Category: this is south africa

A filthy day

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It’s raining.

A lot.

Dark, foreboding (and indeed currently boding) clouds are rolling across the Cape Town sky, propelled by a gusty Northwester, and dropping a lot of water on the Southern Suburbs (and elsewhere, I’d wager).

The racing at Kenilworth has been abandoned:

Following 16.5mm of rain overnight, with more rain expected throughout the day, horses were brought to the course to gallop.
The feedback was that the going was inconsistent. In the interests of the safety of both horses and riders, the race meeting scheduled for today has been abandoned.

I think that “the feedback was that the going was inconsistent.” is actually code for “the jockeys had a chat while galloping through the driving rain and – quite reasonably – decided “sod this”.”

While this rain might not seem like a good thing at the moment, we do need it. Dam levels this time yesterday were at 68.3%. Dam levels this time last year were 96.8%.
We’re a bit behind where we need to be.

But we really shouldn’t worry too much. The next ten days are packed full of precipitation:

More than 25mm already here today, and I’m very excited about our temporary rim-flow pool.

The Cape Rain Frogs are going mad in the back garden, chirping their celebratory noises at the miserable conditions. At the other end of the animal scale, the beagle – wrapped in seventeen blankets – has decided that perhaps the best way to get through today is just to sleep until tomorrow.

My thinking is that the beagle might have hit upon a rather good idea.

Oh deer

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Right. Back from Agulhas a bit early so that I can fit in a friendly game of football this evening. And it was a good journey back, with only several near death experiences. Honestly, driving in South Africa really is something very special. And making it safely to your destination is even more remarkable.

We’ve left behind the peace and quiet of the Southern Tip for the ongoing building work next door, with the constant drone of the jackhammer welcoming us back. Again. It is already very wearing.

But before we left, we did see this girl out of the front window. Watching us, watching her:

This is a Cape Grysbok (Raphicerus melanotis) resplendent in full winter coat. I’m guessing female, because there are no visible horns, but there is quite a lot of eye-shadow.

It’s been a great few days away, with some good exercise and some amazing wildlife, from whales through to geckoes, this bokkie, more than one mongoose, and loads of birds including fish eagle, spoonbills, ostrich, a defaecating cormorant, and that petrel.

I can already hardly wait until next time.

Another photographic triumph

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Back out to the lagoon in search of a repeat performance from yesterday’s whales.

Sadly, they didn’t show up today. However, we did spot a Southern Giant Petrel (Macronectes giganteus), which was a first for me. Small wins.

This guy isn’t a Southern Giant Petrel (Macronectes giganteus). He’s a White-Breasted Cormorant (Phalacrocorax lucidus). Fairly common on the coast here.
But it takes a special sort of talent to catch him like this:

Perfect timing. Just lovely.
I thank you.

The muppet in the shop windows…

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Woke up to rain and darkness. Filthy. It’s wild, wet and windy out there today.

Deliciously wintery.

I spent at least some of my morning mocking the bedraggled appearance, then iffy pace and the decision making skills of the guy running along the Main Road in Kenilworth in the rain before I realised it was just my reflection in the shop windows. Damn.

So yes, I need a haircut. And it would be nice to be a bit faster. But it was a good run after a few days away from exercise, and as wet and cold as I got, I don’t regret a single thing about going out this morning.

Tomorrow might be another story.

This evening looks like it might be even wilder, wetter and windier, so with some assistance from Little Miss 6000, a delicious-smelling casserole is currently being cooked up and will, in a very short time, be popped into the Wonderbag ready to be enjoyed with some nice crusty bread this evening in front of the fire and the footy.

In the meantime, we have booked a family weekend away next month a couple of hours inland, and I’m already excited at the possibility of some night time photography, given that we’re at least several miles from any large conurbation, and the new moon is due while we’re there. I think I can cope with a maximum of 1.4% of lunar surface visible and it setting at half past six.

Perfect.

Now I just need the weather to play along.

Let’s face it, I’m not seeing any meteor showers or lunar eclipses tonight.
And the clouds out there look pretty run-of-the-mill to me.

Oh well. Like I mentioned, there still casserole, crusty bread, footy and fire.

It’s all good.

Another Vineyard Visit

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When we went wandering through the vineyards last weekend, I remarked – more than once – that I wished that I had my long lens with me. Not because the Nifty Fifty isn’t fun: it’s a lot of fun. More that there were a million canaries, sunbirds, frogs and even some baboons that I would have loved to have ‘togged.

The Father’s Day weather was great this morning, so we went back, and I took that long lens.
Jokingly, I suggested that because I had brought it along, we wouldn’t see anything worth shooting. Lol.

And then we saw nothing worth shooting.

And I was reduced to grabbing a shot of the set up for a Heineken activation thing on the lawns.

It seemed that they were going to have a lot more fun than we were.

Until…
Suddenly…

Baboons. Loads of them. Like, 30-odd. Scattered across the Shiraz vines on the side of the hill.

Starting a way away from us, then then actually walking so close that the 50mm would actually have been a far better option.

And, juniors at play, as well.

We watched them for almost an hour before they headed off further down the hill, and we headed off for a coffee, and then home for a bit – ok, a LOT – of photo editing.

It was a really nice family morning out.

And for us, too.