In Search of the Horticultural Big Five

South Africa Trip Expedition Log
2/5/2005 - 2/24/2005

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Day 7, Friday February 11, 2005

After breakfast, we were off again toward the Naude.s Neck pass toward the town of Maclear. The drive was much less steep, although the rocky road was in very poor shape. We kept our fingers crossed that our Mercedes Vito van would survive the drive through more dirt mountain roads. Not long out of Rhodes, Carl spotted a sheer cliff that was loaded with fully seeded Haemanthus humilis. Carefully, we scaled the cliff to find them growing alongside a stunning little leaf geranium and one of my favorite cold hardy aloes, Aloe aristata.

We stopped again at 7,855' to find a treasure trove of plants below the road. Dierama robusta was everywhere, along with Kniphofia caulescens, ornithogalum, a wide leaf Hypoxis, along with quite a few cotyledons, ruschias, dierama diascia, and delosperma. I was particularly impressed with Bulbine narcissifolia and its twisted glaucous blue leaves. There was also quite a bit of Harveya speciosa in full flower. This unusual parasite on grass roots produces a amazing flower stalk that rivals any non-parasitic perennial.

There were some lovely oxalis near the base of the cliffs. Since the cliffs are continually degraded, plants growing near the base have developed the ability to re-climb through sloughed off rock debris. The original tubers on many of the oxalis could be several feet deep.

We pulled into the parking area (a flat rock) at the top of Naude's Neck Pass at 7,941' elevation and began to explore. Many of the rock cliffs were filled with an array of ferns including cheilanthes, polystichums, and notholaenas. We saw a new kniphofia, K. thodei and a delightful unidentified dwarf kniphofia growing in the rocks. It was here that we saw our first Tritonia crocea, the pink flowering Hesperantha coccinea, and tiny rhodohypoxis. We have grown Cotyledon orbiculata before, but finding growing at this elevation should mean even more potential winter hardiness. Although the mountain top was in full sun when we arrived, we could watch the clouds pour onto the mountaintop, then crash into the ground below, and rise again. The top of the mountain catches all the moisture and averages nearly 60" of rain per year. By the time we had spent a few hours at top, a misty rain had already begun to fall.

After botanizing the mountaintop, we began the trip down the other side of the mountain. The road worsened as we found large rocks that we had to negotiate as part of the roadway. Although the road was very narrow, we managed to screech to a halt to photograph a vivid dark purple flowered dianthus clinging to the side of the cliff. As we continued further, the cliffs were filled with unique ferns and an incredible array of terrestrial orchids. Cameron had hoped to photograph orchids in bloom and certainly got his wish with many species in full flower, although finding a ladder to photograph from proved difficult In moist areas, I was very impressed with Gunnera perpensa which I can grow actually grown in my hot climate. Perhaps there is hope for this amazing saxifrage-looking Ranunculus baurii with stunning silver veined leaves.

As we dropped lower, we could tell that the rainfall average was lower by the change in vegetation. One bank on the right hand side was filled with another of the cold hardy aloes, Aloe ecklonii. One of the strange sites as we drove along the road were the giant termite mounds. Reminiscent of fire ant mound, these giant mounds were packed hard and could be beat into submission without any sign of the critters living inside. Another bank further down was a mass of the small blue-flowering Agapanthus campanulatus growing near the stunning Crassula vaginata. This entire road was a treasure trove of kniphofias and gladiolus as we saw four species of each. Our favorite gladiolus was G. crassifolius, although G. dalenii, G. saundersii, and G. oppositiflorus were also quite superb.

The hortgasm of the day occurred as we drove lower and simultaneously, the entire van screamed 'Oh my God, Oh my God!' I thought we'd run over a televangelist, but instead, the group had spotted a giant Brunsvigia in flower along the road. When we got out to inspect and photograph, Cameron told us that was the largest brunsvigia that he had ever seen. The flower head measured in excess of 2' wide.

The rain began to increase as we tried to beat the loss of light out of the mountain. After a long uninteresting and very foggy drive, we came out of the fog to find a sheer rock cliff loaded with ferns. A quick stop revealed Adiantum capillus-veneris, a Pteris vittata, and a thelypteris that resembled T. kunthii. Just like the day before, Cameron was still shaking his head in disbelief that our van was able to make the trek... still with three intact hubcaps.

