Walkies on Table Mountain

Hot shots

2012-01-29T16:28:00.014+02:00

A hot day for a walk even though we started early. We left the Land Rover at Wolfkop parking and went in the boot of Sue's car to the start of the walk at St James. Sue had brought a Norwegian mathematician called Jorinde too, and Thea was waiting for us at St James. Here we all are dawdling on Boyes Drive. This grasshopper was rather too hot to move - I think it was seeing stripes.
A patch of the Kalk Bay hillside had recently burned - making it seem even hotter.
Not much else about - just a feather.
But we were soon back in the fynbos - these are Tooth-leaved Powderpuff (Pseudoselago serrata) flowers.
Me sitting in Joridne's and Sue's shadow - every little piece of shade was most welcome.
A pretty little Pelargonium longifolium braving the heat - growing in a rocky crevice.
I wished I could fit into a shady crevice. All I could do was grab what little shade I could find. This is our obligatory stop under Sam-the-lavatorydoor's Mimetes tree on the Mimetes Valley path.
A hot Peninsula Silkypuff (Diastella divaricata), a miniature protea.
It was quite tricky walking under Thea's umbrella,
but I did so welcome the shade.
We made it to Nellie's Pool with its life-affirming eau de vie and I had a swim. I had not bargained on getting in so deep, but it did cool me down a bit. There were some nice trees to have tea under, and Dougal managed to get some mouse-hunting in too.
A little erica, possibly Erica obliqua, was also enjoying the shade next to the deep, cool eau de vie in Nellie's Pool.
Then the whole world arrived ...
and his dog! This Airedale was very well camouflaged against the sandy soil here.
The long hot road home.
A fiery Lampranthus
Dried heads of old everlasting daisies were puffing out white seeds in the hot breeze.
More hot road back to the parking place,
but at last we were back at the cars, and after a drink we drove back to fetch the cars at St James.Then we were home in plenty of time to watch the tennis that went on, and on, and on and on and on, and ...

Dams and damn politicians

2012-01-22T22:28:00.005+02:00

This morning we were going to a protest but the humans changed their minds and said we would not enjoy it very much so we met up with Sue and went for a very short walk and a swim in misty Silvermine - using our smart new activity cards for dogs.
A pretty Aristea glauca.
Dawnie came too - and here she is tagging along in the Table Mountain Watsonias - Watsonia tabularis.
Then we got left behind with the Alph and Patrick the painter while the Food Lady, Jane and Simon went off to protest in Hout Bay agianst the government giving away bits of Table Mountain National Park to BIG BAD BUSINESS. Click here for some background.
There were lots of dogs and we were sorry we we had not been there to join in the fun.
Even Jack Russells!
And if I am not very much mistaken, is that not a scot?
And a Robbie, an Anthea and a Mike?
And Lucky's mom - Lynne too. What a party.
The Sentinel in the background. People listening to speeches - maybe this is where we might have been a bit bored,
but we could have found a patch of lawn to sit on in the "ugly quarry" that Robin Carlisle thinks will look a whole lot better with a dirty big office block in it.
Even a child can see its wrong.
Yes, we agree!

Tripping up Trappieskop

2012-01-15T21:44:00.020+02:00

Today the weather forecast said it was going to be fiercely hot so we decided to do a short walk in easy distance of the sea for cooling off in afterwards - and Pauline suggested a trip up Trappieskop. Alice and Maddie joined Paul and Pauline and us and our humans and we set off up the hill behind Fish Hoek. This is me checking out the route we had just come up from Clovelly. It was not very hot as the wind was blowing,
as you can see by the way Paul is hanging on to his hat! Looking over Fish Hoek, we could see Alice and Maddie's house in the far distance.
It is quite an exciting place up here - with caves, and funny dumpy trees called Tylecodon grandiflorus,
and turtle-like rock monster heads looming over us.Tea on Trappieskop: Alice, Maddie, the Alph (who was a bit cross with us because he got left behind and lost us for a few minutes, but unlike when I lag behind and get lost, no-one was cross with him!), Pauline and Paul, and us Scots in front.
Aloe commixta is one of the few aloes that grow on the Cape Peninsula, and it is also endemic to the peninsula, in fact only occurring from Fish Hoek to Slangkop. Here it is trying to grow very tall by climbing up one of the tree ericas, Erica tristis. The Sickleleaf Brightfig (Lampranthus falciformis), and more of the endemic Golden Spiderheads(Serruria villosa) to ooh and aah over.
Pretty soon it was time to head back down. We were disappointed not to see any baboon or dassies. In fact there was not much around,
apart from some spider's webs,a lacy-winged fly on a Pseudoselago serrata flower,
and of course, lots and lots of flowers, some with odd names like the Rough Gousblom (Arctotis aspera). "Arctotis" means "bear's ear" - because of the outer involucral bracts - but I am not sure I know what a bear's ear looks like.
Another gogga - looks like the nymph of a bug of sorts - on the seeds of Maytenus oleoides. It does look kind of tasty - the beetle that is.
Back on the well-made stone path that goes from Kalk Bay to Clovelly between Trappieskop and Cave Peak. We wondered if Pete Dewey - Belle's human - had finished his golf on the Clovelly golfcourse that you can see in the distance.

Chilling at Daisy

2012-01-11T18:09:00.011+02:00

(This is Dougal in film-documentary mood so he will narrate the blog - just this once! Hope he doesn't mess up.)
"Thank-you for your vote of confidence Oh Silly Scottie! I wont mess up. Just watch. Good morning Blog Readers. Last week we went to this beautiful place called Agulhas for a couple of days with our humans and the Alpha Male's sister who was visiting from New Zealand.
We stopped at our most favourite in all the world breakfast spot outside the metropolis of Napier (the birthplace of Matthew the Large)

and while the humans scoffed scrambled eggs and bacon and brie cheese, we were given some off-colour farm water to drink.
But the Food Lady took us for a little stroll around the farm which was greatly appreciated as there were some good piggy smells about.
At last we made it to our destination. Here is the view from Daisy. We like to keep an eye on the dogs on the beach from the balcony and occasionally shout at them. We had a wonderful time doing the usual exciting things:
Swimming in our most favourite spot - Papkuil. Someone once told us that it was the largest rock pool in the southern hemisphere. We like it because no sharks can get in.
Excavating for molerats.
Admiring the flora (although this is more a human activity). A Christmas Berry Bush or Dune Gonnabos in full fruit - just growing out of the dune sand. Its botanical name is Passerina ericoides.
Going for lovely walks along the beach - Soetanysberg in the distance.
Nicola taking a photo of Teddy at the southernmost tip of Africa, where the oceans meet.
The weather was perfect for a sunset campfire braai. Coco checking for cockroaches.
Here are your shoes, now will you hurry up and get walking!
Tails up in the dune scrub - hunting Four-striped Mice in the early morning. (Unsuccessfully I might add. These Rhabdomys pumilio mice are a lot sharper and quicker than house mice and rats!)
The Food Lady was hunting flowers as usual and found this lovely Silene crassifolia growing on the dune sand. It looks a bit like an Edelweiss flower.
Rock-pooling.
There were hundreds and hundreds of these creepy crawlies on the pebbly beach which are actually air-breathing, kelp eating crustaceans (isopods) called Ligia dilatata.
Watching some kayakers and just chilling on the beach. A long trek over the limestone hill - not so nice for paws, although this Erica coccinea didn't seem to mind the harsh limestone.
Another sunset supper round the braai.
Taking opportunities to do some wee-mailing.
Pooped on the stoep - er sorry - relaxing on the veraandaahh."

A shady Silvermine saunter

2012-01-11T18:08:00.008+02:00

On Wednesday 4 January, the Food Lady smuggled us into the Silvermine Reserve (still sans dog permit because she hasn't managed to get photos for our special cards yet although she and the Alph have an expensive Wildcard that they were told would be fine for dogs too!). We (us, the Alph and Nicola) met up with Robbie, Jenny and Belle for a lovely walk down the river.
A hairy caterpillar on an Erepsia anceps flower - even hairier than a Scotty.
Some Red Crassulas (Crassula coccinea ) were already starting to flower. They are also pollinated by the Mountain Beauty butterfly.
Tea in the cool breeze. It certainly wasn't a burning hot day, but we were looking forward to a swim in the dam.
On the road down to the dam, the FL noticed some plants that have made themselves at home here - the ubiquitous dandelion and some Hare's Tail (Lagurus ovatus) grass from the Mediterranean.
There was lots of activity down at the dam - a great way to finish a walk. Next time we come, I hope we will be legal.

A sober walk on Tweede Happy

2012-01-11T17:55:00.031+02:00

Today's walk falls on "Tweede Happy" which Capetonians like to celebrate, and this year it was an official holiday too. Despite a bit of rain and mist, we decided to take advantage of the cool weather and go up Cecilia Ridge to the top. Sue joined us (Dougal, me, Nicola, the Alph and the Food Lady) as well as Robbie and her cousins from Maritzburg - Mike and Sherry. This is Sue and Sherry toiling up Cecilia Ridge in the wet. We got to the Great Dog Highway - and not a dog in sight! Here is Dougal and Nicola footing it up the road. It was so wet and we were all dying for some tea and Robbie decided to go and investigate the possibility of sheltering in the Hoerikwaggo Trail Overseer's Cottage
despite the rather off-putting sign!
The Alph and me. Leads on so that we didn't embarrass anyone.
After a lovely tea in the braai area around the back - we set out again. Robbie spotted this little Harlequin Orchid (Eulophia aculeata ) flowering on the side of the road.
Some bedraggled Fragrant Crassulas (Crassula fascicularis).
The long road home - with some lovely pink watsonias to brighten up the greyness. Possibly W. humilis but not sure.
Me doing a hairpin bend turn, brakes applied.
A group shot as the Food Lady forgot to do the honours at tea. Sue, Sherry, Mike, the Alph, Nicola and Robbie.
Nearly at Constantia Nek where we had left the car.

Mists and mellow fruitfulness

2012-01-11T17:55:00.030+02:00

A lovely misty morning for a post Christmas walk - it being the 27th of December. We met Alice and Maddie, Paul and Pauline and June, Gary and Stuart who were visiting from Zimbabwe - and Liberia, and set off up the path that Abe Bailey's gardener made in Farmer Peck's Valley many years ago.
A Mountain Maytenus shrub (Maytenus oleoides) full of fruit.
Maddie trying out our new drinking bowl - a Christmas present from Pippin and Honey's humans, the Timoneys. Thanks Helen and Paul, Caroline and Katherine! It works well.
Maddie and Me went exploring under some old Mountain Maytenus trees (Maytenus oleoides).
We found some Christmas baubles -
which were really Cape Snow (Syncarpha vestita) buds, some red Christmas balls - the fruit of the False Dodder (Cassytha ciliolata),
and some Christmas stars - actually the flowers of a dodder called Cuscuta - not sure which species.
Teatime.
Maddie relaxing.
Bright Christmas colours were all around - like these Table Mountain Watsonias (Watsonia tabularis) which are endemic to the Cape Peninsula and distinguished by fleshy sheaths that enclose the leaves on the stem.
Down again - with Muizenberg in the misty distance.
There were lots of flowers out enjoying the cool misty conditions. This is a "Smooth Plampers"(Corymbium glabrum var. glabrum) - a daisy trying to look like a member of the Iridaceae.
The mist and low cloud made for some spectacular views for the humans. You can just see Fish Hoek behind that funny rock dragon that has just crash landed.
The Golden Spiderhead (Serruria villosa) - another peninsula endemic - already starting to show signs of flowering. Its normal time is March.
Almost back now: Alice, June and Maddie.
and a weird Dr Seuss dog on the rock. Now who could that be?
The Chincherinchees (Ornithogalum thyrsoides) were still flowering along the path near the stone gate
where we all eventually emerged, having worked off a little of the Christmas excess we have been indulging in.

