Year in the Wild Blog
Posts with tag CapeNature
Cape Times Newspaper – February 2013 – Anysberg Nature Reserve
My monthly column in the Cape Times on Anysberg. This Karoo reserve just south of Laingsburg off the national N1 road was a surprise to me. There is a surprisingly large amount of wildlife for a semi-arid region, and the sense of wilderness is impressive. But it's the stars that captivate first and foremost. Their is NO light pollution anywhere, because the 800 square kilometre reserve is situated between two mountain ranges, making it one of the best places in the country for peering through a
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Karoo Journey – Stars, stars and more stars at Anysberg
Astronomers estimate that there are about 300 billion stars in the Milky Way. But because of light pollution, most city-dwellers can see only a few hundred of them. Head to Anysberg Nature Reserve, however, and it’s as if every single star in our galaxy is within grasp.
Situated in the Western Cape about 80kms north-east of Montagu and about 100kms south-west of Laingsburg, the
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Getaway Magazine – December 2012 – Kogelberg Nature Reserve
One of the most botanically-diverse areas of the world, Kogelberg Nature Reserve an hour's drive east of Cape Town rivals the tropical rain forests for number of plant species per hectare. It's also stunningly beautiful, and has some of the best eco-accommodation in the country. One of my favourite places in southern Africa.
Cape Times Newspaper – October 2012 – Kogelberg Nature Reserve
My column in the Cape Times on Kogelberg Nature Reserve in the Western Cape profiles the enormously diverse flora that exists here, rivalling the rainforests for diversity of species per hectare. The reserve also boasts some of the best accommodation I have seen on my journey to the country's protected areas. Check out CapeNature's site.
Beautiful paintings of Kogelberg flowers
The beautiful paintings below of rare flowers from Kogelberg are by Amida Johns, the wife of reserve manager Mark. Amida is a well known botanist, and has co-authored several books on the Kogelberg flora, including the South African Wild Flower Guide Number 5, a guide to Kogelberg, as well as the excellent book about T.P. Stokoe, a remarkable man with a nose for finding new plant species (and one beetle species!). Entitled "T.P. Stokoe - the man, the myths, the flowers", it gives a wonderful
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Wet and wild in the Kogelberg
Kogelberg is world famous among botanists and flower lovers, because of its diversity of plant species. But it is also the home of the Palmiet River, one of the finest white-water rafting rivers in South Africa.
During the winter months, when close to 2 000 mm of rain falls on the high mountain peaks, the Palmiet turns into a snorting monster, with plenty of big rapids to get the adrenaline pumping. While I was at Kogelberg, I watched a kayaking competition in the reserve, and managed to get
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