ALBUM February 2021
For captions or info click on i on the top right-hand side. A good way to go - the slideshow is found at the top of the page on the rt hand side by clicking on the 3 dots. Featured this month - Babylonstoring, Kleinrivier, Montagu North with the Vloks, Outramps summer holidays in George, Going east with Nicky, It's raining - It's pouring and Eco Reflections North.
For names and captions of the photos used on this version of the Diaries - see the Album.
For earlier versions of the Outramps CREW Diaries
https://us17.campaign-archive.com/home/?u=be2accf3de565e1297257f79e&id=8113ba68c6
|
|
|
There is light at the end of the tunnel
Welcome to a new year!
2021 can only be better than the last year. At least Trump has disappeared for now and the Covid infection rates are slowly going down. The way we do things has already changed, but let's hope we will get back to normal some time this year. The positives are that we have a great team of enthusiastic, experienced CREW members. We also have new, young people joining us, which bodes well for the future.
We will start off the year with a Bioblitz at Witsand Nature Reserve in March. This is to be repeated in August to cover 2 seasons. It will be funded by the Hessequa Municipality. We have a full quota of 8 people wanting to come, including Ismail. This will be a new experience for most of us and should be fun as well as hard work. I am hoping to take the group on an overnighter to the southern slopes of the Great Swartberg near De Rust in April. This will be a new place to explore, which is always good. If we can get through the heat of February and survive Covid the rest of the year should be business as usual. Any ideas for field trips are always welcome.
We started off the year with our first official outing on Friday 22nd to Reflections Eco Reserve with Tim Carr. He asked us to survey his newly-acquired piece of land before he starts clearing it.
Keep safe and well.
Jenny
|
|
|
Babylonstoren
Just a quick update on my botanicals at Babylonstoren. Being a country bumpkin, I decided a couple of years back to stay in the mountains and drive to CT daily for meetings........
With Rupert's help, I got permission from Andrae Marais of Cape Nature to hike at Babylonstoren just south of Bot Rivier. It is a rarely-visited and poorly-botanised reserve with difficult access through the surrounding private farms. It was well worth the effort. I did a brief recce in October with a Cape Nature Ranger and a couple of CPUT students to scout access routes.
Then I went back with Kyle in November. We spent a day traversing the high ridge from west to east. We were bundu-bashing, but the going was pretty easy and we managed to spend several hours on the knife-edge ridge overlooking the Hemel and Aarde Valley to the south. It is a real treasure trove with plenty of local specials and Red Data species.
I have done a species list for Cape Nature with location and status, including the following specials:
Gnidia penicillata NT
Gnidia sonderiana EN
Lebeckia grandiflora RARE
Leucadendron teretifolium NT
Leucospermum gracile NT
Mimetes hirtus VU
Muraltia schlechteri DDD
Phylica virgata RARE
Serruria elongata NT
Spatalla racemosa NT
Syncarpha zeyheri RARE
Thaminophyllum latifolium RARE
Dave
|
|
|
Kleinrivier 1
Bill and I were recently lucky enough to join the Mountain Club on a trip to Kleinrivier in the Eastern Cape. Initially we were reluctant to go, because we are 86 and 82 years old, with 6 replaced joints between us. Joining a fit party seemed foolhardy and would be taking us right out of our comfort zone. But in the end we decided to go anyway, especially as Werner had organised that I drive up to the Stone Lodge with the manager in the Landie and he was taking Bill in his 4x4.
The Stone Lodge is unique and the toilet is a work of art. But what we enjoyed most were the magnificent trails. We were able to go independently of the main party and managed pretty well. We did the whole of Strydomskop with some difficulty over the rock-scrambling sections. I hike on crutches and Bill walks with 2 hiking sticks. Twice we did the section to the south of the Stone Lodge between the two game fences. Cycadkloof also presented us with some challenges, as rope ladders are not good crutch territory, but we got up in the end. On the last day we had a wonderful time getting to the summit of Middelberg.
Whoever is responsible for the trails is a master at it. We have loads of experience, having built many trails in our time. We have also hiked all over the world. The Kleinrivier Trails can stand proud in any company. Well-constructed and taking imaginative and interesting routes up seemingly-impossible lines has produced a hiking masterpiece
The Fynbos was magnificent and we took loads of photos, which have been put on iNaturalist. Evie has supplied you with a list of some of the plants we saw and I would like to highlight three. One is a Pachycarpus, which nobody has managed to id yet. There was also an unknown Lobelia tucked into a rock crevice on the Middelberg climb. I suspect it is either new or threatened, but time will tell. And finally we found the answer to the Cockscomb riddle that has been puzzling us for 6 years. The story of the bright, orange Harveya bolusi is featured on the Album.
Altogether a memorable trip that we would like to repeat with the Outramps in Spring.
tanniedi
https://www.inaturalist.org/places/kleinrivier-great-winterhoek-range-eastern-cape-south-africa
Kleinrivier 2
Two-Gorges and Two-Mountain Tops at Kleinrivier
During November, the prospect of an outing with the South Cape MCSA to the Kleinrivier Reserve ( a privately-owned reserve ) in the Eastern Cape was very exciting. After months of Corona virus Lockdowns and inevitable “ifs and buts” - it was something to look forward to. And it proved to be a simply wonderful 6 days in this new mountain area. Kleinberg is in the Great Winterhoek Mountains located to the north of Uitenhage. I notice the English spelling is used in my thick bible-like book on the plants of the Cape. I guess English use is to differentiate the area from the Western Cape "Groot Winterhoekberge” situated further west and north of Tulbagh.