Drip, drip, drip

2011-12-13T07:41:00.016+02:00

The humans were determined to hike up to Maclear's Beacon today as plans to do so had been scuppered on the last three attempts due to high winds, rain and heat. So a gentle drizzle was nothing, in fact it was great because it meant we could come too. We started at the Rycroft Gate at Kirstenbosch where we met the only other person mad enough to join us - Pauline. Here is Dougal looking a bit sceptical.
We slogged up Nursery in the drippy drizzle,
us Scots in our element: cool wet weather, and lots of smells and rustles in the undergrowth to investigate.
Waiting for the phoodlady almost at the top.
By the time we reached the top of Nursery Ravine, the squall had passed and the sun was trying to break through.
Dougal being a dassie.
Pauline, me, Dougal - and the Food Lady pouring the tea - taken by the Alpha.
They were keen to see Drip Disas, but we also saw drip sedges with large droplets that were about to drip ...
and a Drip Erica - (actually Erica plukenetti) flowering rather later than usual,
and a glistening Blister Bush, Notobuton galbanum - a member of the carrot family.
As if I wasn't wet enough already! But the mountain water is just so inviting.
This was the closest we got to seeing Drip Disas (Disa longicornu). Tight buds.
and some more buds of another disa, possibly Disa vaginata or maybe D. rosea.
We saw lots and lots of wonderfully drippy waterfalls - water was just cascading and gushing everywhere.
Relieved to see we were on the right track as the weather started to close in again.
The cloud lifted to reveal a glimpse of the Constantia winelands far below.
Omigosh what's that! A Christmas rocky reindeer?
The Food Lady and Pauline exclaimed over some pretty pink and fluffy bushes of the Rose Rice Heath (Erica tenuifolia).
Some helpful white arrows pointed us in the right direction as it was too misty to see very far ahead now.
A cute little Bulbine.
We clambered up and up, through waterfalls and tight spots,
until at last Maclear's Beacon loomed into sight.
Two nice people who had come from the cable car offered to take a photo of all of us at the beacon. We were quite relieved to see them there as it was quite windy and wet and we were worried that the cable car might be closed and we would have to walk down Platteklip Gorge.
It was too chilly to linger at the beacon, so we carried on through the soggy wetland, mist
and drizzle
and made it back to the cable car at about noon, where we had a picnic lunch and Pauline bought some coffee for the Food Lady and herself and a beer for the Alph which went down very well. We had some "Mocha and Almond" rusks, a Beano and some mountain water which suited us just fine too!
We felt relieved to be alive when we looked at this monument to all of the people who have died on Table Mountain.

The Alph phoned Simon to come and fetch us and we went down in the cable car which I did NOT enjoy one little bit!
It was all rather confusing and scary in the cable car
and we were mighty relieved to get down to find Simon waiting for us with the Land Rover.
Two tired and happy Scotties.

Maddie's first walk

2011-12-04T18:53:00.014+02:00

Alice was back - oh frabjous day! - with her new mad dog called Maddie. This was Maddie's first walk with us. Paul and Pauline were here, and Thea and Sue, and of course, the Food Lady, Alph and Dougal. We meandered a bit in good Food Lady style around a maze of white sandy paths that disappeared and re-appeared but eventually, thanks to Sue and the Alph, a good path was located and we set out in a stiff breeze up into the Baskloof Nature Reserve.
Some pretty little Lapeirousia anceps flowers growing in the white sand.
Ah - a signpost - we must be on a real path.
There were lots of everlasting daisies - in this photo you can see Cape Snow (Syncarpha vestita) and Edmondia sesamoides, the former with a red centre, and the latter with a yellow centre.
The fluffy seeds were blowing off this grass - possibly Thatch Grass (Hyparrhenia hirta).
More Cape Snow.
There were also lots of different types of Roella in flower. This one is probably Roella triflora.
The path took us through some magical areas with gorgeous flowers. But is was starting to get quite warm, and the wind dropped,
so we decided to go and have tea at Kleinplaas Dam so we dogs could have a cooling dip. The Food Lady's "five to ten minutes" turned out to be more like half an hour so we were really in need of a swim when we finally arrived at the dam.
Young Maddie really had a good time in the water and Dougal got wet up to his shoulders.
Paul found a shady spot in the rocks to cool off as humans are not allowed to swim here.
Tea time.
The SANParks peeps must be expecting some radical climate change events, as the marker for the depth of the water is quite high.
By now it was very hot and the cooling wind had disappeared. But best foot forward!
Looking for all the world like a spider, this assassin bug (possibly a species of Lopodytes) was lurking in a Yellow Ixia (Ixia dubia). Assassin bugs prey on other arthropods - creeping slowly up on them, grabbing them and injecting them with paralysing toxin. They can also inflict a nasty bite on inquisitive dog's noses.
It was so hot by this stage that I had to be carried home. The view from here was spectacular!
Poor old Dougal was left to find patches of shade to snatch a few moments to shelter from the fierce sun.
Here he is with Maddie having a relax in the shade. It was hot
and the path seemed to go on and on but at last the village of Scarborough came into view.
Before long we were back at the cars. Sue and the Food Lady went to pay for our permits at Mickey's Mouse Trap shop which is behind that grille. They were only R12 each.
Then Alice and Maddie went for a swim, Paul and Pauline went home and the rest of them had a drink at the Camel Rock Restaurant. Here is the Alph - my saviour and hero for carrying me all the way down.
And Sue.
And Thea who stood us drinks. There was even a bucket of water for us Scots and some rather rangy local dogs to interest us.
We stopped to check out the Notten's "family room across the mountain" in Scarborough. Some progress has been made.
Now are we hallucinating? I know we were really hot and tired, but these did look like camels and palm trees in the middle of Noordhoek.

A Skeleton Walk

2011-11-28T16:52:00.015+02:00

We were left at home this Sunday. Dougal had a sore foot (which is better now), and I elected to stay and keep him company. The gale force Southeaster had nothing to do with my decision whatsoever! (Dawn was in her bush hiding from the Alph.) So as it was only the Alph and the FL, it was rather a skelton walk.
They took advantage of our absence to walk up one of their favourite paths, Donkergat, which they used to do often with Sam and Tombi (our predecessors) before the meanies at Kirstenbosch banned dogs.
A scary Pterodactyl tree in Skeleton Gorge.
Not really our favourite kind of path.
An unfurling fern frond.
On these eastern slopes of Table Mountain you often see the weed, Field Woundwort (Stachys arvensis), which originally comes from Europe, Asia and North Africa. It has a lovely minty smell when you brush past.
A closer look at the Field Woundwort flower.
Skeleton Gorge was sheltered from the roaring wind, but the path to Maclears Beacon had disappeared into the Southeaster cloud and it was mighty chilly (which we Scots actually like!).
Tea break at the top,
where the photographing phoodlady phound some Senecio grandiflorus plants with their phunny phat buds. These woolly plants are endemic to the Cape Peninsula.
They chose to come down Nursery Ravine - which was also surprisingly sheltered from the Southeaster and full of people and flowers; like these pretty Stonecrop flowers (Crassula pellucida).
A sticky end for this moth - caught in a Drosera hilaris. Not so hilarious for the moth!
Near the bottom of Nursery Ravine, they walked through the wild area of Kirstenbosch - again something we canines are prohibited from enjoying - where they saw lots of flowers like this rather odd Lady's Hand (Cyanella hyacinthoides),
lots of Blue Sceptre flowers (Aristea capitata),
and lots of Watsonia borbonica.
Having a rest in front of the enchanted pond in Kirstenbosch before hurrying home to us.

Meeting Luke

2011-11-26T18:17:00.011+02:00

On the 18th November we joined the Timoneys and Luke for a fantastic weekend at Riversong. When we arrived, supper was all ready and the wine open. Here is the Alph - well, the Alph's left cheek and arm, Caroline, Katherine, Paul, Luke and Helen. Dougal and I were out and about having a scrounge around for tortoises and other exciting Cederberg things.
The next morning we set out for an early morning botanize with the Food Lady
who found some firework flowers (also called bloodroot or Dilatris ixiodes)
and some White Orchids - Disa harveiana subsp. longicalcarata.
After breakfast we set out again on another walk - our lucky day! We passed lots of interesting things, including these Grey Conebushes (Leucadendron pubescens) with sticky, hairy cones and lots of enticing smells,
but is got rather hot for us scots and we were grateful for to rest in some restio shade.
The Food Lady is fascinated by this rather disgusting plant which is all sticky and covered in dead and dying goggas. To make these poor hapless insects' lives even more miserable, this tentacled leafed bush is stalked by assassin bugs that are immune to the stickiness and go about injecting and sucking up any trapped gogga. Luverly. Read about them here.
At last we reached the cool tadpole pools where we all had a swim and Luke found a little snake eating tadpoles. Instead of leaping out he just stayed in the water and watched it as it swallowed the fat tadpole near his foot.
After lunch the humans relaxed at the cottage - here is Luke and Caroline (with the bunch of flowers that Era had very kindly placed in the cottage for us and a delicious fruit cake that Helen had baked),
while I did some tortoise hunting and Dougal did some mousing.
Then, official walk number three! Whoopeee. We went to the river for a swim in the lovely warm evening.
Perfection!
Caroline and Helen walking home again.
The boys wasted no time getting the fire going,
while the kitchen team were also working hard - Luke just moving from one to the other, and occasionally chatting to us too.
Another gastronomic extravaganza with the promise of rich pickings for us dogs - especially seeing as I was not allowed to chew up my tortoises.
Pudding.
Some night visitors - a Ribbon-wined lacewing,
and a rather terrifying scorpion that wanted to share Luke's bed on the veranda.
The next morning there was rolling thunder - and Dougal was reduced to a shivering wreck. He thinks that getting up on the bed is going to help! What a drip.
It was quite rainy and bleak outside, and I was rather reluctant to go out to investigate the tortoise population. Finally we decided to take the plunge and got to the bottom of the driveway before the rain forced us to turn round and go back to the cottage where we stayed put until it was time to pack up and to home.
Dramatic skies over Du Toits Kloof.

