wyoming up Table Mountain.

The mist was thick, the ambience was perfect and the Protea cynaroides (Protea cynaroides) were sublime. . .

They are MAGNIFICENT and they are South Africa’s National Flower and this is what they look like from close up:

And this is what they look like from SUPER close-up:

The point I’m trying to make is that last week I was in the Makgadikgadi, this week I am amongst the exquisite Cape Fynbos and soon I will be in the Greater Kruger National Park.

So – watch this space.

I think frogs are awesome. Although we associate them with water as a group they have found many ways to be independent of water. Chiromantis xerampelina is also known as the “foam nest frog” or the “grey tree frog”.

These beautiful frogs are often found long distances from water in the hottest conditions. Remarkably they can absorb surface water like dew, through the skin on their stomachs. And in order to avoid losing this precious water to a harsh dry environment they have special waterproofing cells on their backs. Although they are called “grey tree frogs” and their colour is often grey, when they are exposed to harsh sun radiation, they turn white in order to reflect the incident hot rays.

Because they often live far from permanent standing water, these frogs wait for the rains before breeding. Frog eggs are full of nutrients and young tadpoles are vulnerable to predation from a host of creatures ranging from Dragonfly Larvae to Herons. In order to protect their vulnerable eggs and larvae, these beautiful frogs lay their eggs in a foam nest that they suspend above water. The nest looks like shaving foam hanging from a tree branch or from the bank above water and it protects the eggs and tadpoles from UV rays while keeping them moist and out of reach (hopefully) of predators. When the tadpoles have grown to a reasonable size, their wriggling breaks the bottom of the nest and they fall into the water below.

Let me know about your favourite frog.

This beautiful lady is a Golden Orb Web Spider. I saw her in the Okavango but you might find members of her species in many different areas.

She is a remarkable spider and can produce more than 300 metres of extremely strong silk per day. Her silk has twice as much stretch as silk and by weight is 5 times stronger than steel but is lighter than cotton. It’s no wonder that she recycles it. She eats all unused old silk, processes it and it is available for use again within 30 minutes.

I’m sure that you’ve seen those small pits in the dust. You know the ones I mean . . .

The creatures that construct these pits are intriguing and vicious little creatures called ant lions because they feed on small insects and arachnids (mostly ants and termites) and are ferocious. Their bodies are grub-like but covered in stiff hairs. Their mouthparts consist of only a pair of sharp, hollow fang-like jaws.

They construct their characteristic pits by moving backwards in concentric circles in fine loose sand. They then lie at the bottom of their pit and wait for an unsuspecting insect of a suitable size to fall into the pit. The steep loose sides cause the prey to slide down to the bottom and the ant lion speeds-up the process by flicking sand onto the prey. As soon as the prey is within reach the ant lion grabs it in its jaw, subdues it and sucks it dry, discarding the empty carcass. Because they move backwards through fine sand they do not have an anus. All their waste products collect at the end of their blind-ending digestive track and are discarded when they moult.

After a long period in this larval stage they metamorphose into a winged form. On my most recent safari with Uncharted Africa I saw this exquisite winged adult. I hope that you enjoy it as much as I did.