And we’re back

Posted on February 2, 2012 by admin

Many apologies for our long absence from the cyber-realm. We had some problems with our website and as a result I have not been able to post any blogs for about a month. Thank you very much to everyone who notified us about the problems with acces

s to our website and to those who told us that they missed the newsletters.

I left everyone hanging in the midst of Helen & Malcom Scott’s epic Western Cape walking holiday, so here are a few highlights just to get me back in the swing of blogging.

We saw this beautiful Aulax umbellata on one of our walks. This is one of the lesser known Proteas commonly referred to as a featherbush.

Right at the end of the walk we saw this very relaxed and splendid Cape Cobra(Naja nivea). These are the most venomous cobras in Africa with a very potent neurotoxin and responsible for most snake-bite related deaths in the Western Cape but this one was unperturbed about us.

On this particular day we finished walking in time for lunch. Malcolm & Helen toasted the walk, the Aulax, the Cobra and of course our hosts – Wildekrans Country House.

Fancy a bit of paradise then?

Posted on December 27, 2011 by admin

We’ve been walking the new super-easy-super-beautiful five-bay slackpacking trail. It is on the West Coast of South Africa, not far from Cape Town. This is an area that has never really received credit for its incredible beauty.

The walk was hypnotic and days merged into one continuous experience of blue ocean, white beaches, rocky shores, and exquisite vistas punctuated with flowers and birds.

In spite of it being holiday season we saw almost no other people and had the privilege of the sound of the sea to accompany our own thoughts for most of the route.

At one point the isolation and total beauty became too much for Malcom who was convinced that a piece of kelp (Ecklonia maxima) was in fact a giant serpent sent to destroy him. Fortunately his quick reflexes (and Swiss army knife) protected us and made short work of the marine plant so that we could continue in safety.

We crossed natural rock bridges, were mesmerized by crystal water, crossed innumerable deserted beaches and ate lunch at magical luminous pools.

I’ve decide to simply present you with a series of unlabeled photographs and hope that you enjoy them.

Anyone fancy a bit of paradise then? Please let us know if you’d like to do this walk.

Table Mountain throws it all at us

Posted on November 28, 2011 by admin

Gerd Spegel is an old guest and friend. I guided him twice on foot safaris in Zimbabwe and we had incredible adventures in the bush in those heady days past (and future!)

Since he was passing through Cape Town we decided to catch-up while we walked up Table Mountain on one of the more obscure routes. As we started-out the weather was perfect; cool with high cloud and gorgeous Watsonias (Watsonia borbonica) brightening our way with Table Mountain in the background.

However as we ascended the mountain the cloud descended and engulfed us and the wind whipped itself up to gale-force. It was a classic reminder from The Mountain that it is not a tame city park but rather a wild place that has been surrounded by tameness. The weather deteriorated rapidly and I was grateful that I know my way around the mountain because visibility dropped to about two metres as the rain poured down and the wind lashed at us. We headed to a cave for some protection from the elements, while we ate a snack.

It was a relief to get out of the storm, but the dogs disagreed and refused to enter the cave. They thought that there were evil spirits in there and preferred to remain outside in the eye of the storm. We humans were happy to be dry and a bit warmer and to watch the storm and spontaneous waterfalls cascading over the mouth of the cave,

We eventually had to face the elements once again and descended with the storm blowing straight into us. My waterproof boots filled with water that descended via my trousers and socks and so I squelched down. Once we reached the bottom the rain had eased off but it was still wet and very misty.

Gerd was most gracious and told me that he had a wonderful walk. And to be honest, the rain lent an extra dimension to the beautiful flowers on the mountain. I love the pincushion proteas and think that they are especially photogenic, but after the rain the challenge of photographing them justifies the rewards. Below is a close-up detail of Leucospermum conocarpodendron with droplets of rain.

And this close-up of an Aristea capitata flower really captures the beauty of the day. These flowers are arranged on a long stem and open sequentially, each flower opening for less than a day before dying. Talk about ephemeral beauty!

Brunia Beetle on Table Mountain with the Kams

Posted on November 27, 2011 by admin

I went walking up Table Mountain with the Kam’s from California.

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The weather was perfect – cool and misty for added ambience. Watching the cloud rise up against the cliffs was dramatic.

Along the way we saw this exquisite Trichostetha capensis (Brunia beetle) on an everlasting or paper flower.

Snakes Alive!

Posted on November 23, 2011 by admin

Brian, Robin, Mark & Ricky came walking with me recently. We were blessed with exquisite weather and many beautiful flowers.

This inconspicuous orchid (Satyrium humile) almost escaped our attention.

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We also saw this beautiful hibiscus (Hibiscus aethiopicus)

We stopped for a rest at a spot with magnificent views and the ‘A’ team looked like they were really happy and enjoying themsleves.

For me the highlight of the walk was seeing this exquisite Boomslang. These snakes are back-fanged and have an haemotoxic venom (which means that is attacks the red blood cells). The bites from this species may tend be fatal however these snakes are remarkably docile. In fact Kili walked right over this 1.4 metre snake without noticing it. When we arrived the snake remained unconcerned. This is the first time I have seen this beautiful Western Cape colour form. Usually these snakes are a dull brown, leaf green and even sometimes blue however this specimen was black with metallic green and a yellow belly.

Posted on November 21, 2011 by admin

We finally came down off the mountains and I had made a lunch reservation at The Restaurant at the End of The Continent

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The views were exceptional, in fact they were even better than usual for this venue

After lunch we continued along the coast.

