Monday, Nov 20—Work with no power!

It’s Monday morning and off to work we go. As is usual we are there before 8 and Marcia has started working on her database. This morning I head to the CREW office to see how the weekend in Elim went. Ismail is telling me about the plants they found and the full days they had, and about the collapse of the front end of the Mazda bakkie upon arriving back at Kirstenbosch on Sunday evening. As we are talking Ismail notices that the power has gone out. Turns out this was not a surprise outage but a planned one.

Late the previous week there had been emails sent on the SANBI mailing list telling folks of the planned outage. Marcia saw the first email saying the outage would affect the garden but not the research buildings. Seems the second email stated that the research buildings would also be affected. Marcia didn’t see that one. And the outage was to be from 0800-1600.

I chatted with Ismail a bit longer and commented to him that I needed to retrieve Marcia as she couldn’t do anything with the power out. When I got back to Marcia’s office I found her talking with Dorothy. They were trying to decide where they could get coffee/tea as none could be made here. We discussed this a bit more and decided to head to Melissa’s at Constantia Village to get our morning coffee. We gathered our things and made our way to the lift to get Marcia down to the car. Yes to the lift. We pressed the button and simultaneously realized the lift wasn’t working either! Duhhhh!! We just looked at each other and laughed!!! What were we thinking!!!!

As there was no way we were going to carry Marcia and LRW down two flights of stairs, I went to the cottage and retrieved the yellow wheelchair. (Power was out at the cottage as well. Seems Jenny had received a post about the outage but forgot to tell us. Not a problem.) With the help of two of the work staff we carried Marcia down the stairs. LRW was locked in her office for the night.

After mid-morning coffee and eats Marcia and I began the search for a skirt with pockets. That took us to two malls in the Claremont area and through many stores. Many skirts were found but only one with pockets. And it was at Woolworths! But the search and another stop for food took us into the afternoon so that when we arrived at home the power was back on.

It was back to work on Tuesday. Monday’s events sure made us think about how much we are dependent on powered devices. And it was interesting to learn that in SA electricity for individuals is on a prepay basis. That would make you think about your usage a bit more. And the same approach is common for cell phones.

Oh well!

Edward

Sunday, Nov 19—Down the Cape

The focus of today was a return visit to Table Mountain NP with Diana. Seems the everlastings (also known as Cape snow; Syncarpha vestita) were in spectacular display on the road to the family cottages on the coast. Diana wanted us to see them in full bloom as Marcia was so taken by the few early ones she saw on our first visit. That would be in the afternoon and so the morning was open for whatever.

It was back to the craft market in Hout Bay to start our day. We had found more interesting things at this market than at the monthly one at Kirstenbosch and so went to do a bit more shopping. It was a nice clear morning but the wind was at it again. The vendors were struggling to hold their booths together and not lose their merchandise. Would be a long day for them! But we did our part to support the local economy. And had to leave some big items that we knew we couldn’t manage. Still not sure how we will pack all that we have bought!!

From Hout Bay we head down the coast by way of Chapman’s Peak Drive. Though windy it is a perfect day for this drive. We can see up and down the coast and off into the Atlantic for kilometers. A truly stunning drive!

After lunch we meet Diana at her place and load her and the dogs, Harley and Dougal, into our car for our drive. We take the route along the western side of the Cape as we did before, starting with Ou Kaapse Weg (Old Cape Way). I am still struck by the beauty of the landscape and the views as we drive around. But I know with time I would take it for granted. Shame!

Diana was correct, the area just before reaching her cottage was an incredible sight. The everlastings were in glorious bloom, and the name Cape snow is so much more descriptive of what you see.

This is Cape snow up close.

And this is mixed in with Cape snow in some places. It is Edmondia sesamoides.

And then they both disappear as you get closer to the shore. But here there were bontebok with young! There had been zebra and ostrich earlier. Her special place always has something to display.

Diana’s sister and husband were staying at the cottage. Diana had brought the treats and so we all had tea and coffee. They stayed on the patio out of the wind but the dogs and I wandered on the rocks. And the wind was even stronger here than back at Hout Bay. But how could one not heed the call of the rocky shore. So much fun!

The local Leucospermum was in glorious bloom. And a patch of bloodroot, Dilatris pillansii, near the main entrance was just starting to open its flowers.

No Cape cobra this time but so many other things to see. And just being here is such a treat! Thanks again Diana!

This is Lobelia pinifolia for Linda! Cute little thing!!


Edward

Saturday, Nov 18—Rondevlei and the search for flamingos

Having heard that there was a resident flock of flamingoes at the wetland areas of Rondevlei-Zeekoevlei-Cape Town Sewage Works and given that we were nearly blown away during our first visit to Rondevlei we decided to try again. We were in town this weekend and our Saturday was open so the search for big pink birds was on. And this time we started earlier in the morning.

