An Epitaph

Posted on November 12, 2012 by admin

I lost a friend a week ago. He was only 24 years old and full of passion and joy. I spent a long day on the mountain looking for him before his body was discovered and during that time it struck me just how fragile our lives are and how we have to

seize every moment that is given to us. I think Robbie lived like that. I believe that he crammed more into his short 24 years than many people manage in three times more years.

I am already twice the age that Robbie was and I have been blessed with a life full of experiences and special people, but his untimely passing brought back into sharp focus the fact that only I am responsible for the way I choose to live my life and what I extract from it.

This year has already been an incredible year for busy wonderful experiences in my life – hence the serious shortage of newsletters and blogs. What is more I still have adventures piled-high between now and the end of the year.

So as I seize the opportunities that life offers in abundance I offer this message in sadness and celebration as a tribute to a special young man. Much of this contribution features flowers and I think that is a perfect metaphor for Robbie’s life – brilliant, beautiful, inspirational and too brief.

The mountain was moody and beautiful today.

Although we are past the peak flowering season we were indulged with a display of exquisite flowers. Since this is a tribute and not a treatise I simply offer you the images without any commentary or any identification. As you enjoy these images I ask you to join me in celebrating a short life that touched so many, and simultaneously critically assess your own life and ask whether you take and give as much as you possibly can.

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.

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.

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.

European Heathers

Posted on August 22, 2011 by admin

Today I take a step out of my comfort zone! Earlier in the day my friend Patrick Verbraecken from Belgium sent me a photograph of a heather that he had encountered on one of his walks. Patrick has been walking with me on Table Mountain (and i

s a complete africa-phile) and knows my love of fynbos, so he sent me this photograph.

This is an intriguing plant for me. I believe (and perhaps someone can confirm this for me) that this is Calluna vulgaris, the common heather. The heathers all belong to the family E

ricaceae and here in the Cape we have many beautiful representatives of the family. We all know how proud the Scots are of their Heathers, and justifiably too. What many people don't know is that while Scotland has four species of heather, the cape floral region has about 650 species of heather!

Most of the heathers belong to the genus Erica, but the common heather is the only species in the genus Calluna. Like most of the Ericas. the common heather prefers acidic soils and this is the most famous if the Scots heathers. It gained its favour in Scotland not only for its beauty but also for its many uses, too many to mention here. Suffice it to say that this heather was stuffed in fabric to make mattresses, was used to dye wool, was used to make brooms, was used medicinally and perhaps most important was used as an essential ingredient in the brewing of heather beer.

Thanks to Patrick for sharing this beautiful heather with us.

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

Of dogs, dolphins, docks, dazzling beauty and dyes

Posted on June 6, 2011 by admin

If you’ve been following the eternal sunshine of my random mind, you will recall a character who featured in one of my recent posts. His name is Ovid Jacota and he enjoys walking and he loves animals – especially dogs. I think that he trusts them

better than he trusts humans – which is wise. Anyway he went walking with Kili & Meru, and we tagged along.

We were extra privileged to see this enormous school of Dolphins swimming in the ocean below. They weren’t very close nor very clear but they were there . . . and it was Table Mountain walking special.

I couldn’t resist including the “docks” in the title – just for the alliteration. But we did have wonderful views of a harbour, and some might consider the word “dock” to be synonymous with the word “harbour”, so:

And the “dazzling beauty” was easy to justify. It was just another perfect day at the southern-end of Africa – perfect temperatures, perfect light, perfect company and of course dazzling scenery.

But from where did I conjure the “dyes”? Was it from the eternal randomness of my mind? Or was it just downright “chutzpah” so that I could stretch the alliteration? No not at all!

Along the way we were treated to exquisite displays of Indigofera cytisoides. This beautiful flower is from the pea family. The name of the genus “Indigofera” means “bearing indigo” and refers to its cousin (Indigofera tinctoria), originally from Asia and from which the original dye ‘indigo’ was produced.

Anyway – you should have been there.

Fire & Fynbos

Posted on May 5, 2011 by admin

I am so privileged to live in the most hiker-friendly city in the world. This is a photo I took recently while on a walk in the Table Mountain range.

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Within minutes of the city are literally hundreds of beautiful walking routes of any duration. If you look carefully you can see smoke rising from the Helderberg Mountain on the opposite side of the valley. This was the enormous fire that we experienced a few weeks ago.

The fact is that our remarkable biodiverse fynbos is dependant on fire for regeneration. Without fire our unique flower community would perish. However in this modern age we face contradictory forces. The plants need fire but the homes and businesses do not. Also the plants need to experience a burn at healthy intervals of several years. In this instance several homes, a hotel and businesses were damaged. The fynbos will recover over the following years, but if another fire burns in this area before the plants have produced seeds for the next generation, we could have localised extinctions of some species.

In the hills with the Hills

Posted on March 29, 2011 by admin

Recently I had the good fortune to guide Simon & Sarah up Table Mountain. Besides the fact that Simon had the coolest hat imaginable, they are a really fun couple.

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Sarah pretended to have an issue with exposed heights . . .

We saw a few very special flowers, but the highlight for me was Nerine sarniensis, the Guernsey Lily.

This exquisite flower is a bulb from the Amaryllis family. It is one of 25 species in this genus, which is endemic to South Africa. Interestingly this species has been cultivated on th eisland of Guernsey for centuries – hence its common and species names.

Old Friends, New Friends

Posted on March 7, 2011 by admin

Recently I took the Ivesons walking on Table Mountain. Walking is always a great way to make new friends. But by remarkable coincidence an old university friend and his wife had just arrived by sea and also walked up Table Mountain with us. I haven’t

seen Marshal Klaus and Ellen for more years than I can remember.

The genus Agapanthus must be one of the best known and most widely grown garden plants in the world. There are six known species and all of them are endemic to South Africa. We came across this beautiful specimen of Agapanthus africanus growing in a rock fissure.

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