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Afrikaanse Inligting
The Grootbos Weekend (6-7 June 1998)
"You’ll be staying in fully equipped cottages, all you need to take is your bedding and, of course, your food" was Val’s reply to my stock question, "what sort of accommodation can we expect?", before finally committing myself to an Atlassing Weekend with Tony.
"Fully equipped" turned out to be the understatement of the year! The cottages were luxurious, equipped with comfortable beds, fridge, stove and microwave, electricity, showers and baths, heaters, fireplaces, a Weber braai (a godsend in view of the rain), and last but not least, a TV, much to the delight of the trio of Rebelo offspring, and, I might add, Ivan.
Situated about 13 km beyond Stanford on the road to Gansbaai, Grootbos is a Private Nature Reserve par excellence. The main Lodge and the cottages are all built of stone from the local quarries and nestle high above the road in a milkwood forest. Paths from the Lodge to each cottage wind through a well laid out indigenous garden, complete with ponds to attract the many species of birds occurring in the area. The cottages are built to blend in with the natural surroundings and each one is completely private. All have balconies with unsurpassed views of Walker Bay, through to Cape Hangklip, with Cape Point and the Cape Peninsula just visible in the distance.
The Reserve itself consists of several vegetation types; Dune, Mountain and Limestone Fynbos, interspersed with pockets of Milkwood and Afromontane forest. Very little alien vegetation occurs in the Reserve itself, although the surrounding veld and farms are all heavily infested.
On our arrival at the Reserve on Friday evening, Sean Privett, the Grootbos resident botanist, and well-known to us all, either through Botanical and Scouting connections, met us at the Lodge. After a quick welcoming drink and a visit to the office to look at the aerial map of the Reserve, plus a couple of snakes and a spider, Sean showed us to our cottages where we unpacked our things, and hastily lit our braai fire before the threatening rain started to fall in earnest. Once supper was over, we discussed our plans for Saturday, deciding to initially atlas the areas surrounding the Reserve, leaving the Reserve itself for Sunday, when Sean would be able to join us.
Saturday dawned cold, grey and decidedly wet, after a night of strong winds and torrential rain. However, the weather did not dampen our spirits (Tony would never allow that to happen), and we all piled into Suikerkannetjie (the Protea Atlas Project 4X4 vehicle), together with Miriam, a student landscape architect from Germany, and drove off in the watery sunshine. The sun shone only until we saw our first protea species, as Tony had predicted and, after a brief wait for the worst of the shower to blow over, Nigel started the atlassing.
The morning passed with
us all atlassing in between heavy rain squalls, the worst of
which was heralded by several claps of thunder and lightening
flashes. We saw among others: Leucadendron coniferum, Leucadendron
xanthoconus and Leucadendron
salicifolium; Protea obtusifolia
and Protea compacta
(mostly in plantations), Leucospermum patersonii
and Leucospermum
prostratum; Serurria rubricaulis and Serruria nervosa; Aulax umbellata, and Mimetes cucullatus.
As the weather worsened, Ivan did well to guide the car down what was hardly a road, in extremely poor visibility, and managed to avoid disaster in a ditch that suddenly appeared on one side of the track - all this in torrential rain and hail. We unanimously decided that "enough was enough" and returned thankfully to the cottages for lunch.
After lunch, the die-hards (Ivan, Tony, Sandy, Wendy, Nigel and myself) set off again. This time we did mainly roadside atlassing and only ventured into the veld as dark was approaching, at which time Tony, as is his wont, disappeared into a valley and up a ridge in pursuit of Mimetes saxatilis. Darkness had fallen by the time he returned, putting a stop to further atlassing, even for Tony!
Hot baths and showers were in great demand on our return to the cottages! We were grateful for the Weber braai that allowed the fire to burn in pouring rain, which thankfully let up long enough for us to braai our chops and sausage. After supper, washed down with several glasses of wine (some had more than others!), we ended our evening with a couple of slabs of chocolate (this seems to be mandatory after Protea Atlas suppers) and tea and coffee and retired to our comfortable beds, thankful that we were not camping in the freezing cold and rain.
Sunday dawned with much more promising weather. In fact it turned out to be a lovely day, which was enhanced by the stunning veld. The Reserve is criss-crossed with narrow jeeptracks winding through the head high Strandveld and lush stands of proteas and other Fynbos vegetation. The roads in no way detract from the pristine beauty of the veld and enable the Reserve guides to show their overseas visitors the magnificent natural vegetation in this part of the Cape. The views of the surrounding mountains, plains and sea were breathtaking.
We saw large stands of Leucadendron coniferum, Protea obtusifolia in full flower and Leucospermum patersonii in bud with a few flowers already opening in the strengthening sunlight. The slopes of several hills were covered with the beautiful pink Gansbaai Heath Erica irregularis and large round white Metalasia bushes with neat, white flowerheads. Everyone was kept very busy atlassing all the Proteaceae which, apart from the limestone endemics: Leucadendron coniferum, Protea obtusifolia and Leucospermum patersonii, included Protea longifolia, Protea cynaroides and Protea repens; Leucadendron salignum, Leucadendron xanthoconus and Leucadendron tinctum; Leucospermum prostratum and Mimetes cucullatus. Sean joined us halfway through the morning and guided us along the Reserve’s many roads to maximise the recording of as many Protea species as possible in the wet vegetation.
All too soon the morning was over and it was time to leave the beautiful veld and return to the cottages to collect our baggage and depart for home.
Atlassing in the Grootbos Private Nature Reserve was a rare and unforgettable privilege and pleasure that was thoroughly enjoyed and appreciated by us all. Thanks are due to Sean for arranging the weekend and to Micheal Lutzeyers for allowing us the use of the cottages.
Thanks also go to Val for behind the scenes organisation, as well as to Ivan, who spent the weekend driving us around, patiently putting up with a fair amount of back-seat driving and gratuitous advice! And last, but definitely not least, a big thank you to Tony, who, as Scientific Officer of the Project, continues to introduce us to the wonders of our amazing indigenous proteas and other flora.
Lyn McCallum
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