It was a better day, warmer and less wind. But no flamingos here! We saw many of the birds we saw on our first visit—sacred ibis, red-knobbed coots (now with bigger young), cormorants, darters, herons, Egyptian geese, and big white pelicans. Though not seen by Marcia, I did see a pied kingfisher. Very pretty! Of course the carp were still cavorting and making big splashes all around and the little brown birds were flitting in and out of the bushes too fast to be IDed. There were different plants blooming and we figured out most of them, eventually. But the highlights of this visit were the nonbird animals.

As we made our way along the path we found numerous of these structures in the bushes. They appeared to be spider in origin and were filled with leaves and twigs. We never encountered a spider in association with them so weren’t sure exactly what they were. But we did ask the ranger as we were leaving and learned that they were from the rain spider. And there was one on display in the nature center, though not easy to photograph behind Plexiglas. Here is a good Web site that talks about this group of spiders, http://www.museums.org.za/bio/spiderweb/spar.htm. Turns out the webbed structures are the egg cases/nurseries for this spider. Very interesting.

Of more interest and certainly more entertaining to Marcia was our encounter with a BIG tortoise. We were headed back on the same path that we had walked not long before, but now our way was blocked by a BIG tortoise. It didn’t seem the least bit phased by our presence and just sat looking at us for quite some time. Finally it decided it was time to move on. And so it headed up the path straight toward Marcia and LRW. There was plenty of room to go elsewhere but that wasn’t its intent. It rumbled up the path and squeezed between LRW and the bushes and continued on its way. Marcia even got to pat it on its shell without it breaking stride. It wasn’t one of the resident hippos but it was great fun!




And here is a photo of a cooperative mongoose. We have seen them all over but never with enough time to get a picture. This one was close and in no hurry.

We also asked the ranger about the location of the flamingos and were told they were resident in the ponds and flats of the sewage works. We had driven there on our previous visit to the area and so would head there again.

We drove past Zeekoevlei and down the road to the sewage plant and realized there were vehicles beyond where we had been last time. This time we found the road that provided access to the extensive system of ponds and flats. And around we drove, and drove, and drove. We eventually found ourselves just across the dunes from False Bay, but still no flamingos. But we did add to our list of SA birds seen. In the ponds were numerous black-winged stilts and pied avocets.


They were almost enough to balance not seeing flamingos. And then we looked up and across the pond was flying a pair of beautiful pink birds. We found them. The chase was on, but to no avail. But back they came and we got to watch them fly over again. And then they were gone. But we did get to see them!

We made our way along the roads back toward the sewage plant, our landmark to lead us out. And where we wound up was behind the fence and in the actual plant itself. I figured that was not a good place to be but the easiest way out was through the gatehouse just ahead. And I could always use the lost dumb American excuse! But the man in the gatehouse guided us to the gate to use and then opened it and let us out. Not a problem at all. Try doing that in the States!

It was to our well-used Constantia Village for a late lunch and a bit of shopping before we headed home. Another fun day in Cape Town!

Thursday, Nov. 16—Wolseley

The CREW field trip this week was to Wolseley, a small town near Tulbagh. Caitlin had been contacted by Johan who was working for some landowners who were adding to their wine making activities. He had found some interesting plants that might be specials and so he requested a visit. Off we went. The ‘we’ this time was Caitlin and me and Amira, a young woman from Germany who has been doing volunteer at the Kirstenbosch gardens. Her time with Kirstenbosch was about done but her stay in SA was not. She was going to do volunteer work with a local hospital for a month. Then she would be going back to Germany. But first a visit to the veld.

After some searching and calls for directions between Caitlin and Johan we found each other and were off to find the plants of interest. The owners joined us for a time and then left us to wander. Johan showed us the plants he thought could be special and told us of the plans of the owners in terms of areas to be developed and areas to be left alone.

Turns out that only a few populations of the Leucadendron species found were noteworthy. And a couple of these were only a plant or two or past due for a fire. Not very promising for their continuation. A larger population was located just outside the town cemetery. It might be able to make it.

Though there weren’t many specials, as usual there were numerous plants for me to puzzle over and photograph. And there was an interesting bee fly I chased around for a few minutes. All in all a good trip, with a stop at the Tarzan shoe store in Tulbagh. Then back to Kirstenbosch so Caitlin could attend the reception for the opening of the new wing of offices. CREW is in two of these new offices and its old offices have been redone for new staff members. And it works the same here as at home, the finishing touches were being applied up to the start of the reception. And more was done in the days following!

Now for some photos!

Caitlin explaining things to Johan.

Oscularia deltoides, the neat succulent we found all over. Look at the pyramid-shaped leaves.

Leucospermum cordifolium in glorious bloom. Notice the mountains in the background. You can't get away from them!

Not sure I have seen our species of Cuscuta in such showy display. It is the creamy stringy stems with the white flowers. It was climbing over many different plants. We heard someone here refer to this as witch's tresses.

And last but not least the striking bee fly. It is on the flowers of a species of Crassula.


Edward