The Fynbos Guy Blog
Nature Shows Off: The Cape Orchids
Their name comes from the Greek word for testicle and sometimes they are only seen after fire has incinerated their habitat: weird, wonderful orchids have long fascinated humankind and if you thought you had to go to steaming tropical rainforests to see them, then it...
Pocket-sized Paradise – Bontebok National Park
Talk about a narrow escape. Until the arrival of the European settlers, the bontebok antelope once roamed the hills of the southern Cape in large herds; by the 1930s their numbers were down to a few dozen. From these wide-eyed survivors, seventeen were taken to the...
The Return of Cape Flats Fynbos
I’ve just moved house from the outskirts of Cape Town’s central business district to the Cape Flats. When I saw my new garden, a windblown, sun-baked sandy wasteland, tears welled up in my eyes. Not out of disappointment you understand, but out of pure excitement....
Summer: Time for the Table Mountain Beauty
Planning a hike but keen to avoid a fashion faux pas? Step into the fynbos anytime between November and April and you’ll soon see what everyone’s wearing for summer: red. The Cape Mountains in high summer are the haunt of Aeropetes tulbaghia – a large, flappy and very...