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Kogelberg Atlas Get Together

"How did the Kogelberg Atlas Get Together go?"

KOGELBERG ANNUAL GET TOGETHER 1996
a personal view of Proteaceae and personalities.

At last the long-awaited weekend arrived and the car was packed with everything except the kitchen sink (according to Nigel) and we set off to fight our way through the afternoon rush hour traffic, the mess of construction on the road to Rooi Els and on to Oudebosch in the Kogelberg Nature Reserve.

We arrived at Oudebosch to be met by the ever enthusiastic Tony who whipped us off at once to do - guess what? - a spot of atlassing before the light failed! Once it was good and dark we were allowed to unpack our gear and settle into a spotless, but totally unfurnished, wooden cottage. For most people that night a braai was on the cards and we met in the "main cottage" where Pat and Tony had been extremely busy setting up posters and charts and Amida Johns had set up a comprehensive and well-labelled specimen display of all the Protea, Serruria, Paranomus, Leucadendron, Spatalla and other species we would see over the weekend.

This year the Get Together was much smaller than last year at Springfield. Although this was a pity - so many people missed the privilege of a weekend in the heart of the Cape Fynbos - it did mean that everyone got to know each other so much better and, of course, we all got to do that much more atlassing!

For me the weekend was memorable for many reasons.

Of course, the absolute ultimate, the highlight of the weekend was Orothamnus zeyheri! For me it was a huge slog just to get there. We approached the top of Stokoe Kloof up a steep ridge and down an even steeper slope with lots of loose stones. I would never have made it without the help of Nigel, who kindly carried my rucksack part of the way. Tom Lloyd-Evans also battled a bit with a back problem - bouncing on Kogelberg roads is a serious matter - and Dieter Fuchsman vowed he was not cut out for scrambles of that nature- "I am a four by four man!" However, we all made it and we were amazed to see just how tall the two plants were. Much photographing was done during our "tea break" on the slope above the plants.

The next highlight was undoubtedly the "extinct" Sorocephalus tenuifolius. We were all taken to one of the sites of this interesting species by Mark Johns, but it was a whole lot more exciting to find a population ourselves (thanks Nigel) and have the opportunity of atlassing it.

Serruria deluvialis proved more elusive. A well-timed lunch break and the fortuitous choosing of a spot to sit by Di Turner turned this species up for Nigel to atlas. My chance came later on, but I don’t believe we would ever have found it if it had not been flowering!

Several sorties by Nigel to find Spatalla prolifera had been fruitless. He had spent a good few hours after returning from a strenuous days hiking trying to find this rare Spoon. Eventually Mark Johns took pity on him and pointed him in the right direction. The next day everyone was thrilled to be taken by Mark to the site, where the plants were admired in their swampy habitat from a respectful distance.

A long hike by the more fit (mad?) atlassers after the viewing of the Marsh Rose took them some 10 km further to Arieskraal. Here the goal was Paranomus nova. Discovered by Peter Ross in September 1991, not many people have seen this Sceptre, and all were delighted to see the plants in full flower. A fortuitous request by me to go with Adam in the Land Cruiser to pick everyone up at Arieskraal enabled me to see this species first, and I was also lucky enough (some would say pushy) to be able to atlas this species. An interesting find at this locality was a few plants of a hybrid between Se elongata and Se flagellifolia.

Enough of atlassing. There were other aspects to the weekend!:

This was an opportunity, not to be missed, of getting to know some of the other atlassers - so often just names gleaned during reading PAN, sometimes just codes: DOA, JID, OUT, TLE and RDF to mention just a few.

Of course, some of the atlassers were already known to me. Take David Osborne, for example. Our paths had crossed twice before - once at Springfield, where I decided that he was a prickly character, and once at Anysberg, where my opinion was rapidly changed - he rescued me from an impossibly long hike in the dark - a saviour who turned out also to be a hell of a nice guy!

Then there was Yvette van Wijk and Di Turner of Outramps fame. Briefly met at Springfield, it was great to get to know these two intrepid ladies better. Yvette, from the George Herbarium, bowled me over with her botanical knowledge and enthusiasm. Di, fighting to recover her fitness after a hip operation, was impressive with her determination to hike, come what may, and completed a couple of long walks back to Oudebosch from places as far away as Stokoe Bridge!

