Painting the hills red

A cool and windy morning - good black Scot weather. We drove up to Red Hill where we met Tess and Thea, Honey and Sue, Pauline and her neighbour Wytske and my bestie-Bouv Maddie - and Alice. This is one of our best walks - lots of soft sand,

and low vegetation which is excellent for rodent and tortoise hunting. And lots of flowers for the Food Lady - like these Lady's Hands (Cyanella hyacinthoides) in the summer grass.

Lad and Tessa hopped up onto a handy rock to see where we were heading.

Oohs and aahs - booooring for dogs - over some little blue orchid past its prime - Disa purpurascens.

More fun for us was meeting another pack - the Wolf's pack. Lots to say and sniff.

Another orchid for the Food Lady - one of the Cinderella Orchids - possibly Acrolopia lamellata. Do they look like glass slippers?

Thea brought some of her signature sandwiches for the humans to enjoy - while we had to make do with dog biscuits.

Tea with a view back to Chapmans Peak: Alice, Maddie, Pauline, Thea, me, the Alph, Pauline and Honey. Lad and Tessa where deep in the fynbos somewhere.

More flowers growing in the sand - causing many delays and a cross Alph. This is Pelargonium longifolium,

and Bloucabong (Lapeirousia corymbosa) that wasn't open properly as it was too windy and chilly for them.

Me looking perky - and considering my options as to which way to go.

An early flowering Erica viscaria (formerly E. decora),

and what looks like a five-legged spider inside this Roella ciliata  but which is actually part of the flower.

All of a sudden we were amongst thousands of purple-red Erica multumbellifera bushes. There was something lurking in there ...

While the Food Lady photographed this grey Petalacte coronata,

I carried on with my exciting tortoise-hunt.

By this stage Thea had discarded her shoes.

The squeaky call of the Cape Sugarbird always trick us Scots into thinking there are small mammals of some sort hiding in the bushes.

Homeward bound.

And a swim for Maddie 'n me in the Lewis Gay Dam at the end of a lovely walk.

Tessa and Lad not too sure about the little waves lapping on the rocks. Such drips!

Most of us piled into the Land Rover to get back to the cars,

and the Food Lady went with Maddie in Alice's car.

We all helped Thea jump-start her car, and we were soon on our way home.

A last minute dash to see orchids

Although our walk was officially cancelled due to rain, the Food Lady was so keen to go and search for orchids that we decided to risk it at the last minute and set out with Alice and Maddie and Micky - who came straight from the dermatology conference with the Alph - and Bob Marley, her gorgeous and wonderful Ridgeback. We parked at the ruined village of Brooklands,

and within minutes we were falling over these brilliant golden orchids called Satyrium coriifolium,

and Maddie was having a lovely swim in the pans that had filled up after all the rain. I had a wade and a tummy cool too.

Lad too.

Harvey was still with us - here he is with Bob Marley and just LOOK at how deep the Kleinplaas Dam marker is. (To compare, click here and it will take you to all our previous posts of walks to the dam.)

There were lots of things for the Phoodlady to photograph (is there ever not?). These are Orange-throat Yellowwort (Sebaea exacoides) flowers,

some daisies - possibly Othonna bulbosa,

and lots of Small Mountain Dahlia (Liparia parva) flowers. These are "Vulnerable" according to the Redlist of SA Plants and only occur on the Cape Peninsula and nowhere else.

Micky found a beautiful stand of orchids coming up and here is Alice doing some bottomizing with Maddie,

as is Micky while Laddie and Bob Marley make friends.

They were all super-excited to find some flowers of the rather rare orchid, Disa rufescens which only flowers after a fire. The Food Lady has never seen one before and was very happy that Micky found them for her!

Also growing in some burned bits near the edges of the dam were lots of pink Disa obliqua flowers that we saw last week in Silvermine but this time there were some rather rare white ones too.

Family shot by Micky. Harvey was trying to keep warm by snuggling into the Food Lady's fleecy because it was mighty chilly. Us Scots were in our element as you can see. Tails up!

We managed to tear Alice, Micky and the Food Lady away from the orchids, and we carried on along the path to the Lewis Gay Dam,

past some colourful Tree Pagoda (Mimetes fimbrifolius) bushes,

and some rustling restios - the Cushion Restio (Elegia stipularis).

We got to the Lewis Gay Dam but there were no takers for a swim and we were all keen to get home as it was way after our supper.

We had to take Harvey home as Phil and Kerryn were coming back from their travels. We were quite sad to say goodbye to the little fella - and his bed. Phil sent us this pic of him and Kerryn - I think he was quite tired after the walk. Until next time then Harv.

Up the garden path again ...

This morning we met at the Brooklands ghost village carpark for a short walk to the dam and back.

Pauline was waiting for us, and Sue and Honey arrived with Richard who is flying home back to Lucy later today.

The rock monsters and ghost villages here are rather creepy,

but not the tortoise smells and other delightful things to investigate,

like this little Sandkalossie (Lachenalia rubida or L. punctata according to Graham Duncan)

and lots of Fire Heaths (Erica cerinthoides) coming up in the recently burned area. Tails up!

The Food Lady led us all up another of her garden paths and soon we were lost in amongst large scary totem animals

so we got the hell out of there and retraced our steps. Just look at that Meerkat looming ahead.

Even this strange little grasshopper thing wanted out of there and hitched a ride on Richard's shoe.

Soon we were back on a proper road,

with a few distractions like these glowing Red Pypies (Gladiolus priorii),

until we reached the dam which is looking rather low again. Click here for comparisons.

Sue had brought from bubbles to celebrate the fact that Kate's thesis has been accepted and she is almost officially a PhD. Richard acted as Her Majesty's porter service and video cameraman and filmed us all celebrating Kate's achievement. The dogs, on the other hand, received a teeeeeny tiny bit of biltong. Mingy!

Here I am scrounging for something to take the edge off my hunger pangs.

We were serenaded by honking hissing Egyptian Geese who wanted to join in the general convivality.

The first proper walk the spaniels came on - Thomas the Cool and Aiden the Voice. They have to stay on leads as they haven't learned their names and never come when they are called.

Wait up!

Two black dogs leaving the dam. The spaniels almost count as black dogs but they are strictly speaking blue as in "blue roan" cocker spaniels.) Mighty posh.

Some pretty Dog Faces (Trichocephalus stipularis) were out.

And pretty soon we were past all the delicious smells, and loomy snary monsters and back at the ghost village.

Honey wasn't happy to share her car with offerings from the Food Lady, but Sue persuaded her that all was safe despite what the pee-mail on them might say.

When we got home, we suddenly heard a familiar voice at the gate,

and LOOK who came home to reclaim her kidnapped spaniels! We were all overjoyed (especially the idiot Lad). But all was strangely quiet after they all left.