Devil may care

On Sunday they just drove off and left me all by myself. But do I care?

I chewed my bone, and barked at the neighbour's Maltese poodles, and then just waited for them to come back.

Laddie said that it was a very long and rather hot walk so maybe I got let off lightly. Maybe I might even forgive them. I would have liked to say hi to Lucy and Richard who were there with their friends Emma and Jonathan, as well as Nola and her new dog Lacey. 

The Food Lady saw a few flowers - a shaggy Mountain Anemone (Anemone tenuifolia),

and some endemic Peninsula Conebushes (Leucadendron strobilinum).

Eventually they reached the peak. Laddie was so happy he had to kiss Richard! We have both been there before and I have been up there a few times but the Food Lady tells me I would have overheated today. Last time was two years ago - click here to see my blog entry - with Richard and Kate and Sue and Honey and Pauline and Human Brother Phil and Harvey.

Tea on the top - with views back to Muizenberg - and me somewhere down there.

Emma, Nola, Lacey, Laddie, Lucy, the Alph - and Richard and Jonathan out of the picture.

Poor tired Lad - enjoying the soft grass pillows ...

until a vision from above woke him up.

Lacey keeping an eye on her mum.

Helooo Lacey. Looking forward to meeting you.

Richard and Lucy looking over Dassen and Robben Islands and all the beleaguered penguins.

"Hey dude, lets be friends?"

"OK - follow me."

Starting the downward trek.

Bumping into a pair of bosties -

one of them a rare "lilac" colour -

much the same as the Food Lady's protea - Protea lepidocarpodenron.

A Silver Vlei Spider in its web amongst the sedges (thanks to Pieter Blignaut of the Spider Club of Southern Africa for the id).

And a Painted Lady (Gladiolus debilis) to end.

When they EVENTUALLY arrived home - after stopping off to say hi to Kerryn who has just returned from her whirlwind tour of the frozen north - I was offered a walk RTB. All resentment ended.

And Lad came too.

Walkies on the edge

Today we walked with Paul and Pauline again - seems ages since we saw them. We set off in the shade up the zigzags and then veered left towards Oppelskop.

It was a lovely cool autumn morning.

The Food Lady is borrowing Kerryn's mom, Sue's camera so things are looking up a bit ...

This is a Bergtontelbos (Gomphcarpus cancellatus) being eaten by an African Monarch (Danaus chrysippus) caterpillar.

Suddenly we emerged into the sun - the Lad's ridiculous tail well up.

Tea on the precipice at the Oppelskop ruin. Pauline, Paul, Me, the Lad's ears and the Alph - and the shadowy presence of the Food Lady on the Alph's back.

Pauline coming round the corner and back into the deep dark shade.

This is just my kind of walk because I love heights and balancing on the edge - and there are some pretty scary edges here - hence the lead!

A big, bold and beautiful Guernsey Lily (Nerine sarniensis) growing high on the cliff.

All pervasive was the sweet scent of Box Phylica (Phylica buxifolia) which even the humans could smell well. (Although the humans love the fragrance, we actually prefer the scent of fire-starting-bergie poo - which is in no shortage around the lower slopes of the mountain.)

This is always a good path for ericas - like this Red Erica (Erica abietina subsp. abietina) which is endemic to Table Mountain.

We reached the saddle of Devil's Peak and were keen to carry on up as there was plenty of dog activity up here - possibly because so much of Table Mountain has been closed to walkers after the big fires last month. But the Food Lady said it was time to turn back as it was starting to get a bit hot.

On the way back we saw this Waboom (Protea nitida) with a dead flower, a bud and a flower in full bloom - all on the same bush. The fynbos is really rather strange!

The hot slog home.

Then lunch with Phil and Kerryn who bought Harvey back to spend the week. Lad will be happy. You can see me under the table.

Poor old Lad had a bit of a tummy upset that afternoon - but he has fully recovered now.

Walking to Woodstock

This muggy fuggy morning we decided to brave the muggers and hike to Woodstock Cave, on the slopes of Devils Peak. John was still in the country, so he joined us, as did Paul and Pauline. Sue is back from her travels, but is still feeling rather jet-lagged so she and Honey stayed at home. We started at Rhodes Mem.

Pretty but poisonous: the alien invasive Cherry Pie (Lantana camara). The Food Lady wondered why they were allowed to grow here.

Up we slogged, on a very eroded path.

The Blister Bushes (Notobubon galbanum) were out in full. They are from the carrot family, and brushing past their leaves can cause some distress from irritant chemicals - especially when exposed to the sun.

We eventually reached the contour path,

then came through the gate, 

and walked along the road until we came to the Kings Blockhouse, and an old monument to one of the early foresters who foolishly planted alien trees all over Table Mountain thinking it was good for water retention. Now millions are spent every year trying to get rid of the water-guzzling aliens. Silly humans!

I found a speck of shade

while they read the dilapidated and uncared for sign.

We carried on along the lower traverse path - around the corner there was a deliciously cool breeze coming from the foggy sea, and a pretty spectacular view of Cape Town city.

We came to some more alien, invasive trees - this time Australian wattles. (The Australians have stolen the name Acacia for their wattles, leaving us with the name Vachellia for our real acacias. Silly humans!) But what is that we hear down there? Maybe a wombat?

A view of a foggy Devils Peak through the Australian Black Wattles (Acacia mearnsii).

Our first view of the cave - a dark slash high up Devils Peak.

Walking up the path at my own pace.

We came to a sign post that had been beaten to within an inch of its life. Do people come up here with the intention to destroy stuff, or does the urge just take hold and they grab some rocks and start smashing? Silly humans!

Up the zig zag path we zigzagged ...

till this little heart alerted us to the Woodstock Cave path to the left.

Nearly there - lots of lovely flowers including pelargoniums and phylicas.

The sign was still standing, although full of graffiti.

The stench and the litter at the cave was a bit off-putting - and the Alph put us on leads as he knows what we like to roll in ...

It is a huge overhang, but it is shockingly full of graffiti, broken glass, plastic bottles, stinky, festering blankets, chip packets and rusty coldrink tins. But luckily there didn't seem to be any noxious humans around.

John trying to work his camera. The view was amazing.

A bright and white Chinkerinchee (Ornithogalum thyrsoides) in amongst the broken glass and debris.

The Alph found a tea spot below the cave. I was quite hot, and as there was nowhere to swim, I tried to get into the drinks bowl.

Harvey had a quick nap.

John, the Alph, me, Laddie, Harvey, Paul and Pauline.

Dog noises!

Even Harvey woke up. But the spoilsports kept us on the lead so we couldn't run madly through the broken glass and other delicious human scatterings to get to the dogs on the path above.

Pretty soon we'd all had enuf,

so we left this most beautiful but neglected and abused spot and hit the rocky road.

Parts of it were rather crumly and steep for me so I just shouted for help,

and John came to my rescue.

Now we are besties. This is us checking out Lion's Head.

Back through the grove of Cork Oaks (Quercus suber),

back past the Kings Blockhouse,

along the watsonia- and Silver Tree- lined road,

where bright Stink Bugs, from the family Pentatomidae, lurk in the flowers,

down a very eroded and uncared for path,

all the way to Plum Pudding Hill. SANParks really needs to do some serious erosion control here.

There were lots of these Corn Lilies (Ixia polystachya var. polystachya) alongside the path,

 with many colour variations

 and different beasties inside. 

It was a lovely walk - no muggers in sight - and lots of wonderful smells and memories.