A cool walk

2011-11-13T16:04:00.019+02:00

Everyone chickened out of the Sunday walk because of the rain, but as soon as there was a break, we two and our humans headed for the misty hills. We parked at the new Cecilia Park parking spot, and set off up the path past these beautiful pink watsonias that towered above us Scotties. They are Watsonia borbonica and lots of them have now come up in the Granite Fynbos in place of boring sterile pines - which unfortunately are still plentiful here as you can see further up, despite the poor sad shouters for shade's misguided laments. The species name borbonica refers to Ile de Bourbon, now Réunion, as apparently it was thought to have come from there when they named it in the dim and distant past (in the 1700s sometime!).
I don't think our humans have these funny shaped Wild Card Permits for dog walking like what is shown on the board. Nor do they carry trowels to keep us under control. But they have a family Wild Card on a piece of paper though, so maybe it includes us.
We saw many waterfalls.
A silene of sorts - Silene undulata or bellidoides. It belongs to the carnation family.
Misty mountain top with two indigenous Mountain Cypress (Widdringtonia nodiflora) trees and a dead pine emerging from the forested slopes of Table Mountain.
Another waterfall in Cecilia Ravine - usually our best cooling-down place but today we didn't need to cool down as it was just a cool day all round.
Some grass caught in the flash - possibly Rooigras (Themeda triandra).
The Foodlady's little orchid that featured on an earlier post - now flowering and showing that it is a thread orchid - Holothrix villosa subsp. villosa.
In fact, there were lots of little thread orchids growing under a rock on the path back from the big Cecilia waterfall.
Me having a shake after a swim in the river that leads back to the car park.
The magic forest path, with yellowwoods and asparagus ferns and a stream that always flows.
Back in the cleared area next to the car park were lots of Garden Acraea butterflies - these two entwined on a Larkspur Baroe (Cyphia bulbosa) - a member of the lobelia family.
We were having such fun we just didn't want it to end ...
so Dougal had to be forcibly removed to the car - most undignified!

Bowling a maiden over

2011-11-12T09:12:00.015+02:00

Last Sunday we went for a walk in Silvermine - up Maiden's Peak and onto Klein Tuinkop - one of our faves. In fact it quite bowls me over it is such a fantastic walk. Only Pauline joined the Alph, the Food Lady, Dougal and me - mostly because the Food Lady forgot to put the starting time on the blog and then there was a mix up of smses. (Just bearing out what the Alph has said time and time again - although no-one ever listens to him - that you cannot trust electronic stuff). Anyway - the Food Lady is on about grass now (thanks to Paul and Pauline) - and sadly there are very few books on the grasses of the Cape Peninsula. So here is the first unidentified grass ...
These little creeping pea-like weeds along the side of the gravel road to Maidens Peak are most probably the introduced species Trifolium aureum, or Large Hop Trefoil, which is closely related to the common clover of "I'm looking over ..." fame.
Some more grass - this time Paul's Grass - Pentaschistis curvifolia - which is in full bloom at the moment. This section of the walk was burned about two years ago and is now FULL of the most interesting and exciting plants
like this Microdon dubius which has the rather strange common name of Cat's Tail - not at all like the cat's tail I try to bite off every now and then when the neighbour's cat ventures into the garden!
and this orchid - possibly Acrolophia lamellata ...
and lots and lots and lots of these dainty little bulbs - Geissorhiza tenella - with the boring common name of Klein Pypies.
Me and the Alph waiting for the flower-worshipers (Pauline and the FL) and the lunatic rodent hunter (Dougal) to catch up. Look at me gazing adoringly at our Alph.
Ant dance in a Roella ciliata - a member of the bellflower family Campanulaceae. Me and the Alph wished we had a bell to ring to tell them to hurry up and continue the walk! Some more grass, some Mountain Dahlias (Liparia splendens) and me.
Eventually we got up onto Klein Tuinkop. A snary (Arti-speak for scary) eagle with Kommejie in the distance.
On the top of Klein Tuinkop were lots of these tiny, red-leafed crassulas which the Food Lady had never seen in flower - they are Crassula obtusa. (Identified thanks to the Friends of Silvermine Nature Area's wonderful new cd Flora Doc: A database of the flora of the Cape Peninsula.)
Tea on Klein Tuinkop: the Alph and Pauline. We could SMELL dassies...
so we spent a while checking the place out - but the FL usually gets a bit antsy if we go too far. And of course, all the best dassies are just too far.
A strange and glowing Halloween flower - Harveya squamosa. A parasitic annual.
The only downside of this walk is the long gravel road home again - not so great for paws. This is tired scotty behind some Vlaktee flowers (Syncarpha gnaphaloides).
A white form of Lachnaea grandiflora - usually they are pink. But maybe when they grow on Maidens Peak, they are lily white. Their common name is Grand Stringbark, and they belong to the Thymelaeaceae family - phew - altogether too many vowels for a Scotty to spell! And the Thymel-whatyoumacallit - is the same family that my friends, the gnidias, belong to.
Monkey beetle orgy on a Sour Fig flower (Carpobrotus edulis).
On the way home we came across lots of dogs just setting out with their humans, but we were so tired that we hardly had the energy for social interaction.

We hope you will be back soon Sue and Paul - we missed you!

Up the Corner ...

2011-10-23T17:32:00.011+02:00

... and into the mist. We only had two hours today because we had to be back for the rugby, so Paul, Pauline and Sue met us at Kloof Corner and we all set off up the path. Come on you lot, you are getting left behind!
Strong winds were blowing but we were not going up to the top, so we didn't have to worry about the cable car closing.
This is a very pretty flower with an ugly name - Scabious - which means scabby or mangy - another word that we get called by our humans especially when we have been rolling in unmentionable things. (Apparently some species were said to cure the disease of Scabies that is why they got that name.) It looks like a daisy but it is not a daisy - belonging to the Dipsaceae family. Like daisies, it has a composite flower with florets.You can see the black sepal bristles sticking up between the buds. The Food Lady has no idea which species this is. There are three that occur here, but they all look much the same.
Another genus that all look similar is Aspalathus, but this prickly leaved one seems to be Aspalathus cordata.
You can see the Alph disappearing up into the mist.
But luckily he was waiting for us at the top of the steps. This is the end of the path, and it goes over a sheer cliff if you turn right at the top, so we carried on to the left.
Of course, there is the option to go straight up, but no-one took it today.
Lady's hand Cyanella hyacinthoides all wet and blowy in the mist.
The Alph striding ahead,
and Pauline and Sue following. Paul was photographing somewhere further back.
The in-your-face pink Pelargonium cucculatum was flowering, and the Chincherinchees (Ornithogalum thyrsoides) were out - can you spot one growing in a rocky pocket half way up the cliff? And note the lichen fractallating all over the cliff.
We turned round at the start of the India Venster path, and went back to the steps. Do we need to go all the way down again?
The mist was lifting a bit and we got to see a bit of Camp's Bay and Cape Town, but Lion's Head was still hidden in the clouds.
Another prickly plant is Climber's Friend (Cliffortia ruscifolia). It has a good strong root system, so despite being prickly, its a good plant to grab if you have opposable thumbs and are falling. Note the red feathery flowers - they are wind pollinated and belong to the Rose family.
Very soon we were down again, and the FL just had time to snap this beetle in a Roella ciliata flower before we were bundled back into the car and home to watch the All Blacks nearly being mashed up by the French. And then SA won the cricket which was good.

Touch wood the FL seems to have worked out what the problem with the Internet was.

Posh Dogs

2011-10-22T15:51:00.005+02:00

Yesterday we were taken to Green Point Park where all the posh dogs go. In posh parks, though, you have to be on leads. Dawnie came too and disgraced herself by trying to swim in one of the ornamental fountains. She is not posh.
But we managed to look like city slicker dogs as we strolled sedately past kids playing - which I usually find irresistible, but the Alph would brook no unruly behaviour so I resisted.
Checking out the new waterwheel.
Then some balloons escaped from one of the parties and blew past us and into the flower beds in front of the soccer stadium where they popped. Well, that was the end of Dougal's walk!

Lost in the forest

2011-10-20T14:16:00.017+02:00

Uh oh, they are going off in the Land Rover WITHOUT US. How can that be! Hey! You have forgotten something! Come back! Nope, we have been abandoned today. How depressing.
Turns out they had quite a tough walk so maybe it was just as well. Pauline, Paul and Thea came and they went up the Great Dog Highway to the top past some Orgidekies (Disa bracteata) which is a seriously bad weed in Australia. (And we don't care as after the rugby, and after stealing our Acacia name, Australia deserve everything they get!)
Thea and Pauline on the Great Dog Highway with some alien grass along the way.
Fonteinbos (Psoralea pinnata)
and Psoralea aculeata.
A stinky little orchid (Satyrium pumilum) that smells like rotting meat to attracts fly pollinators.
And while the FL was snapping away at flowers, Paul was more interested in Mandelbrot set patterns like this lichen,
while Thea demonstrated what another lichen, old Man's Beard, is all about ...
The Food Lady then dragged them through wet slippery forests, and through deep dark caves
with strange dinosaur-bird rock monsters,
and over slippery rocks with drippy branches overhead, draped in Old Man's Beard. Not for Scots.
Tea on the top - Pauline, Thea, Paul and the Alph.
The FL was happy to see lots of these impressive Sissies - which is what the Alpha calls Dougal when he is reduced to jelly if he hears the tiniest of popping noises. Their real name is Brachysiphon fucatus and they like growing on the top of the mountain. Grootkop is in the background.
Not really Scottie-friendly territory. This is on the edge overlooking Orange Kloof - Grootkop sticking up on the left.
Then they really went over the top and came back along the cliff face
with good views back to Hout Bay.
This little fern was to commemorate the victory of the All Blacks over the Aussies (thanks to the cellphone link with our human brothers).
On the edge - Paul doing some fractal photography,
and Thea crawling through yet another cave.
They stopped for a snack and to admire the view, and this little fynbos ant ran away with a piece of peanut.
The FL thinks this may be the Peninsula Conebush (Leucadendron strobilnum) - one of the Table Mountain endemics but she needs Alice to come back on the walks!
Pseudoselago quadrangularis.
The Sky Dam - De Villiers Dam - where we have had many interesting dog encounters on the Great Dog Highway.
Star-eyed Aristea (Aristea spiralis) on the way back to the car. And they were both rather tired so we never got to go our for a walk until the next morning. It's a dog's life!

Apologies for the late blog but we have been having Internet problems.

