Camdeboo National Park is best known for Desolation Valley with its panoramic viewpoints where tall columns of volcanic rock tower up to 120 m high over the plains of Camdeboo below. The aridity of the region gave rise to the name Desolation Valley. It is even more desolate now in the current drought emergency. Continue reading “Camdeboo National Park: Resilience amidst desolation in the Karoo”
We are back from our trip to the Western Cape, travelling a distance of about 4000 km (2484 miles). Perhaps sharing photos taken from the car while travelling is a useful way of conveying something of the feel of the journey? Continue reading “Road Tripping”
In a hot dry spring many birds and animals are struggling to survive even here in suburbia. However, gardens large and small can help wildlife survive in difficult circumstances, especially when gardens are planted with indigenous (native) plants that provide food and shelter. Continue reading “Food for birds and wildlife: Planting for heat and drought”
The main seasons in our part of the world are only two: wet season and dry season. But prolonged drought over much of the country has erased that distinction into one long dry bleakness where rain of any significance is a memory or a hope. Continue reading “A dry season: Just add water”
Here in the southern hemisphere, spring has arrived even if with minimal rain. The little rain that has fallen is nothing like “normal” spring rains (remember normal?) and nowhere near enough; we have we had about 10 mls of rain over the past week. Even so the frogs are very vocal in their celebrations. Continue reading “Spring is bursting”
Brightening the drab floor of our mini woodland in our dry winters, this member of the Amaryllidaceae family flowers freely. Continue reading “White Paint Brush: A winter-flowering woodland favourite”
letting nature back in 