Into the Big Blue

Posted on May 8, 2013 by admin

I promised not to post any more about Great White Sharks, but I didn’t say anything about Mako Sharks. Earlier this week I was privileged to do another ocean trip with my friends Chris & Monique Fallows, and it turned-out to be an absolutely incredible experience.

It’s impossible to decide what was the highlight of the trip. How does one choose between seeing albatrosses, Shearwaters, Storm Petrels, Common Dolphins or diving with Bottlenose Dolphins, False Killer Whales, Mako Shark or Blue Shark?

Since I didn’t have my camera with me, Chris kindly provided the pictures that you see below, and that has decided the subject matter of this post. Diving with a Mako Shark was nothing short of incredible.

Sunlight on Mako

Mako Sharks are open water sharks that reach a length of more than 3 metres and there are records of weights of 500 Kg. They are perfectly adapted to their role as predators with a hydro-dynamically efficient bullet-shape powered by a powerful caudal fin that allows them to reach burst speeds of almost 80km/hr and all backed-up with a mouthful of formidable teeth.

Open Ocean Hunter

Like the Great White Shark, the Makos are able to behaviorally increase their body temperature, thereby giving themselves and additional advantage over their prey.

Evolutionary poetry

Diving with this beautiful animal with half a kilometre of water below me and thousands of kilometres of sea around me was an awesome experience. It reminded me so much of being on safari. This shark was very inquisitive and kept circling and returning to check on us. It was never aggressive at all but came to within half a metre of us on several occasions.

If you would like the best possible shark experience or open ocean experience when you are next in Cape Town, please let me know and I’ll arrange an Ocean Safari for you with Chris and Monique.

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.

Mountains in the mist

Posted on May 16, 2011 by admin

After many idle promises we finally feature a contribution from a guest writer! Thanks to Rachel Aspden for the latest article.

Last week we spent an afternoon walking in the Cape Point national park with Brooke from New York and Georg and Mari

a from Vienna. Winding along the False Bay side of the peninsula, the trail led us up high above the ocean and down steep rocky outcrops, from bright summer sunshine into fierce autumn winds.

Flowers were easy to spot. The cliffsides were covered in bright yell0w-green sunshine cone bushes, bearded sugarbushes and a white erica (erica ericoides) that filled the air with the scent of honey.

Cape Point’s creatures were more elusive. Fresh tracks left by klipspringer and Cape Mountain zebra were everywhere, but their owners were nowhere to be seen. The Point itself was also playing hide-and-seek. As we climbed up Kanonkop – crowned with its colonial-era cannon – to survey the south-west tip of Africa, a billowing white curtain of sea fog and cloud closed around us. Waiting on the hilltop as neighbouring peaks suddenly appeared and disappeared in the rolling mist, we were finally rewarded, for a few seconds, with a perfect glimpse of Cape Point.

The Far Side of Cape Point Nature Reserve

Posted on April 25, 2011 by admin

When Susannah and Jo from Farside Africa in Edinburgh came to visit we decided to walk at the southern tip of the Table Mountain National Park – in the Cape Point Nature Reserve. Of co

urse we avoided the mainstream attractions and instead went to the Farside of the park, where we had a wonderful walk.

We did not see a single person on our walk even though we were in one of the most popular National Parks in the country! We did however bump into a small herd of Bontebok that had come down to the sea for the day.

Today these beautiful antelope are abundant in parks in the western Cape and it is difficult to imagine that at one time there were only a total of 17 living individuals of the species. Remarkable conservation successes like this provide optimism.

Err . . . did I say “perfection”

Posted on November 13, 2010 by admin

Is it possible for something to more perfect than perfect?

Today’s walk was just that.

It started-off OK:

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It was still pretty good when we stopped for a snack

but then it just got crazy beautiful to the point where we were laughing with disbelief and joy

Cape Point – on the rocks please

Posted on November 3, 2010 by admin

I received a message from Anders Holmberg in which I was politely chastised for not featuring his wife Annica sufficiently in the previous blog postings! So she features quite prominently in todays blog posting.

Once again the weather was unpredic

table but we did have the opportunity to have a rest on these enormous rocks. Anders – please note Annica sitting on the far left!

The tide was very high and this made our progress along the rocky shore even more exciting than normal. (Yes Anders that is Annica in the front)

It wasn’t all rocks and sea. We also saw some beautiful flowers, like this clump of Gladioli.

And finally it was time to congratulate ourselves and to quote the immortal question “Did you come here to walk? Or did you come here to drink?”

The wreck of The Kakapo

Posted on November 1, 2010 by admin

We walked across the pure white sands of Noordhoek Beach. This is how it looked before we crossed it:

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. . . . and this is how it looked as we crossed it (watch this space for more about that guy on the left, with the sunglasses and black cap!).

We inspected the remains of the wreck of the Kakapo and empathised with Captain Nicholayson, whose error parked the ship here on the beach in 1900.

We were very forunate to see this beautiful “Early Blue Disa” (Disa purpurascens):

Since i received a special request to feature them, here is a picture of my floriphilic canines – the dogs in the daisies.

Reminders of Sir Francis Drake’s visit to The Cape of Good Hope

Posted on October 30, 2010 by admin

In 1580 on his famous circumnavigation of the globe, Sir Francis Drake saw Cape of Good Hope and described it as the fairest Cape that he had seen in his entire journey. He MUST have been here on a day just like we experienced today! The Cape was bea

utiful beyond description. The temperature was a comfortable 20⁰C and there was barely any wind. The sea was absolutely flat and the water was as clear as that in an aquarium.

Along the way we also saw beautiful flowers like this Pincushion Protea and Gladiolus:

An endemic flower in The Mountains In The Sea

Posted on June 18, 2010 by admin

With all the activity around our new “Sex and Slaves in The City” Cape Town Walks you might have forgotten that we operate nature walks along the Cape Peninsula Mountains. Last week Tom Ford from California joined us on our spectacular Mountains In The Sea Trek. In this picture he looks rather pleased with himself – even though he is between a rock and a hard place.

We saw this magnificent Gladiolus bonaespei along the route. The intense colour of this flower gives it the common name of “Flames”, and

the Cape Peninsula is the only place in the world where it is found.

We were blessed with perfect weather for our walk along the coast to Cape Point. The sea was wild, we saw Klipspringers, Baboons, Ostrich and a big herd of Eland. It was an altogether special day.

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