Mink and Manure

2011-10-10T10:35:00.008+02:00

Yay, our favourite place in all the world! The Constantia Greenbelt. Not quite on top of Table Mountain but on the slopes of our favourite mountain in all the world. (You can see it in the background.) That's me with my tail up in Le Sueur Meadow. Sue came with us - me, Doog, Dawnie and the humans - and we met Pauline here.
Sue was happy to see that the river was called the Pilot River, which was good because the humans were all feeling rather depressed as the referee in the world cup match let the inferior Australian rugby team win over our vastly superior Bokke. What with the two best teams, Scotland and South Africa, out of the running, there is not much left to keep our interest. We hope, for the Alph's sister's sake, that New Zealand thumps the rest, although our human brother is rather hoping that France will win. I also like France because I am named after Coco Chanel - who is famous for inventing the little black number.
Squirrels and other dogs kept Dougal happy, and me and Dawnie were happy to dip into the Pilot River to cool off as today was fiercely hot.
This part is called the Alphen Trail. The Greenbelts are managed by Cape Town City Parks, and they are an absolute pleasure, even though the Food Lady calls them a giant puppy class because of all the other dogs. But that's what we dogs just LOVE.
There are not many indigenous plants, but lots of pretty flowers like these nasturtiums from South America,
and these Allium triquetrum weeds from Europe that just love shady spots.
We then crossed the road to rub shoulders with the mink and manure set (here is the manure part of the equation with the mink part on its back) and set off on the Klaasenbosch Trail which we haven't done for ages as it is quite quiet and secluded and the we like to have the Alph with us when we do.
This part of the Greenbelt is famous for having a few of the rare and endangered Knysna Warblers that we have heard a few times but never seen. The Alph is reading a noticeboard all about them.
The warm air was heavily perfumed with fragrant jasmine (originally from Asia) which belongs to the olive family. Of course, being a dog, I preferred the scent of fresh horse manure - in fact it was so tantalising, I ate some.
We looked at the large and loud houses - this was about the nicest one - a couple of acres of Cape Dutch house, the stables of which were ten times bigger than our humans' whole house and garden put together! and we decided we could just cope with this "little" garden cottage behind the barred fence of this large estate.
We ventured deeper into the forest ...
with large spreading tree ferns that come from Tasmania ,
and parasitic plants like the Branched Broomrape (Orobanche ramosa) that originally comes from the Mediterranean area.
Soon we had looped the loop and come back to familiar territory, but sadly that meant our walk was just about over.
A quick drink from the drinking fountain,
then the Alph had to chase us back to the Land Rover!

Late spring flowers in Cecilia

2011-10-03T21:21:00.006+02:00

We were going to Hout Bay but the Southeaster was roaring so we decided to play it safe and stay on this side. Sue and Pauline joined us and we set off up the newly cleared area of Cecilia now that they have opened the parking area again. Can I just have a quick dip, please?
A Painted Lady (Gladiolus carneus) as opposed to the Food Lady who is not painted. They are quite common.
Tea on the rocks with delicious crunchies, prunes and rusks for the humans and some beanos for us. Yummm, oops I dropped mine,
but its a long way down to look for it, so I will just play Monarch of the Glen.
Under a rock, the Food Lady wondered what these little orchid-ish flowers were going to be. Maybe Holothrix villosa?
Some more robust, scented Drumsticks (Zaluzianskya capensis) that only open fully in the evening.
On the road back the Food Lady saw some little Gladiolus gawleri flowers, also sweetly scented but they open in the morning and wither and die in the evening.
Back into the deep dark forest
and out into the open where we saw lots of beautiful translucent blue lachenalias - Lachenalia orchiodes var. glauca that used to flower sparsely under the pines and are now flowering in their hundreds. Some are quite pale and some are darker. This variety only grows here on the eastern slopes of the mountain.
Pauline admiring the drifts of Cecilia lachenalias.
The smart new parking area has hundreds of miles of irrigation pipes to water the fancy plants that have been planted here - and it seemed likes hundreds of miles to get back to the cars. We were two tired but very happy Scots.

Spring cleaning at Daisy

2011-09-27T06:57:00.015+02:00

On Saturday - Heritage Day - our humans took us on a spring cleaning weekend visit to Suiderstrand. On the way we stopped for breakfast at Dave's Country Kitchen on the Red Windmill farm shop and nursery just outside Napier where we were able to do some exploring while the humans had poached eggs and Brie cheese and scrambled eggs and smoked salmon.
Then we arrived at one of our favourite places in all the world - Daisy Cottage. It was surrounded by flowers. These purple ones are Sour Figs (Carpobrotus acinaciformis).
Lots and lots of Wild Cineraria or Strandblommetjies (Senecio elegans),
and lots of Felicia amoena subsp latifolia with hairy leaves.
The Alph got down to the business of fixing the loo ...
while we waited very patiently for a walk. Hurry up!
The Food Lady was doing some flower photography. These Sebaea aurea flowers are only about 10 mm wide. Come on!
This is Hottentotskool (Trachyandra divaricata). Now can we go? Please!
At last they set out. It was quite windy and there were lots of bluebottles and stuff on the beach including a dead seal or two - all the better for us to smell.
We noticed that they were doing a bit of dune reclamation to repair the damage of decades of beach driving here. You can see Pietie's se Huis (re-christened Lagoon House by SANParks) in the distance.
More Strandblommetjies (Senecio elegans).
A dip in Papkuil. We are always relieved to find that dogs are still allowed here! The SANParks restcamp looked pretty empty although there were a few people in Pietie's se Huis.
The local fisherman always leave these pretty Pyjama catsharks on the beach to die - which is terribly sad because they do no-one any harm and play a vital role in the ecosystem. SANParks should try and educate the fisherfolk because we see scores of them discarded on the beach. They could easily be thrown back again. According to George Branch pyjama catsharks are nocturnal and are usually found on the seabed in shallow rocky areas. They eat small reef fish and octopus. You often see their brown egg cases that are attached to seaweed with tendrils.
Dinner alfresco.
As Heritage Day is now known as National Braai Day, we braved the wind to set up the braai,
and while we did some mousing in the fynbos, the humans sipped wine and enjoyed the view from Daisy.
Me and the Alph.
The next morning it was a bit drizzly. The Sebaea aurea plants were well and truly closed when we set out for our Sunday morning walk
through the streets of Suiderstrand - marvelling at some of the hideous buildings that pop up there.
but pretty soon we were out of suburbia and into the veld. More strandblommetjies lining the road up to the water tanks.
Nemesia affinis flowers.
Up on the limestone ridge, it started to get warmer and the sun came out but out to sea we could see a thick bank of fog. Here is Dougal mousing behind some Kapokbossies or Wild Rosemary (Eriocephalus paniculatus) bushes.
This bright red tuber is from a Wachendorfia paniculata plant which clearly shows where the family name Bloodroot comes from. I wonder what makes it so red?
Another interesting red plant for the Food Lady was this member of the Hibiscus family, Hermannia trifoliata.
Another daisy growing up on the limestone slabs: the Sea Strawflower (Helichrysum retortum).
We soon found ourselves on the very nice hiking path up here - the Rasperpunt Hiking Trail. There are slabs of "Bredasdorp Formation" limestone that precipitated out of the sea about 5 million years ago which is quite tough on our Scotty pads.
Tea overlooking the wreck of the Meisho Maru, The fog bank was still out there looking mysterious.
It was getting warmer and we were both happy to get back to the sea. We had a dip while the humans did some bird watching.
Stopping to smell the flowers ...
A teeny tiny Thread Iris (Moraea setifolia).Hundreds of them growing on the path of the trail.
Back to Suiderstrand.
We all admired the shiny new blind. Then it was time to go back to Cape Town and Dawnie who stayed at home with Simon who looked after her and the cat.
The fog bank was also hanging around Table Mountain when we got home.

The Gnidia

2011-09-18T19:38:00.023+02:00

A day ago, last Sunday, I was strolling in the fynbos,
When I met a dog who thought he knew the lot.
He was laying down the law about the habits of proteas,
And the number of anthers a watsonia has got.
So I asked him, "What's that flower there?".
He answered, "Oh, it's a struthiola".

I might have gone on thinking that was true.
If the flower in question hadn't put that dog to shame,
And remarked, "I ain't a struthiola. I'm a g-nidia".

"I'm a g-nidia,
I'm a g-nidia,
The g-nicest work of g-nature in the veld.
I'm a g-nidia,

How are ya?
You should g-now just what is growing in the green belt."

"I'm a g-nidia, spelt G-N-I-D-I-A.
I'm g-not a daisy or a berzelia. So let me introduce,
I'm g-neither pea or paranomus,
Oh, g-no, g-no, g-no, I'm a g-nidia!"

I was on holiday once down at Agulhas-On-Sea,
Whence I travelled on to Suiderstrand it was actually.
And the second night I stayed there I was wakened from a dream,
Which I'll tell you all about... some other time.

Among the pretty flowers in the garden out the door,
Happily bobbing in the wind was a bloom I thought I knew.
A Disa? No, it's not a disa. An gladioli? It's unlikely, really.
Could it be an arum lily?
When I seemed to hear a voice: "I'm a... g-nidia..."

"I'm a g-nidia,
A g-nother g-nidia!
Sometimes called a daphne or a saffron but
I'm a g-nidia, How are ya?
You really ought to g-now now whats what."

"I'm a g-nidia, spelt G-N-I-D-A,
Don't call me a vygie or a ruschia.
G-nor am I in the least,
Like that dreadful sparaxees,
Oh, g-no, g-no, g-no...
Oh, g-no, g-no, g-no... ,
I'm a g-nidia...
Oh, g-no, g-no, g-no... , I'm a g-nidia!

With humble apologies to Flanders and Swann.

Champagne in the rain

2011-09-18T19:38:00.017+02:00

A cool morning for a walk up Steenberg with Sue, Kate and Greg from Canada, Paul (yes - Paul was back as his back is a bit better) and Pauline, us and the Alph and FoodLady. Looking back over the wetlands of Zandvlei and the False Bay coastline.
On the way up we saw some Painted Ladies (Gladiolus debilis)
and some halfmens? Nah, just the daisy Oedera imbricata.
Lots of Erica pyxidiflora on the central plateau over the ridge ...
in fact hundreds!
Paul was interested in this tiny red, mat-forming mesemb that we think might be an Aizoon.
Sue and the Alph with the storm clouds over False Bay about to engulf us.
What with the storm looming and this Triceratops rearing out of the rocks, I was just a bit worried that Dougal might be snared (Arti-speak for frightened).
Erica plukenetii
and a toothy Lobelia pinnifolia.
Greg snapped a few shots before the rain rather spoiled things,
as did the Food Lady with this Helichrysum helianthemifolium.
Then Kate produced a bottle of bubbly for tea. Just look at Dougal with his tongue hanging out waiting for some champagne and rusks. Actually we all felt like that. It was quite a pull all the way up to Muizenberg Peak. It was fun celebrating Greg being in South Africa,
except Dougal didn't like the champagne cork popping. 'Save me Food Lady" he is saying. What a drip.
But wait, WHAT IS THAT RUSTLING IN THE FYNBOS! Tea shot. Paul, Sue, Kate, Greg, the Alph, me and Pauline.
Then it started raining harder, and we all had to get going.
Kate and Greg climbed up to the trig beacon with Dougal (who wasn't meant to 'cause its quite steep up there, but his head was a bit scrambled after the popping champagne cork).
Once we were down, the rain seemed to lessen slightly, but you can see a drop or two got onto the lens. This is a drippy and wet Pincusion (Leucospermum conocarpodendron) taken by a wet and drippy Food Lady.