Dieter Fuchsman, met only briefly and hardly remembered at Springfield, will forever conjure up for me an image of a camera, a monopod, a GPS (lucky blighter), droewors, ostrich sausage, sauerkraut, beetroot and cigars!

It was nice to see Tom Lloyd-Evans again (he, of course, may not remember me) and to meet his wife Marlene and their son and daughter who played happily all weekend with the Rebelo offspring, (at last Sandy had another boy to hob nob with) until the call of home and beloved pets, left behind in the care of a housesitter, beckoned.

No PAP weekend would be complete without the Jardines and this one was no exception. Ivor and Cora are always there. Ivor, with his unlimited energy and endless enthusiasm for the Project, was encouraged by Cora to fit in as much atlassing as possible, while she was content to remain at Oudebosch, reading and just generally relaxing.

Stephen Richardson was there too. We met on a Protea Atlas Project outing to Wolfieskop in August and it was nice to see him again and to get to know him better. Sharing limited work-space in an empty kitchen saw to that!

It was great to meet Jimmy Dunn at last. His name has often appeared in PAN and I had conjured up my own picture of what he looked like. How wrong can you be! Jimmy is a tall, fit man whose quietly-spoken manner hides a charming personality.

It was wonderful to meet Mark and Amida Johns. Mark’s passion for Kogelberg Nature Reserve is paramount. A reserved man, he comes alive when talking about the plant species in the Reserve. The fact that part of the reserve is under threat, either to a vast dam or to a national road, is obviously of great concern to him. Amida is no less passionate about the Kogelberg Reserve. I was fortunate enough to walk with her on one of the hikes and was fascinated to listen to accounts of her experiences and learn a new protea species from her - Protea lorea.

Adam Nel, one of the Kogelberg Rangers, was a most popular leader. I know I found him interesting. He had many stories and anecdotes about his life and work in the Reserve over 29 years. He was most understanding about my extremely limited Afrikaans! Di and Yvette were fortunate enough to have him as their leader on their first hike and went into raptures about the wonderful day they had spent with him.

The weekend was not without a bit of drama:

Saturday morning saw Pat haring off back to Bergvliet to fetch Tony’s forgotten hiking boots! Overnight rain delayed our start that day and caused the Palmiet River and all its tributaries to come down in spate, which in turn, curtailed some of the hiking routes. Never again will hiking in or putting on wet boots phase me!

The next day, Tony and Stephen failed to return at the appointed hour, in spite of pleas from Pat to Tony not to be late! It transpired that Mark Johns' two-way radio had accidentally fallen out of a rucksack. This delayed proceedings while Tony and Stephen frantically searched the banks of the swollen Palmiet River to no avail. Time of arrival back at Oudebosch was 8 pm and without the radio. (This was fortunately found the next day by rangers.)

A wonderful weekend ended on the Tuesday with a most interesting walk on the Kleinmond flats to see an extensive stand of Mimetes hirtus. This was followed by a short hike on the contour path above Kleinmond, where Tony solved the Se phyl versus Se hete problem - Se hete they were!

I doubt if any Protea Atlas Get Together could surpass this one! However, I must say I am looking forward to whatever Tony can produce for next year’s one. Rumour has it that it will be in the Eastern Cape. I hope so!

Thanks are due to:
Pat and Tony Rebelo for all the organisation - the braai on Saturday night especially:
Mark and Amida Johns for the privilege of atlassing and staying in the Kogelberg Nature Reserve;
Adam Nel for acting as guide (and for taking me to Arieskraal and Pa nova!); and,
[text inserted by the editor:] Nigel Forshaw (NGF) for being my chauffeur, porter, pointer and competitor - I'll get my 200 species before you!

Lyn McCallum

Thanks are also due to Wendy Paisely (Institute for Plant Conservation), who organized the financial aspects with UCT administration, all the atlassers - can one ever thank you enough - who mucked in and made it all run so smoothly, and especially Pat Rebelo and Cora Jardine, who prepared, supervised and organized things while we were atlassing. Di Turner was inspirational and Mark and Amida Johns were fantastic hosts. It was a wonderful weekend! Very many thanks.

Tony

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