The weather was so good that even the Ostriches were out for a walk at the sea

As we continued we saw many handsome Hartlaub’s Gulls. Although the distribution for this Gull extends all the way up into NAmibia, half of the total population is found in the greater Cape Town area. They are so common around Cape Town that it is difficult to believe that this is one of the rarer gulls found in the world.

Later in the day I took this photograph of a pair of beautiful African Black Oystercatchers. Only after I took the photograph did I notice the Southern Right Whale in the background!

The whale turned out to be a mother with a newborn calf and they swam abreast of us for a long time. Eventually as we ascended the mountain once more, we could see both of them more clearly below. Adult female Southern RIght Whales are larger than the males and can grow to a length or 17.5 metres and a weight of 85 tonnes. At birth the babies are 5.5 metres long and weigh a mere 1,000 kg. They drink about 100 litres of milk per day and gain about 55 kg of weight per day!

We weren’t the only ones enjoying the view of the whales from the cliffs. This Rock Hyrax appeared to be whale watching too

As the group tackled the steep ascent, I looked back and had a magnificent view back along the route we had walked,

Please comment. Please give us some feedback. Have you done this walk with us? What did you think about it?

Driver, Guide, Botanist, Mechanic, Marriage Counselor, Doctor, Cobbler

Posted on November 20, 2011 by admin

Everyone has been waiting with bated breath for the post about my last day walking with Olympia’s last group. The truth is that (a) it was such an incredibly beautiful walk that I will require at least two posting

s to do it justice and (b) I have been very busy adventuring since then, so as usual there are many exciting blogs about baby whales, flowers, snakes, dogs, wine and other adventures waiting to be posted!

Well our last day on the ‘Mountains In The Sea Trail’ was glorious. Right from the start of the trail we started seeing Bloodroots (Dilatris pillansii) in flower. For me the appearance of these gorgeous flowers is a sure sign that summer has arrived, although the weather seems to suggest otherwise!

Right from the start the views were so wonderful that I had a tough time convincing everyone that the best was yet to come!

But clearly I was correct and once Cape Point came into view Jaakko obviously agreed:

Not much further along and the sole of Heikki’s boot came loose. He has been walking hard in these Meindl boots for a mere 20 years and already they are showing wear!

After many years of guiding in several countries I have learnt that the job description of a guide includes many diverse activities besides guiding. Once many years ago I watched my brother sew the sole of his running shoe back on using fishing line and a fishing hook, but this is the first time I have been called upon to repair a guest’s boots on the trail. I reckon after my taping job the Meindls should be good for at least another 20 years.

The views across the bay to Hangklip were spectacular. I know that I’m biased because it is one of my favourite views in all the world but I still think that this is a pretty nice view:

That’s enough pictures and enough story for one blog, but there is one more picture that I must share with you. I really like it – in fact so much that I’m giving it to you BIG. I love the pink succulents (Aizoaceae) punctuating the bottom of the picture. I hope you like it as much as I.

Cape Town weather

Posted on November 10, 2011 by admin

We started off once again in blustery weather on the beach, with heavy clouds and a westerly wind.

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As a result of the high winds and storm the previous day, the beach was strewn with Portuguese Man O’War (Physalia physalis). These creatures have no form of independent locomotion and are simply blown by the wind and carried by the currents. The posses stinging cells which can deliver a very painful sting and unfortunately Kili was stung on the foot. The pain subsided after about 30 minutes and he was able to complete the walk.

The storm had also blown a young seal onshore and although he looked healthy sitting on the rocks, we were concerned for his wellbeing.

We stopped to consider the unfortunate history of the ship “The Kakapo” which ran aground here in 1900. In the picture below you can see the remains of the boiler-room in the background. In the foreground with the group you can see Kili licking the site of the sting on his foot (poor Kili).

By this time we had experienced high winds, cold and some rain. Not long afterwards the sun appeared for a while but by lunchtime it had begun to rain again. It was classic Cape Town weather, with all four seasons in one day.

Finns in the mist

Posted on November 9, 2011 by admin

The weather today was not as fine as yesterday, but forunately it was not as hot as I have experienced it here before.

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We were very fortunate to still have most of the magnificent views of this walk because the mist lifted when we approached Hout Bay.

Kili loved the walk but was misbehaved and so he & I had an argument.

As usual I set-up a safety rope at the ladder and everyone used it and appreciated having it there.

Toward the end of the walk the mist settled-in thick and wet and cold. By the end of the walk everyone was keen to have a hot drink and get somewhere warm. Unfortunately the weather had precipitated a rock fall forcing us to detour and our expected 5 minute drive to the hotel became a 40 minute drive!

Over the Krakadouw Pass

Posted on July 31, 2011 by admin

We departed from Heuningvlei passing beautiful sculptured rocks en route to the Krakadouw Pass.

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You may recall a previous post (“Once was famous” – May 2nd 2011) in which I spoke about the tremendous variety of colour forms seen in Protea repens flowers. On this walk we saw a colour variety that I have never seen before. The bracts are white but the stamens & anthers are red. The contrast is extremely beautiful.

While descending the western side of the pass we saw this beautiful Lachenalia. The genus Lachenalia consists of bulbs that are endemic to Namibia and South Africa.

The highlight though, was finding this extremely fresh leopard track. In fact we followed the tracks for 2 km along the trail toward Krakadouw Cottages where Pierre Louw had lost a calf to this leopard just 3 days earlier. The Leopards of the Cederberg are much smaller than their counterparts further north and are extremely rare. Quinton Maartens has been doing some excellent research and conservation work with the leopards of the Western Cape and you can find out more about his work at www.capeleopard.org.za

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