Nuclear flowers and a rare Sea Pink

2011-09-16T17:48:00.015+02:00

Assembly point in Koeberg Nuclear Power Station's parking area. Helen, Paul, Sue, Pauline, the Alpha Male and the Foodlady arrived for a walk in the Koeberg Nature Reserve on the West Coast. Without scotties. Well, if they start growing horns and things from being radiated, at least we will have escaped! So they all set off on the right foot - in Pauline's case on a very green foot!
They chose to do the short Grysbok Trail that leaves from the Visitors Centre which was all closed up but the parking area had a covered area with some maps. You can see Table Mountain in the distance.
Setting off into the sandveld - lots of pylons and fences, but good views of Table Mountain.
Growing in the sand were these strange euphorbias - the FL thinks they are Medusa's Head Euphorbias (Euphorbia caput-medusae).
And Sue told us that these were were some kind of Zaluzianskya - possibly Z villosa that she recognized from Robben Island. The Alph and Paul stopping to smell the flowers. These are the fruits of the Dollar Bush or Slaaibos Zygophyllum morgsana (once also called Roepera). Thanks Alice for the id.
Tea was high up on stilts overlooking the beach, but there was a fence so they couldn't get down onto the beach, which had quite a few people walking along it - with dogs.
A typical beautiful West Coast beach - taken through the fence.
They then walked past this substation with lots of clicking and fizzing. A bit scary - or snary as Arti would say. Making their way away from the crackling electricity through the multitudinous spring flowers.
Bont Leeubekkies or Weeskindertjies (Nemesia affinis). The back of the petal is white or pink with red stripes, and the front white, yellow, blue or mauve.
The signposts matched the blue and yellow flowers. This was a wetland with some interesting birds on it - including some Black-winged Stilts.
Sue among the daisies.
Some kind of large Silene. They belong to the Carnation family Caryophyllaceae and are commonly called campion or wild tobacco.
Bokhorinkies (Microloma sagittatum) a climber that is adapted to pollination by sunbirds.
From the southern perimeter of the reserve, looking back to the nuclear reactor.
And then Paul spotted this very rare Sea Pink or stattice - the endemic and critically endangered Limonium purpuratum which only occurs in deep coastal sand from Yzerfontein to Milnerton and nowhere else in the entire world! It belongs to the plumbago family and its papery pink calyces act as parachutes in seed dispersal.
In amongst the zaluzianskayas were some of these really large and impressive yellow Grielum grandiflorum flowers. They are members of the Rosaceae family.
A ruin of an old farmhouse.
All in all there were lots and lots of flowers to see - including some bulbs like this Babiana tubiflora.
Then after a few kms they were back at the Visitor's Centre.
The flower of a wierd parasitic plant called an Aardroos (Cytinus sanguineus) which belongs to the Rafflesiaceae in which family occurs the largest flower in the world.
It was soon time to get back into Pauline's car and hurry home to us, admiring the pink My Citi Bus central road and the general swishness of Milnerton.
The humans were full of ticks when they got home! Sies.

Heroes

2011-09-16T06:59:00.006+02:00

Rose, who comes here to look after the patients who come to consult the Alpha Male when he works from home, sent me these photos of the canine heroes of 9/11 in far off USA. They are from a book by Charlotte Dumas. Scout and an unknown dog in the rubble at Ground Zero - just two of nearly 100 search and rescue dogs who helped search for survivors on 9/11 in New York.
Moxie.
Merlyn

Tara

Tuff
Hoke
Guinness.
Bretagne and his owner Denise Corliss from Texas.
Bretagne today.

Abigail.

Scotties go up Cave Peak

2011-09-08T14:27:00.020+02:00

We said goodbye to Dawnie who was happy with her bone and met up with Sue, Richard, Lucy, Josie, Kate from Canada, Pauline, Helen, Paul and Lydia who joined us this morning. It was a misty morning but quite warm and humid.
The Shark Spotter was up there, spotting sharks and whales and he showed us where some whales were wallowing. The FL spotted some Night-scented Pelargonium (Pelargonium triste), that smell of cloves,
and some Green Satyr Orchids (Satyrium odorum) that also smell strongly of carnations.
A beautiful fiery red Lesser Cobra Lily (Chasmanthe floribunda var. floribunda) that attract lots of sunbirds for Kate to look at.
Here is Kate in front of the Weary Willy's watering hole signpost.
We scrambled up the steep side of Echo Valley, up the Jojolu Path. This is Lydia camouflaged against the rocks. And Helen and Paul sticking out a bit. We had to be helped up this section which Dougal hates. I just shout when I need help and the FL comes to the rescue, but Dougal struggles up and sometimes gets rather stuck.
Luckily we all made it up and over the edge onto Cave Peak.
Here is Kate wishing she had bought a torch to go into Boomslang Cave.
More uphill,
but the views over Fish Hoek were quite impressive, even if it was a bit cloudy and hazy.
Tea on top. Pauline, Lucy, Josie, Kate, me and Doog, the Alpha Male, Helen hiding in a blue hat, Paul ignoring us, Richard, Sue and Lydia.
Another deep, dark and drippy cave - right on the path.
We came down into the Amphitheatre, us still on leads because of caves and the dassies and mice that force us to chase them into the caves.
The Coat-hanger Heath (Erica plukenetti).
Paul's grass - the Pentaschistis curvifolia - was in full flower - looking spectacular. Paul, we wish you had been there to see it.
The other Paul, looking over the edge towards Noordhoek Peak.
Even the leucadendrons are in flower. This is L. strobilinum, one of our Peninsula endemics. (Thanks Alice for the id).
And the FL was excited to see this sundew in flower - it is a white form of the Snotrosie (! sounds like something our human nephew Arti would say. Maybe they, like him, mean SCOTrosie!) - Drosera cistiflora.
We were having so much fun. Just look at the mist, coming in to cool us down and make us feel at home in the highlands.
This was all over the place - a really pretty gnidia - most probably the Pine-leaved Saffronbush (Gnidia pinifolia) - which is also scented at night which means it probably attracts moth pollinators.
We decided not to go down the wet and slippery Spes Bona boardwalk and instead carried on past Kalk Bay Peak and another cave - Tartarus Cave. Then through Mimetes Valley and a long slow downward trek back to the cars.
A misty view of Muizenberg beach.
Eeeek, not the baboon head again!
Watch out Lydia!
Some Melasphaerula ramosa flowers that the Food Lady calls snauzer flowers because they have beards like snauzers. As far as I know she hasn't discovered any scotty flowers apart from the snotrosie.
Where have you been? Dougal and the Food Lady, and Lydia,Helen and Paul were a bit slow coming down and we were waiting for them in the forest. It was quite a hike.

Saddle up!

2011-09-03T13:20:00.017+02:00

Sorry about the delay in posting this! The Food Lady spends all her time playing on the Internet and not paying attention to the Alpha Male or us, and has been neglecting her duties! But suffice to say that last Sunday we decided to go up Newlands Ravine, over the Saddle and down the other side to Tafelberg Road. We met up with Sue and Pauline under the gums on Tafelberg Road, and all drove to Newlands Forest in the Land Rover where we started the walk along the infamous Dog Poo Alley. We crossed a river,
and climbed up to the Contour Path,
past some bad invasive Australian Port Jackson trees (don't mention the word Acacia as the Food Lady gets cross because the sneaky Australians have stolen the name for their scraggy wattles) and some bad invasive Australian trees like this Pittosporum undulatum above,
until we got into the deep dark indigenous forest that all the lazy loons that shout for shade should come and experience so they can stop shouting and irritating the rest of us.
We trotted along trying to keep up with the Alph on the boardwalk
and over the scree slopes
until we came to this old and rusty sign telling us we were about to start up Newlands Ravine.
After a while we came out into the sunshine where we saw lots of flowers and birds, including lots of this Indigofera filiformis,
and some bracken fronds to make the Food Lady and the Alph think of their tramps through the forests of Aotearoa in the land of the All Blacks.
Dougal was hoping to see some squirrels (or a possum or two) in the trees, but there were none. Not even a baboon. The path went higher and got steeper - and the views were pretty good. You can see all the way to Hangklip. The Food Lady was excited to see an unusual erica she had never seen before: Erica triflora, as well as the more familiar Erica calycina. Nearly there - the two guys up ahead and ready to save us from any muggers!
Soon we were on the Saddle, and looking over the other side towards Robben Island.
There were lots and lots of ericas here - including anudder white one, Erica mammosa, the flowers of which are said to resemble cow's teats - hence the specific name.
The Alph went out on the spur of the moment to look at the view,
while Dougal looked for rodents, and Pauline looked at some pink Sissies (Brachysiphon fucatus) - a funny name (brachy=short, siphon=tube, and fucatus=artificially coloured) for a funny plant that only occurs on cool rocky sandstone slopes on the Cape Peninsula and nowhere else in the world. But Dougal can't appreciate stuff like that and was convinced Pauline had found a nest of mice.
I, on the other hand, appreciate more than just rodents, although I was hoping to come across some baboons to chase. Pauline, Sue and the Alpha Male sitting in the fynbos amongst another rare and endemic erica, the purple-red Erica abietina subsp. diabolis that only grows on Devil's Peak.
We started to make our way across the Saddle, and were relieved to find a plaque letting us know that we were on the right track. And bully for the idiotic Justin that carved his name on the plaque. I would like to sink my teeth into the back of his ankles!There were also drifts of this spectacular Cape Everlasting daisy (Syncarpha speciosissima) in amongst the white boulders on the Saddle. We had a cheese and biscuits break sitting next to a gurgling stream, checking out the view,before making our way down through the most spectacular spring flowers. You can just make out Pauline in this photo in amongst the erica bushes.
Looking into Platteklip Gorge with the Red Heath (Erica abietina subsp. abietina) in front. You can just see the upper Cable Station on the far right.
One of the butterfly bushes, most probably Polygala bracteolata.
After Breakfast Shelter, which Sue recognized, luckily or we might still be walking around Oppels Kop and the Scary Knife Edge path, we were back on familiar territory, and made our way down the Zig Zags to the cars.
This tiny little flower, Sebaea exacoides, growing on the path, was mentioned in the latest issue of Veld & Flora (September 2011) as having rather an unusual sex life, so the Food Lady thought it would be nice to include it here although we do try to keep things above board generally!
Almost down on Tafelberg Rd we were bombed by some Carpenter Bees buzzing bombastically in this Sweet Pea Bush (Podalyria calyptrata).
Sue then gave us a lift back to our Land Rover. We passed the mad scramble of tourists waiting to go up the Cable Car, and saw these funny Herero dolls stranded in the middle of the road. Lost in the city.
On the way home as we drove through Gardens, we looked back to where we had just been - the arrow marks the spot. (And no Paula, it is not halfway up the palm tree!) Quite a hike for us scots and for Sue who, just over a month ago, was undergoing major surgery! Take a bow Sue!

Belle

2011-08-27T18:17:00.000+02:00

My friend Belle.

