by Dominic Chadbon | May 27, 2021 | Cape Point |
For all my boasting about the abundance of natural life at Cape Point, there’s one other thing you’ll see of lot of there. And that’s death. It’s everywhere – bones, skulls, old carcasses, broken tortoises and discarded seashells – but don’t be surprised: Cape...
by Dominic Chadbon | Apr 19, 2021 | Fire & Fynbos |
Late summer in Cape Town and smoke hangs over Rondebosch Common. It’s the usual scene: flashing red lights, grim-faced firefighters, crowds of anxious onlookers. And me: jumping up and down like an over-excited kangaroo shouting “Let it burn! Let it burn!” Of course...
by Dominic Chadbon | Mar 12, 2021 | Fynbos |
Like a big hot engine that’s just been switched off, Cape Town’s dry summer begins to cool down in March. It’s still warm at times – often extremely – but clouds are hovering on the horizon and subtle movements are afoot in the fynbos. Plants have withstood the...
by Dominic Chadbon | Feb 23, 2021 | Fynbos |
Let’s first get the bad news out of the way: identification of fynbos plants is not easy. There are, as you know, thousands of plant species in the mountains of the Western Cape and they come from many different families – some of which you know (like the Iris, Daisy...
by Dominic Chadbon | Jan 20, 2021 | Nature |
What a place Cape Town must have been just a few hundred years ago! Herds of antelope and zebra grazed landscapes of forests and flowers, scattering in panic at the appearance of lions and wild dogs. There were hippos in the wetlands, rhinos in the scrublands, and so...
