Although rain was forecast, we were disappointed to see that the sky was clear as we drove to the parking area at the red Desert Nature Reserve. On this occasion we were joined by Lindo Tshapa, who is busy with a MSc at UKZN Westville campus and is at Umtamvuna for two weeks to help re-organise our herbarium folders. Another return visitor was Gerd Siebert. Phakamani, becoming a regular visitor, was also with us.
When we started walking, the wind was blowing strongly from the south and it grew stronger as we made our way through the exposed yardangs from which the Red Desert gets its name. When we emerged out into the grasslands we could see that a firebreak had been burned on the southern side of the track and we moved into that to see what might have started flowering.
Prominent in the unburned sections were little clusters of Agathosma ovata, while the burned parts showed more diversity. Here we saw Callilepis laureola, Eulophia parviflora, Gerbera ambigua, Lasiosiphon kraussianus, Ocimum obovatum, Othonna natalensis and Scabiosa columbaria. With a bit of rain this should soon be looking good.
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| Agathosma ovata |
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| Callilepis lauriola |
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| Gerbera ambigua |
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| Lasiosiphon kraussianus |
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| Ocimum obovatum |
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| Othonna natalensis |
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| Scabiosa columbaria |
Looking up we could see a bank of dark clouds bearing down on us, racing before the strong wind and before long the first drops of rain started hitting us. We tried to press on but pretty soon it was clear that we would not be able to see anything in the horizontal downpour of icy rain and so made our way back to the vehicles as fast as possible. By the time we reached the vehicles no-one was in a fit state for a group photo so we piled into the vehicles and headed home.
Participants: Anne S, Dorothy M, Gerd S, Graham G, Lindo T, Phakamani M, Uschi T.
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