Need to pack as we are first visiting Kirstenbosch Botanic Gardens before heading north to Langebaan. The sun is out today, without a cloud in the sky.
Due to difficulty with internet access pictures on blog may be of a lower quality than we'd really like as the better the quality the bigger the file and the longer it takes to upload. In the interests of speed we have gone for a smaller file size, hopefully to be replaced with original image later.
Kirstenbosch is a botanical garden on the southern slopes of Table Mountain. We get there fairly early before it's too crowded, as it is a weekend.
The glasshouses just at the entrance has these bonsai trees - they must be quite old we imagine.
It's the plant with the flat strappy leaves, all the rest of the plant is underground. The picture on the information board shows it growing in the wild.
A selection of birds.
Double-banded Sunbird
Brimstone Canary
Sunbird again, on a Protea species this time.
Cape Sugarbirds
As you can imagine in a Botanic Garden, there are a lot of plants here as well.
An Oxalis species - there are a number of different colours of these and we wonder if they would look good growing in our front lawn.
Delicate but fetching.
An Oxalis species - there are a number of different colours of these and we wonder if they would look good growing in our front lawn.
Delicate but fetching.
Large Protea species flowerhead.
What about this even weird one
This one is an Orobanche or Broomrape, and is parasitic on other plants so has not been planted but found its way here naturally.
Plus some pretty spectacular views
Even closer
A selection of native flora including Restio grass, with the Cape Town suburbs in the background.
The Silver Tree garden (Eric thinks this means silver is buried underneath and goes off to investigate before we can explain it is referring to the colour of the leaves).
What a colourfel grasshopper (kind of scary too!)
And there are these skink spp.
plus a Four Stripe Mouse.
The one (below, right) is sometimes called The Nursery Buttress
Eric told us that this Cycad was so precious they had to protect it with a fence. Allegedly people have broken into the gardens, dug up and run off with various Cycad. There's a good market for them abroad. They'd need to have been very strong and have a very big truck to get this one.
But maybe not so much so for ones this this
We recalled him so that he could enjoy the treetop walk. Good views of the gardens and over Cape Town (if wasn't quite so hazy) from here.
Perched out in the open like that, Eric was lucky not to taken by the bird of prey flying overhead.
Some good birding from here, but the walkway was often shaking too much for good photos, especially when hordes of schoolchildren came excitedly across it.
Further birds seen feeding on the ground.
Swee Waxbill
and Common Waxbill
and think this is an Cape Spur Fowl, with some pink Oxalis species in the background - see how well they look in the grass.
One last landscape panorama before we find the restaurant.
No armed guards needed today so we have a relaxing hour to enjoy a delicious meal.
Next stop is to be Darling, about an hour and half drive along the west coast, to visit two different wildflower meadows, one of which is on private land and one a nature reserve.
As we leave Cape Town we have a good view back towards Table Mountain.
On the drive we see some Blue Crane and Yellow-billed Kite.
The first site we visit is adjacent to an orchid nursery at Duckett's meadow and the nature reserve is the other side of Darling.
A general view across the habitat followed by a selection of flowers, birds and insects found.
A general view across the habitat followed by a selection of flowers, birds and insects found.
A very brightly coloured grasshopper, slightly different to the last one we think.
The brightly coloured red blobs, you may just be able to make out, are birds
A weird one.
So many lovely flowers it's difficult to choose which ones to put in, so might have gone a bit overboard
Perhaps a another birdy one in between?
A last look across the flower carpet.
and some last minute birding
and some last minute birding
Back on the bus and on to our accommodation for the night just outside Langebaan.
Eric talks to the fish
There are some Cape Weaver birds nesting outside the B&B.
A quick walk in the B&B grounds before dinner down at the beach front reveals two rather fancy birds, A Spotted Thick Knee also known as a Dikkop, and a Southern Black Korhaan, which was standing on a tump making one heck of a racket. You can see how wide open its beak is on the photo.
Dinner was delicious, although in a rather full and therefore noisy waterside restaurant.