This week I’m going back to basics to tell you a little more about fynbos: that brown-looking scratchy vegetation that clothes the mountains and lowlands of the Cape, aiming to address several burning questions: What is it? Where can I find it and why is it important? Why should we care?
Last week was a whirlwind. On Monday I was in the green and gently rolling hills of Dorset, England in the beautiful old Victorian house where I grew up. It was early summer, the buttercups were flowering and even the sheep were smiling. I left with great reluctance after a break that was all too short. By Tuesday night I was curled up on the floor sleeping in a small frozen heap in Doha airport in Qatar in the Middle East. Wednesday night brought me back to a cold and wintery Cape Town.
In early January of this year we decided to abandon the Mother City and take a long overdue holiday. What better than to hike the Tsitsikamma Trail, one of the classic trails of the Garden Route? This stunning six day 60 km hike begins in the small village of Nature’s Valley, wending its way from close to the lagoon mouth up through the spectacular afrotemperate forests typical of the region onto the plateau above before weaving its way through the peaks and forested valleys of the Tsitsikamma Mountains. Sounds idyllic. What could go wrong?
One of the greatest joys of Capetonian life is the ease with which one can escape the intensity of the city into pristine mountain wilderness. Just an hour out of town over Sir Lowry’s Pass lies the stunning, rugged and achingly beautiful Hottentots Holland Nature Reserve. It is here we chose to spend the Easter weekend.
Mention the word parasite and a number of things may spring into one’s mind: squiggling flesh-eating maggots, blood sucking fleas and ticks, giant nematodes and many other gruesome critters too numerous to mention. It is fascinating to note that there are thousands of parasites within the plant kingdom as well and one of South Africa’s most well-known and widespread examples, Hyobanche sanguinea is pink and furry and really rather beautiful.
This autumn the weather of the last few weeks has had Capetonians all over hunkered down with their hot chocolate and warmest clothes and blankets, as unusually early winter rain has arrived. There has been a distinct chill in the air and reports have come in of snow falls in the mountains further inland. While drinking my morning tea on the stoep and watching raging torrents of water cascading down the eastern face of Table Mountain, I noticed this curious and beautiful plant flowering at my feet for the first time.