letting nature back in

One morning in April we went walking in the Phillipskop Mountain Reserve, which is not far from Stanford in the Overberg. A highlight turned out to be watching chacma baboons climbing a rock face after they emerged from a large cave.

On the slopes of the Klein River Mountains in the Western Cape, the privately-owned Phillipskop Mountain Reserve, 246ha (608 acres) in size, offers self-catering accommodation, guided walks, and access to hiking trails for residents and Friends of Phillipskop.

Phillipskop is the right-hand peak on the skyline. This photo was taken on our April walk in early autumn and ahead of the winter rains

As noted on the Phillipskop Mountain Reserve website, “the Klein River Mountains are made up of hard quartzitic rock of the Table Mountain Group (often called Table Mountain Sandstone)”. The highest peaks and steepest cliffs of the Cape Fold Mountains are formed by the hard and erosion resistant Table Mountain sandstone. Soil derived from this sandstone is acidic and nutrient poor. Mountain and lowland fynbos is associated with such soils. More specifically, the fynbos at Phillipskop is “acid sand proteoid fynbos”. 

A closer look at the peak named Phillipskop, which is 487 metres high. The fynbos vegetation significantly features members of the Protea and Restio families and species from the Erica genus

We started our walk sometime before 9 am. The sun was still fairly low in the sky but the light grew harsher as we walked. We followed a track that diverted into a path that turns up towards the mountain as it ascends more or less parallel to a mountain stream. We had decided to walk up to a small waterfall where the stream falls over the lip of a small cliff.

As we walked, we paused to observe the plants and take in the view that got wider as we went higher.

A common sunshine conebush (Leucadendron salignum), growing by the side of the track, is backlit in the morning light. Conebushes are members of the Protea (Proteaceae) family

A species of Restio, a member of the grass-like plants in the family Restionaceae, also referred to as Cape reeds

A day-flying moth, a crimson-speckled footman (Utetheisa pulchella), visiting a species of Erica (Ericaceae – Cape heather) that is in flower. As might be expected from its conspicuous warning colouration, the moth is toxic and unpalatable to birds

The interesting flowers of Trichocephalus stipularis, known as dogface due to the fact that when fruiting the fruits assembled at the end of the stalks are said, rather fancifully, to resemble the face of a dog. The flowerheads are white and woolly. The long pink sepals of the individual flowers that are open are visible, but the tiny flower petals are hidden deep within

Vividly coloured lichen growing on some large slabs of rock next to the path

As the rocky path ascended it became shaded by the adjacent high bank or cliff on the other side of the stream. As we approached the waterfall, we saw a Tritoniopsis lata, a member of the Iridaceae family. It is sometimes referred to as a snake flower

We descended a short way from the main path to the bottom of the small waterfall that was flowing down a high rock face. Obviously, the falls are much fuller than this after decent rains

The water angles down the rock face in small cascades. Small plants and mosses grow in the spray zone, and lichens decorate the rock faces

The lichen and moss form a bold abstract on the dark rock face

The moving water falls into a tranquil pool where a gracefully arched dead tree is reflected. Despite the coolness in the shade of the cliff we decided to pause here and have a snack and drink the coffee we had brought in a flask

While drinking our coffee we admired the small still life composed by the plants growing at the base of the dead tree

The lichen looked more subdued when reflected in the pool at the bottom of the waterfall

Looking down over a few smaller cascades that flow downstream from where we were sitting, the water forms a larger pool that reflected the sunshine on the opposite grassy slope

As we were walking and approaching the waterfall we had seen some chacma baboons (Papio ursinus) enjoying the sunshine on the high ridge on the opposite side of the valley

While sitting comfortably near the bottom of the waterfall, we had a good view of the rock face. Baboons can be seen high up on the horizon. At the bottom on the left, the black shady area is the opening to a large cave. As we watched, more baboons emerged from the cave and started to climb the rock face that is almost sheer in large sections

Pushing my zoom lens a bit further than is wise and braving the harsh sunlight, I photographed the climbing baboons. We were struck by the fact that they used similar techniques to human rock climbers, but without ropes and gear of course

They reach for hand holds and brace themselves with their feet much as human rock climbers do

Look at the skilled technique of this seasoned climber

The baboon paused as he sought out the next handhold

There was no rush as each baboon one-by-one carefully navigated their way to the top, taking advantage of cracks and small ledges on the rock face to use as handholds and footrests as they went

Some of the baboons at the top took a keen interest in watching the progress of those still climbing

Once they got up to safer terrain, two baboons let off steam in a bout of running and chasing. I have not seen human rock climbers do that, though they may let out a few whoops of joy/relief when they reach the top! The baboon on the left paused to do a spot of foraging en route

After having been thoroughly entranced by watching the baboons’ climbing skill, we left our damp and shady spot to emerge into the sunshine and carefully pick our way back down the steep rocky path in marked contrast to the baboons’ athleticism.

As we retraced our steps, nearly at the end of our walk we saw a southern rock agama (Agama Atra) sunning itself in very bright sunshine on a rock on the edge of the path

And to finish this post, just to explain my long break from blogging was largely due to injuring my arm and not being able to drive the mouse and edit the photos. The arm is functioning fine now.  

Posted by Carol