Scandinavian skies and Swedish hunds

2011-08-19T17:24:00.009+02:00

Last night the humans left us in the cosy warm kitchen while it pelted down with rain and went to a reunion of the Alph's trip to Sweden with Astellas last year. As he had taken lots of lovely photos and the Food Lady and I had not got round to putting them on my blog, we thought it was time for a flashback to Sverige. This is the appropriately coloured Scandinavian aeroplane that flew him there,
and this is the view from his hotel in Gothenburg - or rather, Göteborg (and no, it is not where Batman lives!)
This is where the conference took place.
And here are some Swedish hunds. Looks rather jolly.
The Alph, being the Alph, went to the Volvo Museum. These Swedes make seriously wacky cars!
Then he went on a ferry to the island of Styrsö with some of his colleagues including Sandra and Fred who have an elderly and distinguished Border Collie who I hope to meet one day. This is them here with another lady and Andre from Astellas who was their host and who was at the dinner at the Waterfront. Andre apparently has Jack Russells, which are rather like Dansk/svensk gårdshund (Danish–Swedish Farm Dogs). This is the ferry to Styrsö. The faithful Swedish hund comes too!
Misty island.
A china hund.
The Alph getting his ducks in a row. Sweden looks rather grey and chilly - even for a Scot.
Life saving equipment for Gods? Don't they mean DOGS?
No traffic on the island except for mopeds and bikes.
They even have statues of hunds.
Waiting to catch the ferry back to Göteborg - another lucky hund.

Some bushels and a Pecks

2011-08-19T15:37:00.007+02:00

Last weekend Philip, our human brother, came to stay - and Kerryn was also down visiting her mom and Georgie, her Jack Russell. On Sunday we walked up Farmer Peck's Valley with Paul and Pauline.
Checking out the whales in False Bay on the way up.
Up on the top - lots of bushels for Dougal to hunt mice under. (!)
Me in the erica bushels - pretending they are rrreal highland heather bushels.
Tea - Pauline, Dougal, me, the Alph and Paul - and a disquieting sniffing dog rock in the background.
It looks a bit like Dawnie - who refuses to walk with us anymore - unless its in the Greenbelt.
A hairy White Spot Moth caterpillar munching on some Amphithalea ericifolia flowers.
Very soon we were racing down the mountainside again after the Alph and Paul who were keen to get home. We stopped for a quick breather and to check the whales, the surf at Muizenberg and of course, the bushels to see if there were any scurrying mice.Then they took us home and abandoned us to take our human brothers and Kerryn out to a birthday lunch at The Black Marlin at Miller's Point - in the heart of baboon country! (Both the HBs have their birthday in August.) This is Simon with his Seafood Curry. Yummm.Kerryn and cool dude Phil. And this is Kerryn with her mom, Sue, and her canine sister, Georgie, a Jack Russell. I am looking forward to meeting Georgie one day.

Snug with snow in the Cederberg

2011-08-15T11:11:00.016+02:00

For the long weekend of Women's Day (6-9 August) we drove up to Riversong through the vineyards and snow-capped mountains, past some really colourful fields of the Common Sunshine Conebush (Leucadendron salignum) which comes in many different colours:
ivory and red, bright yellow and just plain shiny red! All the lakes were full. You can see sneeu on Sneeukop (2070 m) too.
Stop messing about and lets just hurry up and get there!
We met up with Sue, Paul and Helen at Riversong and were soon drinking tea on the veranda of Cedarcot admiring the snow on the Suurvlakte (on the left) complete with pink-tipped Tinus de Jong mountains on the right. Despite the chilly weather, there were lots of spring flowers. This is me and Paul - with our cottage on the extreme left of the photo. That evening the braai was lit and the fillet soon sizzling - but we only got the smidgeist of smidgens. Two snug snotties in rugs.
On Sunday we set out for the Tadpole Pools. Blue sky and a vapour trail - "schweet" as our human brothers would say. Flowers for the food lady: this is an Ixia - probably a white form of the Bloukalossie (Ixia rapunculoides), and a spider eating a fly on a daisy. This daisy has the FL flummoxed. There were lots of these pretty Blou Afrikaners (Gladiolus carinatus) and many, many other flowers that will just have to remain on the computer for the time being!
We walked through this forest of Vleikolkol (Berzelia lanuginosa) to the Tadpole Pools
where I launched myself in. It was quite cold but I tried to look as nonchalant as possible for as long as possible. Home again and having lunch in the lovely warm sun. You can see us under the table hoping for for a few tidbits from last night's fillet, and the Alph, Helen, Paul and Sue. An after lunch nap on the lounger was called for. The next day we went on a longer walk up to the Jacuzzi pool. This is me keeping a look out for baboons.Tea time - the Alph, Sue, Helen and Paul. I am at the Alph's feet and Dougal was deep in the bushes chasing Four-striped Mice. Sue doing a spot of mountain climbing. You can see Rotsvas farm and all the way down the valley to Middleberg Pass. Onwards and upwards ...
to the top. You can just see the Jacuzzi pool below and to the right.
I found a tortoise on the way back, but as usual, somehow the FL knew what I had found (it could have something to do with my wild barking on discovering such a tasty bone) and dragged me away.
We were quite weary but very happy Scotties.The rest of the day we spent relaxing and snoozing until it was time to make the fire for the braai. Dougal and I are nowhere to be seen as we were on our bed fast asleep.On Tuesday morning we strolled down to the river. Here is Dougal taking time off from ratting to smell the flowers. (He seemed to be feeling a bit unwell but recovered when the FL took an enormous thorn out of his groin!) Me in the spring flowers. These are all species of Oxalis. A stop-over on the knoll.
Dougal was keen to cross the river, but none of us fancied falling into that icy water,
and I wanted to do a bit of agama-hunting in the rocks. I nearly got to the top of Fried Rock but in the end my short legs let me down. All too soon it was time to go home to Dawnie and the Little Kittie.

Snotties go up the mountain

2011-08-04T20:10:00.014+02:00

At long last we were back on the mountain path - and Sue is back; in good health. Kate from Canada also joined us again, as did Thea, Paul, Pauline, our humans and Dougal.
There were not very many flowers out today, but this Lobostemon montanus was in full blue bloom.
Striding out above Kommetjie. Tea and dates from Klein Pella - not to our canine taste. A curious little daisy with fat leaves, wedged in a rocky crevice where we were sitting: Senecio crassulaefolius. Curiously, according to POSA its name has been changed to Curia. And until recently it was known as Kleinia. Hope they make up their minds soon.We did some exploring in the rocks for dassie smells while tea was drunk and photos were composed and taken and Lazy Bush or Sukkelbos (Oftia africana) flowers inspected.On the way back we explored the newly graffitied Cobra Camp radar station ruins. You can just see Kate up there. Then walked back down to our cars at the lighthouse. We drove back on the scenic route (which is code for the LONG way round), past misty Misty Cliffs, and on to Scarborough
to see how Doug and Julia's family room on the other side of the Table Mountain was getting on. Looks pretty good to us - right on the edge of Cape Point section of the Table Mountain National Park which is teeming with baboons to chase. On our way past Glencairn we came across the steam train that Arti and Gabe went on once - Arti who calls us SNOTTIES!

Meeting the spaniels

2011-08-01T17:07:00.007+02:00

On Saturday we met our Spaniel cousins/aunt and uncles (not sure what relationship they are actually) but they have just moved to Fish Hoek from Greyton. Aidan, Arabella and Thomas. Maddie was there too. This is me trying to make friends with Arabella, but just look at how snooty she is! So I tried to make friends with this pooch in a shopping basket, but it wasn't even going to make eye-contact with me.

I asked those dogs if they would like to be friends but they were on the other side of the river.I wasn't too sure about asking Thomas to be my friend - well, he is still a teenager! He will improve. One day. Dougal's approach was different, he just chases the dogs he likes and he liked Arabella immediately, but she didn't return the feelings.
Eventually we all sort of tolerated each other and had a wade in the river. Dougal even let Omie Domes touch him. Now look at this big fluffy puppy vying for Alice's attention AND trying to make friends with me. No ways. Alice is MY favourite human. Not hers!We all piled into the land rover and instead of snarling at each other, Dougal and Aidan actually chatted away about life on the beach.

And the final letter ...

2011-08-01T08:33:00.007+02:00

Dear Coco
This is the last of my letters as we are now on our way home. We left the Orange River and made our way up a fairly steep and slippery hill and came upon some trees called Halfmens (Pachypodium namaquanum) because they look like people standing up straight but with a slight lean towards the north. Legend has it that the gods turned some members of an ancient tribe that had been hounded (oops sorry Coco, I mean chased) out of Namibia into half plant/half human beings because they were pining for their old country so much and now they gaze northwards towards Namibia. Here is a photo of one of them with the road far below. We also saw lots of these prickly plants called Bushman's Candles (Sarcocaulon crassicaule), which are related to pelargoniums. The area is also full of mines as there are lots of minerals like mica and zinc. Every now and then you come across caravans and a smart car or two in the middle of nowhere - and it is usually a small mining operation or prospectors.
At last we come out on the N7 - the main road to Namibia - quite close to the border and effectively that was the end of the tour as we had decided that the weather on the coast was too windy and cold for camping. So we parted company with Robert and Angela and the Beast (their Mercedes) at this strange, glittering place which was all closed up and headed back to Springbok.
We stopped for a breather on the side of the N7 (we didn't want to be caught loitering in Springbok) and were joined by this strange Land Rover that was driven by a friendly guy in camouflage outfit, and his dog that apparently was a champion jackal-catcher. The jackal-catching dog. Then it was on to the Cederberg and Riversong - with beautiful flowers all along the road. This is the Gifberg. We had a lovely evening at Riversong, with a fire, good food and red wine, a hot shower and an early night. The next morning I had a few minutes to photograph these little babianas coming up all around the cottage before we were packing up once again,
and bouncing along the road all the way home
to Cape Town and YOU.
Lots of love
The Food Lady

Next letter

2011-07-30T14:02:00.011+02:00

Dear Stinkabelle
Missing you and Dougal lots and lots. But at least I have time to photograph flowers and don't have to keep an eye on you to see that you are not disappearing over the horizon or falling down a hole. This is a weedy little iceplant - Mesembryanthemum barklyi - growing along the banks of the flooded Orange (or Gariep) River where we camped.
Sadly, we soon had to pack up once again and negotiate our way out of the Kamgab Canyon. Luckily we managed to get the one car started with jump leads (one too many hot showers?) and we drove through the veld that was red with this strange little ground-hugging iceplant called Trianthema parvifolia. Apparently the name comes from the words tri for three, and anthos for flowers as there are three tiny flowers in the axil of each leaf - which you can see in this close-up.You would have gone mad chasing lizards.
Once we got out of the canyon, we drove to a view point, coming across this huge Sociable Weaver's nest that had caused a Quiver Tree to collapse.
From the view point we could see for miles and miles! Almost to Cape Town. You can just see the cars far below too. This beautiful Gariep River Aloe (Aloe gariepensis) was growing on the koppie, with lots of sunbirds visiting it, but they were too quick for me to photograph them, so I had to photograph this nest instead. (Not sure if it was a sunbird's though.)
One of the cars had two punctures - both at the same time, so while they changed the tyres, I had a good fossick around and found this bright beetle visiting a daisy - Arctotis venusta - which attracts beetle pollinators by having this black beetle spot that tricks beetles into thinking there are some pals of its on the flower.
I also saw a funny little bee about half the size of a honey bee visiting this Snake Lily (Ornithoglossum vulgare).
We soon got going again and made it to our campsite next to a Shepherds Tree (Boscia albitrunca) in good time. Ian and Peter decided to sleep out tonight and you can see their stretchers under the tree. While Ian and Peter slaved away to produce the supper, I climbed up the nearest little koppie and discovered ...
these lovely Oxalis flowers - possibly Oxalis pulchella - and
this gorgeous little wild iris - Moraea polystachya.
Looking down on the campsite made me realize how insignificant we are in this landscape, yet also how dangerous we humans are to this fragile and beautiful place.
Well enough philosophising for now!
I hope that all is going well at home and that you are looking after Leticia. Say hi to Doogs, Fat Cat and Dawnie
love from the Food Lady

