Pondoland C.R.E.W. Blog: A trip along the southern coastal area of the western Cape (14 to 28 November, 2019)

A recent trip to the Western Cape provided the opportunity to expand our botanising horizons. Our daughter in law, Pei, had wanted to see the garden route for a long time and so together we set up an itinerary to give her a spectrum of what the area had to offer once she and our son Andrew arrived from Hong Kong. After a few (bitterly cold) days in Cape Town to meet up with other family members - adverse weather precluded an excursion up Table Mountain - we set off on the first leg of the trip.

We drove to Gordon's Bay and around the coast road towards Betty's Bay, with a stop along the roadside near the Koegelberg Nature Reserve to look at the flowers that had sprouted since a devastating fire. It was stimulating getting into a whole different world of flowering plants - we could recognise many of the genera and most of the families but it was clear that a lot of referencing to our collection of books awaited us at home once the trip was over.

Wachendorfia paniculata

Lanaria lanata

Gnidia pinifolia

Chironia cf linoides

Watsonia cf angusta

Watsonia borbonica

Albuca cf flacida

After spending some time along the roadside here we drove on to the Harold Porter Nature Reserve at Betty's Bay where we walked through the formal gardens and followed some of the trails up into the foothills. Some of the trails had been closed due to the same fire but nevertheless we saw a good cross-section of what the reserve had to offer and many exciting new genera to discover.

Psoralea pinnata

Mimetes cucullata

Carpobrotus edulis

Andrew and Pei following a trail at the Harold Porter NR

Berkheya brevipetala


Tritaniopsis parviflora

Moraea neglecta

An unusual colour form of Gladiolus carneus

Monopsis unidentata - to illustrate to our Pondoland CREW members how a familiar plant can look very different elsewhere in its range.

We then drove on to Hermanus where we were hoping to sight of whales but in this we were disappointed. We had a quick lunch and then drove on to our first overnight stop in Swellendam. After breakfast the next morning we went to do some berry picking on a nearby farm - blackberries were the fruit available and we spent a pleasant few hours in the sun eating blackberries and finding interesting fruit-deritive products in their shop before heading onwards.

Our next stop was at an Aloe ferox factory outlet near Albertinia where we stocked up on enough products to keep Hong Kong going for a while.

Swellendam mountains with the berry orchard in the foreground

Chasmanthe aethiopica

Crossing over the berry farm stream

Buddleja saligna

Our next stop was at Mossel Bay. We drove down to the point and lunched with a great view of the waves pounding over the rocks. This was followed by a walk along the first section of the St Blaize trail, up the rocky hill to the plateau above, seeing a cluster of habituated dassies on the way.

Mossel Bay's rocky point

Limonium scabrum

Chironia tetragona

Cineraria cf geifolia

Our base for the next three days was Plettenberg Bay. The next morning we drove to Nature's Valley where walked along one of the coastal forest trails heading towards the Salt River. When we reached the estuary of the Salt River we discovered that the trail back along the coast had been closed due to storm damage so we had to return the way we had come.

Nature's Valley coastline

Pterocelastrus tricuspidatus

Salt River estuary

Arctotheca populifolia

We then drove on to the Storms River Nature Reserve where we traversed the boardwalks to the suspension bridges over the river mouth. We were surprised at the numbers of visitors - mostly foreign - to this popular attraction and the foot traffic along the boardwalk was heavy.

Stoms River mouth suspension bridges

Sparmannia africana

We returned to our hotel and then took an evening walk along the beach past the Beacon Isle hotel. The next morning we set off early for the Robberg nature reserve trail. Following the route along the east face of the peninsula, there were interesting exposures of conglomerate bedrock and good views of the seals below. Most of the plants along this part of the route were unfamiliar but with some paging through reference works and a little help from friends we managed to track down most of them.

Gladiolus cunonius

Gasteria disticha

Allophyllus decipiens

Putterlickia pyracantha

A rocky headland separated from the main peninsula by a sandy beach

And the waves sweep by

Several kelp gulls were nesting aong the boardwalk making walking here hazardous as the parents were fiercely protective

The following day we set off early for a game drive at Bottlierskop private game reserve near George. We managed to see all four of their Big Four - only leopard missing - and then enjoyed a picnic brunch in a shelter at a dam.

Lion

White rhino

Mountain zebra

Bontebok

African elephant

After a brief family visit in George we headed to our next overnight stop at a self-catering cottage just outside Oudtshoorn. We were up at 05h00 the next morning to participate in a meerkat viewing. Together with a group of overseas visitors, we sat quietly waiting for about three hours before the first meerkat popped its head out of the burrow. Given the good weather, this was an unusually long waiting period (the guide suggested that the female was probably giving birth) but soon there were six family members, playing and scratching around in the scrub, completely unworried by our presence.

Meerkat lookout

Meerkats sunning themselves

Kewa salsoloides

Gloveria integrifolia

After watching the meerkats until they set off on their daily food gathering activities, we headed westwards along route 62, stopping off at the Karoo Boom Padstal so Pei could sample South African delights like scrambled ostrich egg, kaaings and outdoor-oven baked sourdough bread. We then drove on making the obligatory stop at the iconic Ronnies Sex Shop and other brief stops to take photos of interesting flowering plants along the road. (I have failed to make mention of the many stops we also made to stock up on biltong along the route as the repetition would have become boring!)

Tylecodon paniculatus

Portulacaria afra

We reached our last overnight stop of the trip at a lodge just outside Macgregor on a baking hot afternoon and took to opportunity to cool down in the pool. Once the bite of the sun had diminished slightly we wandered around in the Karoo scrub surrrounding the lodge, finding all sorts of succulent treasures.

Adromischus maculatus

Astroloba rubriflora

Pelargonium tetragonum

Pteronia paniculata

Quaqua cf mammillaris

Hermannia cf filifolia

Conophytum cf ficiforme

Euphorbia cf nesemannii

Drimia capensis

Tulista pumila

After a good night's rest we were up early for another walk in the scrub below the lodge, after which we set off for the Macgregor morning market. Just outside Macgregor, we spent some time walking along the paths and enjoying the bird hide at the Vrolijkheid Nature Reserve before the heat of the day sent us back to the car.

Mesembreanthemum crystallinum

Lycium afrum

Gethyllis verticillata

On the return trip to Cape Town we stopped at Nuy for an olive oil tasting at Willow Creek and lunched with a stunning view of the Langeberg mountains. From our Bakoven base in Cape Town we were able to enjoy the floral splendours of Table Mountain in better weather, walking up from Constantia nek as well as exploring the lower slopes above Camps Bay. We were lucky to find an Orbea varigata in flower at the side of the road between Bakoven and Llandudno.