The Queen and The Sailor

On Saturday I hiked up The Matroosberg, which at 2249 metres (7379 ft) is the highest mountain in the Western Cape. When viewed from the south side the mountain has a feature which is said to resemble a sailor standing alongside a ship. This explains the Afrikaans name Matroosberg, which means “sailor mountain”. From the peak, the views are spectacular and there are excellent and breathtaking views of the exposed geological folding that created these mountains. Unfortunately my camera which earlier in the year was destroyed by an elephant, has not yet been replaced so the photo quality is not up to standard!

On the route to the summit I passed through stands of the Queen Protea (Protea magnifica). This highly variable protea species is the second largest protea and this particular colour morph  certainly lives up to its species name “magnifica”.

This species of Protea does best in steep, rocky areas that are better protected from fires. They need hot dry summers and Saturday definitely fulfilled that requirement with the temperature reaching 37 deg C (98 deg F for my American readers) in the nearest town of Ceres.