Kamgab Canyon

2011-07-29T17:08:00.007+02:00

Dear CocoWe are now into the fourth day of our trip. It is quite chilly in the mornings so I take a while to get out of my comfy sleeping bag, and this morning was no exception. After coffee and rusks, we packed up our tent and said goodbye to the Namaqua Hunting Dog - who you can just see in this photo of the Orange River looking towards the Groot Melkboom- and set off again into the desert, stopping only to admire the amazing flora - like this little Acanthopsis disperma growing on a quartz koppie, and this Ceraria namaquensis which has strange fat leaves growing in clusters on odd, slightly raised, black patches on the bark.
We even found fairy rings - as good as the Namibian ones!
To get to our next campsite, we had to tackle the Kamgab Canyon which was quite challenging. We stopped for lunch halfway down where once again we were surrounded by beautiful flowers like this Cleome.
After lunch is was hard driving all the way, which everyone managed with ease.
Peter and Ian were in for a rude shock when we got down to the river as the beautiful campsite they had been promising us had been washed away in the devastating floods earlier this year. So we had to do another Plan B, and one of the cars got stuck in the soft sand on the way to another glorious campsite chosen by our able leaders, so the Alph had to help out and pull the Fowld's trailer up for them - with Peter directing.
The next day we had a lazy day at the river, starting with a slap-up brunch and gin and tonics! So you can imagine it wasn't a very productive day although I did try to do some proofreading.
That night we all decorated the table with white quartz and thorny leaves, red wine and silver goblets, candles and camelthorn pods. It looked quite splendid. The Alph made a fire and Ian and Peter cooked some beef fillet,
interrupted occasionally by some car stuff.
The meal eventually got going - and no, Meryl Streep didn't join us - that is Angela.
Robert had to make a satellite phone call to sort out a few car things - so you can see that even though we were deep in the bush, we were maintaining very civilized standards!Right down to the meringues, black cherries and cream dessert.
I hope that you are not letting Dougal eat all your supper,
lots of love
the Food Lady

Groot Melkboom

2011-07-29T13:29:00.008+02:00

Dear Coco
The next morning - look who was still here! On our Land Rover roof!
We packed up, shooed the cat off the car, and left for the next stage of the trip - after buying some delicious dates for our Sunday morning walks from the farm at Klein Pella. We saw this cute little Pygmy Falcon ...and lots of amazing flowers that I won't bore you too much with, but this is Hermannia stricta, the Desert Rose.
There are no wild animals here, apart from birds and a few rodents (Dougal eat your heart out) but we saw lots of goats and some cows closer to the river, which is somewhere in those green bushes in the background. At lunchtime we passed this large house in the middle of nowhere, and saw some huge Irish Wolfhound-greyhound style dogs that all rain joyously towards the cars.
You can just see one of them on the veranda. Just beyond the house, we came to our campsite - Groot Melkboom (actually a Namaqua Rock Fig, Ficus cordata I think) but to our disappointment we found someone had beaten us to it. The Orange River has had some really serious floods so there was a bit of flood damage and debris around. We settled down to have some lunch and discuss Plan B, and were joined by this dog that looked like he was related to the dogs we had just passed at the big old house. I think they must be Namaqua Hunting Dogs. While we were scoffing away on delicious snoek pate and fresh farm bread, we were visited by two more very friendly dogs who arrived with a whole flock of goats. I slipped them a piece of ham while their goats drank at the river, and they soon moved on with a friendly tail wag of thanks. Plan B turned out to be a bush campsite a little further up the river, so we all uitspanned and the Alph went for a dip. It was a wee bit chilly for me, so I checked out the Goliath Heron's footprints in the mud - which turned out to have a size 7 or 8 foot - and then had a hot shower that Peter and Ian had rigged up while our backs were turned. Most civilized!
As you can see, it was a pretty heavenly spot. You can see the mountains of Namibia on the other side of the river. The Namaqua Hunting Dog seemed unsure of where to go that evening: to the chap making a potjie under the Groot Melkboom ...or to stay and sample some of the delicious food that Ian and Peter had cooked up for us.
I think he stayed, but after a few glasses of good red wine, it was difficult to see very much in the dark!
Hope you are being good and not driving the neighbours too crazy with your barking,
love from the Food Lady

The first two days ...

2011-07-29T12:47:00.007+02:00

Dear Coco
I am not sure if you will get this letter before we come home again because there is no Internet connection in the car, and I have not worked out how to put photos on the blog via my Blackberry yet, but here goes....After our sorrowful goodbye to you, Dougal and Dawnie, we got off to a good start up the N7 with Peter and Ian
arriving in Springbok before sunset. We went for a short walk around Springbok the next morning and thought it was a pretty but rather dirty little town. They have signs saying "No loitering" but we thought what they really need is signs saying "NO LITTERING!"
This is Ian telling us all to stop loitering and get back into our cars!
But eventually we had to do some loitering along the roadside as there were just so many beautiful flowers- especially the fields of these blue sunflax or Heliophila flowers. Their botanical name means "sun lovers" and they were so fragrant that the air for miles around was perfumed.
Even the Alph was moved to take out his camera to photograph them near Pella.
We spent some time checking out the church and some of the locals at Pella - like this little dog that came to see our Land Rovers off her property.
and made it to the campsite at Klein Pella where we uitspanned and watched Peter and Ian make the supper while we sat in chairs in the afternoon sun.
A visitor came and made straight for the Alph.
Hope you are having a nice time with Leticia. Give my love to Dougal and Dawnie and the Little Kittie,
love from the Food Lady.

Indian summer

2011-07-11T19:37:00.030+02:00

Sunday was the most glorious sunny day and what did they do? Left us with a miserable bone and headed up the mountain with Paul and Pauline. But we hear that the path they wanted to go up is not very dog-friendly, unless you are a border collie There were lots of flowers enjoying the sun including this Wild Cotton (Gomphocarpus cancellatus).
This is a scotty's eye-view of some Babiana ambigua plants that were all over the place - including on the path,

and there were also people all over the place - and quite a few of them going up India Venster too.

Pauline - about a third of the way up. A beautiful Gladiolus maculata near the path. and a Common Sunshine Cone Bush (Leucadendron salignum). The Food L doesn't often see this white version. It is pollinated by beetles and you can see one digging into the flowers.

The route up! Looks pretty clear that this was not a path for scotties. Is this the venster? Looking back towards Devil's Peak. Looking down to the lower cable station and all the cars along Tafelberg Road.
Getting there . . .

Pauline over the worst.
Up against the front face of the mountain.

Tea below the cable car. Sorry to miss out on the rusks.

The Red Heath - Erica abietina.

Still a way to go.

Walking over the Kloof Corner saddle.
A mad climber was hanging in up there on the cliffs.

Paul crawling over the edge - Camps Bay below.

Pauline looking happy and relaxed despite having scaled the heights of India Venster. This is the dark side of the mountain.

and not an easy way up either by the sounds of things!

The Tassel Heath, Erica coccinea.

Celebrations on top - a belated 31st wedding anniversary toast to Pauline and Paul.

Spilt champagne or a delicate pink lichen?

Heading for the Cable Car.

Fancy boards for the tourists and the Food Lady.

Back down and working out the route.

I would not put up with this kitten!

2011-07-09T17:42:00.003+02:00

This is Zerbit, who looks like he might have some scottie in him, and Fig Newton - the kitten.

No Scotties!

2011-07-09T17:31:00.001+02:00

As soon as I saw this I thought of Coco, Dougal and also the food lady!
How could anybody be so discriminatory?
I've got a right mind to march in there and give the owner a nip on the heel.
Good thing they were closed!

Rrrrruff!

Paula

Following Lucy

2011-07-09T09:32:00.006+02:00

We have many veterinarians and botanists and zoologists and executive assistants and occupational therapists and medical doctors that join us on our walks. Many of them seem to be involved with penguins and the Food Lady thought it would be nice to put a link to the Penguin Watch website on my blog so that we can keep up to date with the progress of Lucy (the penguin - not Lucy-the-vet - although I am sure that the penguin is named after the vet).
This African Penguin was hand-reared at SANCCOB and chosen to be the first ever juvenile penguin to be fitted with a special satellite tracking device by none other than Goose and Maverick's human, Nola (who is the vet at SANCCOB in charge of chick rearing) so that her progress can be followed after her release. Richard is heading the research component of this project and is posting regular updates of the whereabouts of Lucy-the-penguin since her release from a boat off Robben Island on 26 June. So far she has skedaddled up the west coast - heading for Namibia. But click here to see for yourself.

Claude and Maddie

2011-07-05T23:24:00.004+02:00

Haven't met the blighters yet, but they look like a laugh a minute! Claude with the white spot on the chest belongs to Pippa, Petrus and the boys, and Maddie belongs to Alice.

A walk at long last!

2011-07-05T18:33:00.022+02:00

Pauline and Paul were the only takers for the walk today - and us of course. We started at Ou Kraal above Kalk Bay, holding thumbs (well, claws) that it wouldn't start pelting down. Lucky for us, it was pretty perfect.
Me 'n Doog looking for moles on the Old Mole Track.
We had a drink and thought of Sam the legendary labrador who revived by spending 20 minutes cooling off in Weary Willy’s pool after his ordeal on Kalk Bay Peak.
Up and up we went.
Jojolu track – hoping the FL got it right this time.
Being terriers, we were keen to explore any caves. There are lots and lots of caves here full of the bones of Jack Russell terriers the Food Lady says (to keep us on the straight and narrow). After all, it is called Cave Peak. This is the entrance (or exit depending on which way you start) to Boomslang Cave. On the top there were lots of natural drinking pools for us scots, and for the humans, a lovely rainbow and fantastic views over Fish Hoek and Simon's Town, but we were mad because we couldn't chase dassies as we were on leads to prevent us from falling into Devil’s Head and Devil’s Pit and several other caves along the path.Tea with rainbow on the slopes of Cave Peak: Dougal, Pauline, Paul, the Alph and me. A view over Echo Valley from Cave Peak – and right across False Bay to the Hottentots Holland Mountains.This is a large sedge called Bergpalmiet (Tetraria thermalis). It started to rain ever so softly as we got to the Amphitheatre, so we decided not to go the long way home, and instead headed over the side of Ridge Peak and down into Spes Bona forest. This is the Alpha helping?? me down. Unfortunately for us scots, our legs are so short and our noses therefore so close to the ground that they tend to get bashed around a bit. But don’t rub our noses in it! Notice the Alpha’s trousers are torn at the knee. Not from falling, but from sheer age as he has been hiking in these cords since he was knee high to a ticky. In the deep dark forest there was a very slippery boardwalk which we hate but the Food Lady is nervous of all the crevices and cracks and yells if we hop off for too long.More amazing colours and rainbows when we emerged out of the deep dark forest. Dougal immediately started hunting for mice amongst the ericas.
I was flagging a bit as we haven’t really done much walking and I am a bit unfit. So Paul, the Alpha and Doog were all waiting patiently for me at the turn off to the Dog Rock path. They were also waiting for the FL who was photographing this odd little Melkbol or Wilderamenas (Euphorbia tuberosa). Like all euphorbias, it exudes a poisonous milky latex, and the flowers are unisexual and enclosed in a tiny cup-shaped structure called a cyathium or “false flower” which is surrounded by five fleshy glands that look a bit like petals. Tails up on Hilltop Path!The path leading to Baileys Kloof - Muizenberg Beach in the distance where our human cousins no doubt are surfing. We were a bit nervous by this funny baboon headed rock. Should we try and sneak behind it?Luckily all was well and we were safely down in no time at all.
They popped in to see our human grandmother in her new house in Fish Hoek, but we had to stay in the car. This is the Alph with Petrus on Omie Dome's new balcony. Omie Dome's spaniels were also locked up - in Alice's house - while they were unpacking.

