Tongues hanging out

Dougal and I were allowed to join the Wednesday walk if we promised to keep up and not make dassie-hunting detours over the cliff or mouse-hunting diversions into the fynbos. We walked up from Price Drive to the beacon at Vlakkenberg. Here is Doog on top. As you can see - it was quite hot. The bright Red Crassula (Crassula coccinnea - coccineus means bright red in Latin and crassus means thick and fleshy) is starting to flower on the mountain and there were lots of Table Mountain Pride butterflies fluttering around. Time to look for Red Disas ...
This is another crassula, a more pale and interesting one, called Crassula flava. (And while we have the book open, flavus means yellow in Latin. ) Dougal just couldn't resist one foray into the fynbos after his imaginary mice. (Canis-Scotti idiotico?)

Coming down the mountain again, my tongue hanging out. It was hot for a Scot. (Canis-Scotti calidus perhaps?)

Amanda shows us the way down.

On the way down there were lots of pelargoniums with the posh name of Pelargonium pinnatum. (Pinnatum comes from the Latin word for feather but the leaves don't really look like a feather, but maybe its because they are arranged opposite each other on an axis. Or maybe the edges are feathery. Who knows! These taxonomists must have been rather odd bodds.)

These are the leaves of Pelargonium pinnatum. Feathery? Yes? No? Ya-nee.

(And there are NO Latin words for Yes or No so we are the richer for this extraordinary privilege!)

Cecilia falling

We went for a lovely late afternoon walk in Cecilia on Saturday. The parking area will soon be shut while they harvest the plantation of pines and gums. They are not re-planting them but will allow the fynbos to regenerate. The Food Lady thinks its a great plan.

Dawnie dawg was not happy. She likes dark and gloomy things like forests.

Surveying the removal of the gums. The Alpha is not happy either. We are therefore not too sure what we should feel - but our tails are up!

Along the contour path above Kirstenbosch (dogs stricly on leads!) there were lots of flowers because the alien trees were cleared away here almost 40 years ago now. This is Heliophila linearis.

Gremlin - the big fat cat was waiting for us when we got home - impatient for her supper. Pig cat! Dougal and Gremlin having a boxing match through the glass.

Hunting baboons

Walks have been rather ordinary lately - and I am suffering from heat and fleas. But yesterday was nice and cool and we went hunting baboons at Groot Constantia. We heard some, but didn't see any. We were disappointed but the Food Lady seemed quite relieved. She doesn't think we stand a chance.

Hot diggy dogs

Today is very very hot and we went for an early morning walk along the beach. I was feeling full of joie de vivre, and so was Dougal, and even sad old Dawnie was happy.

It was just so beautiful!

A Devil of a mist

Yesterday morning we had planned to do the Oppelskop walk on Devil's Peak that would best show off the city of Cape Town to friends of Sue. Unfortunately it was raining - softly, but nevertheless drenchingly, and the mist was rather thick. We arrived hoping that the weather on this side of the mountain would be better than on our side, but it was not. Suddenly these figures loomed out of the mist - were they the dreaded Devil's Peak muggers? Luckily not - they were Sue, Brett, Birgit, Res, Nora and Nils with Dave, Christopher and Nikki. Undaunted by all the moisture, they pressed on up into the gloom. The scary rockface was still there - and Dougal, unlike me, doesn't seem to notice it or the rain - look at his tail sticking up jauntily!

Nils and Nora didn't look too charmed either, although Birgit and Res look cheerful. Maybe being Swiss they are used to rain.

The plants were wet too. This is an Aristea macrocarpa,

and these are Pelargonium pinnatum. (Neither of these seem to have common names.)

Parts of the walk are quite steep, and here is the Alpha Male with us negotiating a steep scary ledge. There were no dassies today as all self-respecting beasts are tucked up in their nice dry beds.

Zigzagging up the slopes of Devil's Peak to the Saddle that connects Devil's Peak to Table Mountain - Nora safely on her dad's shoulders.

The Food Lady is not too hot on Leucadendrons but she thinks this is the Laurel-leaf Sunshine Conebush (Leucadendron laureolum).

A soggy tea stop at Tea Rock on the Saddle. Not one iota of a view to be had! You can see the Alpha, Birgit, Christoper, Dave (shoes momentarily on for tea), Sue, Nils and Res, Brett and Nora behind them, and Nikki. Dougal, Dawn and I are not in the photo.

A wet Table Mountain Watsonia (Watsonia tabularis) on the Saddle. These are endemic to Table Mountain and only occur on the Peninsula.

Dave did the walk mostly without shoes - a man after the FL's own heart. (The FL and all her sisters like to go about without shoes - as her grandmother used to say - they are all "jaapies" and now that epithet applies to us Scotties!)

Christopher and I were pleased when the walk was over and we could go home and dry off.
(For a description of the route, click here.)

Happy New Year!

New Year's Day! The Alpha's back seems better, and we joined Lydia and another Stephen (Granger) for a lovely evening walkies in Silvermine. Up a hill and down to the dam that you can just see in the photo above. Dawnie Dawg and I had a swim ... and so did Stephen Granger. Some bright and cheerful Erica multumbellifera flowers.
And home along the river boardwalk.

Well, are you lot coming? says Dawnie Dawg. Stephen and Lydia in the front.

Ghostly walkies

With our Wellington (New Zealand) guests and Stephen and Robynne, we tried to go for a walk in Silvermine but the Southeaster was so black that we decided to give the New Zealanders a break from bad weather and decamped to Constantia Nek which is not so high up. Richard helped Dawnie Dog through the cars and wild SANParks vehicles that hurtle down the mountain roads. Alexander is on the left. We left the road and climbed up and up ... and at the top we encountered this ghostly creature ... who seemed to sense where I was and tried to grab me ... but I got away! Some of the endemic Table Mountain Watsonias (Watsonia tabularis) looming out of the mist. The area where we were walking was once a pine plantation but the pines have recently been felled and the area is returning to beautiful mountain fynbos again. You can see some of the felled pines on the right. Despite the no entry sign Richard and Robynne walked off into the mist, the city of Cape Town somewhere far far far below them, and we just blindly followed, although Dawnie doesn't look too sure about it all.

Luckily we didn't all fall over the edge as the sign suggested, and lived to see this strange parasitic plant - an Ink Flower (Harveya pauciflora) that turns black and inky when it dies. Apparently early colonists used them as a source of writing ink. (We have mentioned this flower before in this blog.)

We got to the waterfall which was falling very picturesquely, and had tea. This is Jan with a rock for his mother-in-law whose rock was stolen - and Lydia, Alexander and Robynne.

Robynne and Stephen with the monster that turned into Richard, who then tried to mesmerise us with his scarf, but only Dawnie was impressed.

The rest of us just set about texting or finishing our tea on the rocks.

Jan with his rock.

There were lots of these little yellow lobelias (Monopsis lutea).

Dawnie and I were grateful for this short dip in a mountain stream, even though we were not at all hot what with the air conditioning being turned on to maximum strength.

On the way back we came across this Light from Africa ceramic studio, but as it didn't say "tea and scones", I pushed on resolutely, tail in the air ...

through the remaining pine plantations back to the cars at Constantia Nek ... where Lydia and Jan bought some delectable looking fruit before we headed on home.