What a treat these hiking trails were. Laid out with precision by people who obviously enjoy and understand mountainous terrain. The Two-Gorges Trail is on offer as a full day hike from the main Kleinrivier Eco centre in the north. Our party however were to do this trail in 2 sections (on the first day and last day). The path meanders through the depths of 2 deeply-cut gorges. The route criss-crosses the river repeatedly, while passing any number of inviting swimming holes (see photo "kaalgat”). For those of us who enjoy both scrambling through cracks and traversing exposed rock spaces and climbing up and out of the gorge and then back in again, this trail is loads of fun. All around a good splattering of both arid Karoo plants on hot rock faces, gradually changing to cool Fynbos growth at higher altitude where we reached our overnight accommodation – a splendid rock-face lodge.
The Two-Mountain Tops Hat Evie climbed were the “Kop” on the Strydomskop trail, and the second was the ascent of Strydomsberg. The Kop at 1150m provided an amazing view to the west to Cockscomb, while heavily scented Buchu must have given me a lift on the climb up!. Reaching the Strydomsberg mountain top at 1175m was more difficult. There was no well-laid trail, only a point on the map in the adjacent Groendal Reserve. It involved a fair amount of slipping around in the Fynbos, as well as some back-tracking. This happened whenever we reached a rock ledge over which we could peer. It was then a case of “no ways – that’s not the best way down”. It was a good challenge to cross through this steep valley and then slog over two long right-angled ridges to achieve our goal. The view - a stunner! It felt as if I was sitting in the plane en route to George from JHB staring down into the endless rows of mountains to the south and west. On the top at Strydomsberg there was a whole field of unique Osteospermum sp.3 trees standing at between 1m and 1.5m high. Quite an experience.
The Fynbos - some of the new plants for me
Athanasia pinnata – a tall, feathery grey-velvet daisy shrub known from Kouga Mnts to Grahamstown.
Osteospermum sp.3- a tall, robust spreading tree of flowering daisies – only known to occur at high altitude in the Great Winterhoek Mnts.
Hymenolepis indivisa – known from the Great Winterhoek Mts to Grahamstown.
Psoralea – 2 different species at high altitude, both seem to be undocumented so far.
Selago – possibly ?? Selago elsiae. A very pretty, low shrub of purple flowerheads. Poorly documented and endemic to the region.
Pelargonium ovale subsp. veronicifolium
Aspalathus aciphylla – a tall bright yellow, profusely flowering tree-like shrub.
Evie
|
|
|
Summer holiday outings in George
As our year drew to close we had another very interesting and enjoyable outing with the Vloks. Jan wanted to show us Disa schlechteriana (VU) near Herold. The new owner of this farm is Malcolm Rivett, who kindly allowed a group of us to wander around his property. Everything was in full bloom, except for the elusive Disa. With the Vloks help, we saw Otholobium racemosum (Rare), The other exciting find was a large patch of Eulophia platypetala (VU).
Athanasia trifurcata was a sight to behold. We were also introduced to some new plants by Jan. One had the jaw-breaking name that none of us had heard before - Vellereophyton dealbatum. Thanks to Jan and Annelise for a lovely Sunday outing. We are hoping that Malcolm will join us in the new year.
After hearing from Ann that Geissorhiza outeniquensis NT was flowering we set off once again up the mountain to the Cradock Pass Nek. It was a very hot day and some of the more aged members decided not to go further, so we sent the 2 young men down to to the railway to check out these plants. This they duly did and reported back that the plants were there and flowering profusely. (See "It's Raining It's Pouring" - ed)
There were various short sorties to Camferskloof, The Cross and Flanagans Rock. These were done to keep us in practice for 2021. Camferskloof provided a riotous display of Lotononis filiformis in blue and L. elongata in yellow. They are both Endangered. Fred and Ludwig turned up a new location for Lobelia ardisiandroides Rare) at The Cross.
Jenny
|
|
|
Outramps Festive Season Break - East
During the break some of my family joined us in Brenton-on-Sea. Beaches were closed, as was the lagoon, so we had to look at other options to entertain our guests. A kayak that was brought from Johannesburg only got wet on a drizzly day. Every available path between Brenton and Buffelsbaai was pounded by jogging/hiking feet.
Harkerville was a popular destination. Here, the cyclists could ride various routes while others walked/ran the Perdekop trail. We encountered many hikers and joggers along the trail, which is in good condition and clearly sign-posted. Just off the main path, a beautiful Ipomoea indica (Purple morning glory) and a large patch of Nephrolepis cordifolia var. cordifolia are encroaching on the forest. I enjoyed walking the Garden of Eden trail and visiting the Wolf Sanctuary with the children. Some of our group enjoyed the Kranshoek zipline experience.
The last day of our gathering was spent on the Robberg Peninsula, which was looking very dry, although the scenery was beautiful. Introducing the children to the wonders of nature and chatting with family members as I hiked meant that I did not spend much time taking photographs, but I have added some to iNat. At all these venues our temperatures were taken, lists of medical ailments signed off and our hands regularly sanitized. We all hope that we will not get a call to say we were close to someone who has contracted Covid. As we have been in a family ‘froth’ of diverse bubbles, Fred and I are currently in self-isolation.
Nicky
|
|
|
|
|