Over the last couple of weeks I’ve become fascinated by how incredible the world is in areas where human impact is kept to a bare minimum, as this is the closest I have ever been to an environment which can truly be described as “wild”. The natural formation of the landscape, the climate, and the ways in which different species find ways to survive in it are mesmerising.
The Blue Hill nature reserve and what I’ve seen of the neighbouring area of the Baviaanskloof nature reserve are protected to preserve the natural fynbos environment, with the only trace of human intrusion being a couple of 4×4 tracks and some old farm boundary fences cutting through the hills and valleys. The area belongs to the wildlife that inhabits it, and it’s amazing to see the wide array of plants and animals which have evolved to survive in these conditions, even now when there has been no rainfall since November.
The lack of nearby towns or cities also means there is virtually no light pollution. On Monday night the sky was particularly clear, with no moon to wash out the stars with it’s glare. The result was incredible. We saw the kind of scene which I’d only ever seen before in pictures. Thousands of stars, a few planets, the milky way, the large magellanic cloud and shooting stars which were all incredibly bright. It was breathtaking to be able to see so much with the naked eye, and kind of difficult to comprehend the scale of what is out there. And it did make me wonder why I don’t stare up at the stars more often.
A Meerkat’s Wild Nature
This week I discovered that even partially domesticated meerkats retain their wild instincts. Meerkats are very social animals which live in colonies, and our resident meerkat Chutney loves our company. However, their colonies also have a structure of authority and this means Chutney is keen to try and assert dominance over new guests. Sure enough, this week Chutney decided to test his standing in our colony by sinking his teeth into my hand in an an attempted show of dominance. We had been warned this may happen and it’s important to respond in a way that he will understand, with a sharp smack on the head to show him who’s boss! He quickly learned his lesson and even though he will still show me his teeth playfully, he won’t bite me even if I put my hand between his teeth.
Ringing
Yesterday (Wednesday 11th March) Me, Ruby and Sarephina were offered the chance to take Alan’s ringing equipment down to the stream by the house and try to catch some birds, an offer we gladly accepted. We caught 15 birds through the morning and Ruby did a great job of leading the session practically on her own, doing all the ringing and taking all of the measurements. My favourite was definitely the kingfisher!
Celebrations
Yesterday also happened to be Alan’s birthday (Happy Birthday!) and there was a large group of us here to celebrate it. In the afternoon we all sat out in the sun and had a braai, kicked off with the genius stick-bread (wrapping bread dough around a stick and cooking it over the coals), before the main course of a gigantic pile of meat, and finished off with some delicious sweet lemon birthday cake.
It was great to relax and spend some time with the family and the other guests who all have some great stories to tell of their own travels. It has been a pleasure to spend the last few weeks with them and the hospitality they have shown us has been amazing, we will definitely be sad to leave in a couple of weeks.
It also looks as though the Cape Rockjumper research is starting to produce some interesting results! Hopefully we’ll see a little more on that in the next couple of weeks 🙂
Lambey in Africa 