Category: cape agulhas

Terns

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Busy day so a bit of a cheat and quota photo.

Here’s an image that I took this week of some Greater Crested Terns in Cape Agulhas.

And yes, it does need to be that big, thank you very much.

Nothing very cheaty about that, but I did already share this shot on my Instagram, so if you think you’ve seen it before, well, you might be right.

I don’t often do this sort of thing though, so you should probably follow me on the ‘Gram just to make sure you don’t miss out on anything. Or to catch me out when I try this sort of twice posting nonsense again.

Made it down

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Down in Agulhas for New Year, our plans having been delayed by a few days because of that thing with the beagle.

And it will be a weird New Year: no trip to Struisbaai beach this year for the first time in many years, because there will be no fireworks there. The fun sponges are reveling in delight that their darling cats and dogs will spared the ignominy of a whole 15 minutes of noise this whole year, whilst also lamenting that the local economy could do with a few more visitors. But there’s no Sea Shack, there’s no fairground and there’s no firework display. Shooting themselves in the foot, bit by bit.
This year, it still seems to be doing ok, but when you remove all the attractions and add in that wind, which has made the beach thoroughly unusable for the past week, well, who will be coming back this time next year?

Still, this year, it is doing ok. Sure, we arrived at lunchtime on New Years Eve, but everywhere is full and on one occasion, I had to wait behind two other cars at a stop street. This is very unusual. I had almost forgotten that it was holiday season: I go into something of an autopilot when I’m driving down here and the traffic really wasn’t bad at all until we got into Struisbaai.

And I’m very much struggling for cell connection. The cell towers are made for the other 50 weeks of the year, and with Gauteng (quite reasonably) emptying into the Western Cape, Vodacom just can’t keep up. This post marks the start of my 13th year of daily blogging (Eish!), but it’s going to be a struggle to upload it. It’s already been a struggle to even write it. And that with a fancy new laptop too. I’ve been doing some rudimentary calculations and that means 4,384 consecutive days of blogging. Assuming you are reading this.

Happy New Year to you and yours and thanks for for your support. See you in 2024 (that’s tomorrow) for more fun and games.
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Snek

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A long, hot day starting with gym and ending in the drive back to Cape Town.

Somewhere in between those things, this:

A mole snake (Pseudaspis cana) chilling with its head deep in a mole hole in the dunes at Suiderstrand.

It was very accommodating for close up photos, perhaps mainly because its head was deep in a mole hole in the dunes at Suiderstrand.

Super chilled.

But it was also rather warm to the touch, perhaps because it was lying (mostly) in the midday sun.

Anyway, a lovely sighting on our beach wander.

Mistakes were made…

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One of the lovely things about being down in Agulhas is the chance to reconnect with a bit of nature. Especially without the constant concern of being mugged.

And so last night, I planned a run for this morning. A run in all of the nature.

But then there was a win, and a braai, and there was food and drink, and a bit of a late night. And by the time I got out of bed this morning, it was a bit late to start running. It is, after all, rather summery here.

Still, I went and did it anyway. And I’ll be honest: it wasn’t great. Hot, windy, burning sun, some very challenging, unforgiving and technical terrain on the Agulhas Escarpment near the Southernmost Point.
And yes: all of that braai stuff from last night.

Still, there were positives. I did get out there and do it. I appear to have survived, and, at the halfway point, there was the opportunity for a few minutes pause looking down on a Black Harrier hunting over the fynbos below.

Reconnection complete.

Tonight, we do it all again, but I think it’s unlikely that there will be a repeat of this morning’s efforts tomorrow. Still, you never say never.

Relatief swaar (sement)

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Small town Afrikaans social media never fails to deliver. This morning’s gem was this:

Yes, that’s a free cement baboon looking for a new home. But you’ve got to come and collect it yourself. It’s relatively heavy (cement). Contact me [not me] on Whatsapp if you are interested.

And who wouldn’t be interested in a (relatively heavy) free cement baboon?

What’s not to like?

Well, it’s this:

That does look relatively heavy. But I supposed that it is (cement).

But the existence of this relatively heavy (cement) baboon definitely suggests that there is at least one cement baboon mould somewhere out there. And that in turn suggests that there may be other cement baboons out there as well. Maybe even troops of them.

But… why?

Of course, the other why is why anyone would want this, but the group quickly became a thrashing feeding frenzy of locals desiring a free cement baboon. Despite the relatively heavy weight.

I’ve been here 20 years and I’m still regularly astounded by this place.