Sing like no-one is listening

2011-07-01T07:36:00.005+02:00

In the absence of walks to blog about, here is some light entertainment ...

Dingo

2011-06-20T08:33:00.005+02:00

The Alpha has just finished reading a book about Spitfires (Spitfire: The biography by Jonathan Glancey) and looking through it (while I was on the Food Lady's lap in front of the fire!) I found a photo of a Port Alfred Terrier called Dingo who was the mascot of one of the RAF squadron's during the second World War. He is seen here with one of the Spitfire pilots, Flight Sergeant James Hyde. For more WWII dogs, click here.

Glad to be back

2011-06-20T08:11:00.003+02:00

Me and the Alph in the Constantia Greenbelt - compensation for missing a week of walks!

Dawnie and Dougal inspecting the brand new wooden bridge.

Meeting a beagle.

The indigenous cobra lilies are starting to flower even though it is nearly midwinter.

A week on the Sunshine Coast

2011-06-19T21:52:00.011+02:00

The Alpha and the Food Lady abandoned us for a week and flew to Port Elizabeth where they hired a car at the airport and drove to Port Alfred for what they assured us was an inactive "catch up on our reading" week but looking at the photos, they had a lot more fun than that!

In Port Elizabeth they drove past Samrec which is the place where they rescue penguins. I thought all the penguin-orientated members of the Sunday walkers would be interested. They went for a walk along Kasouga Beach where they found three paper nautilus shells. We would rather have liked to be there. Stormy weather evidence on Kasouga Beach.It had rained a lot but stopped just before they arrived but everything was wet wet wet.
They went for a walk in the Waters Meeting Nature Reserve (NO dogs allowed) where there were lots of flowers like this Aloe ciliaris var. ciliaris which is endemic to the Eastern Cape and the only true climbing aloe. This is all part of the Albany Centre of Plant Endemism so the the Food Lady was in heaven. A Dragon Tree (Dracaena aletriformis) in the coastal forest. A rather spooky hiking hut in the Waters Meeting Nature Reserve. Maybe a dragon skull? The Alpha Male on the Port Alfred embankment - the famous bridge in the background. And a scottie on the beach! A Port Alfred Terrier at the Zest Cafe.Strange snails on those beaches.

A German lass

2011-06-19T14:43:00.001+02:00

Is that really YOU Paula?

Chelsea morning

2011-05-28T14:29:00.007+02:00

They snuck out this morning while it was still dark saying "sorry dogs you can't come up India Venster" - but then came back again looking all bedraggled and wet NOT having been up India Venster because of the weather but having done a dog-friendly walk without us with a dog called Chelsea.

Before it rained the Food Lady photographed some red ericas - Erica abietina subsp. abietina - which were all over the front of Table Mountain,

and some red Anaxeton laeve (the name the FL can never remember) - members of the daisy family.

The walk was led by Scott of Table Mountain (discussing the way up perhaps?)

Some more pink flowers for the Food Lady - our favourite, Dogfaces Trichocephalus stipularis (the fruits of which resemble dog faces)

and the very fragrant Phylica buxifolia.

The ruined fire look-out hut on Oppelskop in the mist and rain.

See you all tomorrow - which we hope will bring better (not wetter) weather!

Land of cedars and honey

2011-05-26T07:06:00.010+02:00

Last Sunday, they left us behind with Simon and drove up to the Cederberg with Peter and Dorothy to join Ian and Ingrid in Clanwilliam to plant cedar trees at Heuningvlei. To get there they were allowed to drive on the 12 km of normally-closed road from the top of the Pakhuis Pass to Heuningvlei. It was also built by Thomas Bains (who built the Pakhuis Pass which was completed in 1874). He was the son of Andrew Geddes who built Bain's Kloof Pass.

And what do I see? A dog! So why were we not allowed to join in the fun I ask? This is Lucy Buckland's boxer (sitting on Lucy's feet) chatting to Penny Mustart who was one of the movers and shakers of the whole Cedar Tree Event which has been going for eleven years now.

The Clanwilliam Cedar (Widdringtonia cedarbergensis) is an endangered tree that only grows in the Cederberg mountains and many people are trying hard to save it. Once a year everyone meets at the little village of Heuningvlei where they all grab a tree (which have been grown in Bushmans Kloof Guest Farm's nurseries down the drag) and hike up into the mountains to plant it.

Here are some previously planted cedars that, ten or so years down the line are looking quite big. (On the left.)

The humans chose an easy-to-identify rock - this half a Maltese Cross - and planted their two trees underneath it so they will know where to look for them next year. The Alph looking pleased with his efforts while a ranger from CapeNature called Patrick GPSed it for monitoring.

Then it was back to Heuningvlei Community Centre for a slap up lunch and a relax in the sun

before the prize-giving and some more speeches. Here is the Alph getting his prize for planting his tree from Allan Winde who is some bigwig minister of tourism and finance in the Western Cape.

Then is was home again into the sunset. This is Anne Paterson, Micky Orrey and Cecily Muller walking home along the Heunginvlei Road.

The sunset from the top of the Pakhuis Pass - which is 914 m above sea level. You can just see this sea in the distance too.

Home for the night was the a farm just outside Clanwilliam called Patrysvlei. They stayed in The Waenhuis which they shared with these horses,

this Golden Retriever who wasn't allowed into the house so it slept half way in,

and this cat. (Oooh lucky we weren't there or it would have been chased all the way back to Heungivlei!) In the photo you can see Ingrid, Dorothy, Peter, Ian and the Alpha Male about to indulge in yet another gastronomic extravaganza.

There was also a herd of Eland on the farm,

and a rather doff looking Great Dane puppy.

On Sunday they drove to Wupperthal where they stopped to photograph these strange looking flowers which are some kind of snake lily or Ornithoglossum.

The road goes through the small hamlet of Eselbank where this dog came out to greet them and wish them a safe trip home to us.

Planting Cedars

Twenty-nine walk

2011-05-19T22:45:00.016+02:00

We went to fetch Roos - and Charlie wanted to come too but he couldn't fit into the car. We also had to leave poor Dawnie dog behind because of space issues. Lucky we are quite small or we would have been left behind too because there was a good turn-out for our walk up Noordhoek Ridge: Us, our humans, Sue, Pauline, Kate from Canada, Roos from Holland, Lucy, Richard, Josie and Alice. We all met up at Silvermine Dam, then piled into the Land Rover and drove round Chapman's Peak to the start of the walk - which was all misty and eerie. Alice saw this giant Egyptian lioness god - Sekhmet - with a Pharaoh's beard looming out of the mist. At the crossroads. Richard with Kate from Canada and Roos from Holland. I was still feeling a bit spooked by the Sekhmet thing. Then as we climbed up and up and up and up and up, we suddenly popped out of the mist into the light. Chapman's Peak in the distance. There were lots of colourful and cheerful little ericas - probably Erica laeta, some of them covered with spiderwebs. According to Norman Larsen of Iziko South African Museum, this is the mist-bespattered web of a Plant Mesh-web Spider. And this little ant-like thing is also a spider - a species of Cydrela - (again thank you to Norman Larsen and Rudy Jocque for the id) belonging to the family Zodariidae. Not much is known about their biology he says, except that they prey on ants - hence their similar appearance. This is the first time he has heard of one on the Cape Peninsula. At tea Dougal found a pool to quench his thirst before plunging back into the fynbos in search of mice. It was Richard and Lucy's Twenty-ninth day Wedding Anniversary, and it was our humans's anniversary of TWENTY-NINE years. Longer than a Scottie can imagine. Pauline had bought some champagne.
A toast to the Twenty-niners from Sue and Pauline, and from Roos,
and from Kate from Canada and SueChampagne and tea on the rocks - Alice, Kate, Sue, Alpha, Pauline, Roos, Lucy and Richard - and me and Josie (who was being uncharacteristically friendly - or condescending - to me).
But where is Dougal? Hunting in the fynbos! Alice taking photos of the mist swirling around Chapman's Peak,and taking photos of me. (Makes me look distinguished - no wonder Josie deigned to be friendly to me earlier.)Gnidia tomentosa - that likes to grow above 330 m in moist places. It was quite moist and misty up there today.
At the end of the walk the Alpha went off with Sue and Kate to collect the Land Rover, and the Food Lady, Roos, me and Dougal got a lift home with Lucy and Richard. This is Josie buckling up. We have never seen car seat belts for dogs before.
The route.
Thanks Alice for letting me use some of your lovely photos.

Steaming up Steenberg

2011-05-12T20:45:00.003+02:00

Spot the wheaten Scottie! Dougal in cryptic mood. Today we walked up the side of Muizenberg Mountain with Sue, Rachel (a visitor from England), Pauline and Wyndham who was staying with us for a conference (sadly without Tammy). It was a deliciously cool day - the best Scottie walking weather. There were lots of sugarbushes (Protea repens) in flower on this slope.

We all set off up the steep path side of Muizenberg Mountian with Lakeside, Rondevlei and False Bay below.

Dawnie leading the way up with Rachel close behind. Devil's Peak in the far background.

One of the Lakeside Needles.

A dead shongololo.There are 12 endemic Table Mountain species of millipede. (And 190 millipede species in South Africa, mostly restricted to forests).

Tea time. Sue, Rachel, Pauline, Wyndham and the Alpha. It was a bit windy in the Fat Lady Shelter, but just on the other side it was more protected.

Autumn means the oxalis or wood sorrels are out. This is the Narrow-leaved Sorrel or Vingersuring (Oxalis polyphylla).

At the end we bumped into lots and lots of dogs. In fact, there were so many I couldn't make up my mind which one to check out!

See route

Champion mouser

2011-05-12T20:30:00.001+02:00

Dougal caught ANOTHER mouse in the house! These mice just don't learn. I even helped him with this one but Dougal insisted it was all his and buried it in the flowerbed.