After another exhausting drive, we arrived at the sign for Woodcliff Guest House near Maclear. Finding the guest house itself proved more difficult. After traversing several miles of dirt roads in the dark and rain, we found the confusing signs, which sent us to the wrong house. Cameron finally realized that the house for which we were searching was down a pasture path lined with 5' tall grass. Finding this in the daylight would have proved difficult, but finding it with headlights in a misty rain was nearly impossible. We finally did manage to check in and had a wonderful dinner with the property owner, Phyll Sephton. Phyll's first husband had passed away from cancer a few years earlier and she had remarried and now lives 200 km away. Despite this, she makes the long commute back to host and prepare meals when guests arrive.

The thatched cottage was nice except for having only 1 bathroom for 3 rooms of people. The bathroom here was certainly was well guarded... at least the toilet area, by 6 very large spiders. The nearby can of air freshener was enough to make them inebriated enough that I could get close enough to eliminate them. I later discovered that we probably should have just relocated them as they would have come in quite handy when the hoards of mosquitos invaded around 11pm. All night long, I heard what sounded like water dripping by my bed... at least I thought it was water since is was raining outside our thatched cabin. In the morning, the sound continued and I finally discovered that the source of the sound was termites feasting on the wooden lamp on the night stand.

Day 8, Saturday February 12, 2005

After eating and checking out, we had hired one of Phyll's workers to drive us up to see the cave paintings on her property. For those unfamiliar with cave paintings, one of the original inhabitants of South Africa were the san people. They lived in caves and painted on the cave walls. National Geographic had been to study Phyll's cave paintings, some of which have been documented as 10,0000 years old and obviously some much younger.

We all loaded up the back of the pickup truck... fortunately the rain had subsided. Off we went through the cow pasture and down the overgrown paths. We managed to travel a full 700' before the vehicle could no longer traverse the road. Phyll had forgot to mention about the broken culvert, washed out roads, washed away bridge, and the sinkhole large enough to swallow a 4-wheel drive vehicle. Out of the vehicle again, and on foot, we started the 3 mile walk to the caves.

The muddy, overgrown road was not the easiest hike, but it seemed like a breeze once we started to climb the steep rocky hillsides that lead to the caves. At least we still had Phyll's worker to go ahead with his trusty stick to scare away the cobras and puff adders before the stepped on them. Finally, we reached the caves, made our official photographs and headed back down the mountain. The path was loaded with treasures including our first glimpse of the South African tree fern, Cyathea dregei. Although we didn't have time for a visit, the tree ferns were much more prevalent in the small remnant of Afromontane forest on the other side of the stream.

Back at the lodge, those of us who had wet clothes changed into drier attire and we packed to leave. Carl stashed the shredded remains of his South African rain suit. Now we see why it only cost $9 USD. The 16 mile dirt road that took us back to the asphalt road was a again a long and arduous trek. Because it was daylight now, we were able the make a couple of stops, first to seed fields of Nerine appendiculata, which grew in sopping wet areas resembling rice patties. Alongside was Kniphofia parviflora and just up the way was more Brungsvigia grandiflora.

From here, it was a long drive to the southwest and our next nights lodging in Cathcart. As we drove closer to Cathcart, we passed many areas of planted forests. Many of these forests border the tribal Transkei regions and have been blamed for absorbing too much valuable ground water. The closer we came to the Transkei, the more of the forests had been burned by arsonists.

Since we were near Cathcart, we decided to retrace our steps in hopes of finding Cameron's cell phone. As we approached one of the areas that he had jumped a barbed wire fence to photograph brunsvigias, Cameron instantly recognized the site and leaped out of the van and over the fence for the second time. <25218>Amazingly, he nearly landed on his phone, lying just as it had exited his pocket three days earlier. Remarkably, it still had a good charge.

We arrived at Cathcart late in the day and made our way down another long bumpy dirt road to the Lowestoffe Inn. Since we were still near the Transkei region, security is very important. In this area, security is provided by a group called the Tactical Task Force. This security service is provided by form soldiers from the north who were trained to fight in the Angolan war. The guards assigned to a particular area are only given three month assigments in order to keep them from getting too friendly with the criminals from the Transkei.

Along the road, we were amazed by the number of ornamental asparagus species in the area. Note to self... check these out closer in the morning. The road was quite bumpy and fortunately Hans watched as another hubcap was sent flying. Fortunately, we were able to retrieve this one. We arrived to find a delightful guest house, but strangely only 1 bath for 6 people and no shower head in the bathroom. We also found that we had lost another hubcap... not a good thing. After a good dinner and hours of note taking, it was time to call it a night.