by KBergReserve

The Annual Red Disa Pilgrimage: A Fern Encounter

It was time for the pilgrimage. As everyone knows, any even slightly botanical wonk in the Western Cape is required, in January and February, to undertake an arduous mountain hike into a kloof containing an appropriate patch of Afrotemperate forest, locate a wet, more or less south facing, vegetated cliff face and do homage to the icon of Western Cape flora that blooms there at this time of year, the lovely Disa uniflora. The infirm may, in special circumstances, be exempt. Others, however, who fail to observe this sacred rite, are summarily condemned to twelve…
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by KBergReserve

Walks Planned

Botsoc Kogelberg Next Walk 18th November 2017 A little more challenging than last month and splendid views. We’ll go higher, via Kasteelkopnek up to the Contour Path below the Three Sisters Peaks, enjoy the views from Spook Nek and have tea, then descend via Dot’s Dash and the Klipspringer Path – all in the Kleinmond Mountain Nature Reserve, starting and finishing at Fairy Glen. This route offers some of the most enthralling mountain views in the Kogelberg. There is no technical climbing, but sturdy walking shoes/boots, sunblock, hat and a stick will be needed, as…
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by KBergReserve

Walk Report

- Tim Attwell Oudebos, the relict patch of Afrotemperate forest in the ravine between Platberg and the back of Elephant Rock Mountain that gives its name to the offices of the Kogelberg Nature Reserve, did not disappoint us. We went looking for a spot under the forest canopy, next to a bubbling mountain stream to have our tea or coffee and the goodies we had brought with us. After all, the whole purpose of mountain or, for that matter, fynbos walking is ‘to find a good spot to have tea.’ We allowed ourselves an hour…
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by KBergReserve

WALK REPORT

West Bank Roundabout - Tim Attwell The weather forecast promised a clear but chilly day. Well, it was clear, but certainly not chilly at Fairy Glen when we set off across the R44 and the bridge over the Palmiet River to pick up the path which took us southwards along the west bank of the Palmiet River towards the sea in the distance. The aim was to have tea at the mouth of the Palmiet Estuary and return via a path which took us away from the river through Overberg Dune Strandveld, Hangklip Sand Fynbos…
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by KBergReserve

FINDING NEMBA: THE QUEST FOR COMMUNITY CONSERVATION

- Rea Borcherds  It was always going to be a challenge ¨C taking a topic as unappealing and dense as an unwieldy Act of Parliament (in this case NEMBA, the National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act,) and trying to make it palatable and intelligible to your listeners.  Tim Attwell rose to the occasion splendidly on Saturday 15th July, as evidenced by the appreciative tributes he received from his audience, who had defied a bitterly chilly night to attend the talk on this daunting subject. Tim sugared the pill by deftly framing his topic into a quest,…
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by KBergReserve

MANAGING FIRE RISK WITHOUT LOSING THE PLOT

- Tim Attwell The chainsaws had been at it all morning. The ‘plot clearing’ contractor’s crew was taking no prisoners. So I went to see what was going on. Reducing the fuel load and fire risk on a vacant plot makes sense. The Overstrand Fire Department is justly praised for their heroism when wildfire breaks out and for their vigilance before it does. Part of that vigilance involves notifying property owners when their plots constitute a fire hazard. And there are a lot of them. Some sport masses of alien invasive species waiting to burn, especially…
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by KBergReserve

TALKS PLANNED FOR 2017

Saturday 15 July (AGM): At our 2017 AGM meeting, Tim Attwell will speak on “Finding NEMBA: Adventure into Community Conservation”. At 18h00 – Nivenia Hall, HPBG. The talk will introduce people to aspects of the National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act (NEMBA) of 2004, the NEMBA Regulations of 2014 and current efforts by the Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) to encourage and enable partnerships between organs of State, civil society organisations, business and private citizens in giving effect to the provisions of NEMBA and the NEMBA regulations. Items discussed will include: Reducing fire risk Saving water…
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by KBergReserve

WALK REPORT: SATURDAY 18 MARCH 2017

-Tim Attwell It’s small comfort to those who lost so much to wildfire this summer that fires are part of the cycle of life in the Cape Floristic Region. We join many others in our heartfelt sympathy with those whose homes were lost or damaged in Pringle Bay and Rooi Els during this summer’s ‘fire season’. With fire and its aftermath in mind, thirteen members and guests set off on Saturday 18 March, from Fairy Glen, following the steep and rocky Kasteelkop path to the shale band, at an altitude of 200 metres, on the…
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by KBergReserve

WALK REPORT FOR JANUARY 2017

-Tim Attwell An easy walk, circumnavigating the Palmiet Estuary is one of our area’s most beautiful routes. With a brilliant blue sky overhead, eleven members and guests set off from Fairy Glen, dart across the R44 and duck under the forest canopy hiding the steps down to the popular picnic spot on the rocky riverside. The holiday crowd is already gathering, we say hello but don’t linger. The path along the east bank of the Palmiet River, in the direction of the river mouth, takes us through a tiny patch of Afrotemperate forest, an outlier…
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by KBergReserve

NOVEMBER WALK REPORT

- Tim Attwell Botsoc Kogelberg Walk Report November 2016 It’s one thing to go for a walk in the garden, it’s quite another to really look and see what is going on there and begin to understand. Enthusiastic communicator and passionate about fynbos, Harold Porter National Botanical Garden guide Etienne Smith, welcomed upward of twenty members and guests into his world. In a slow ramble along pathways already well known to many in the party, Etienne revealed secrets they didn’t know. More than the names of plants, it was the stories that captivated; stories about…
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