A Saturday morning hike on the Flamingo Trail

I'm probably the most overweight, unfit active guy there is.  There is no hesitation to go if I get the opportunity to get out and about and because of my love for the outdoors I make an effort to explore and do as much as possible.  I've been fortunate that I've had the opportunity to do most of the day walks around Port Elizabeth with the exception of only a few.  One of those being the Flamingo Trail in the Swartkops Nature Reserve and I didn't think twice about joining the Zwartkops Conservancy on a guided walk of the trail.

The Flamingo Trail is 6 - 8 km long and best done as a guided trail with the guys from the conservancy.  The walk starts at the Motherwell storm water canal and follows the estuary in a westerly direction.  The Swartkops estuary is an important breeding ground for numerous waders and sea birds and is also home to up to a thousand flamingos, hence the name of the trail in case you wondered.  The surrounding reserve is there to protect the estuary as well as the Valley Thicket (or Valley Bushveld) on the northern slope and escarpment of the reserve.

Those joining the walk split into two groups.  One group did the longer trail which rounded the estuary and follow the banks past Redhouse.  I had more active things to do later in the day plus Chaos Boy was tagging along for the walk so opted to do the shorter one which took us along the northern bank and then up onto the escarpment.  I was in good company though with fellow Geocachers Seekoei and erenei as well as Cathy Dempsey from Dempsey's Guesthouse deciding to also do the shorter one.

Jenny Rump from the Zwartkops Conservancy kept pointing out interesting sights and told us about the threats that impacts on the Swartkops River and estuary.  The Zwartkops Conservancy is campaigning to have the estuary declared a Ramsar international wetland which will make it the first such wetland in South Africa situated within an urban area, and the first initiated by the public as opposed to government. The national Dept of Environmental Affairs is giving the application its full support though.

Walking along the river bank gave us some beautiful views of the river and fairly close up sightings of birds with my interest on that day being specifically flamingos.  You usually get to see the flamingos while driving along the Swartkops road towards Despatch and Uitenhage but it was great to get to see them while on foot.  It did help that we had a gorgeous windless Saturday morning and I was kinda glad I had my hat and some extra water on hand as shade is a bit on the spares side along the river banks.

After a short rest at the turning point, Jenny took us up onto the escarpment and although we were huffing and puffing when we got there it was truly worth it.  The view from up there across the estuary towards the city is magnificent.  The walk onto the escarpment and back down took us through the Valley Thicket where succulents like Aloes and Tree Euphorbias as well as Boer Beans and other smaller trees can be found.  Have I mentioned the stunning view?  

Anybody wanting more information about the Zwartkops Conservancy or interested in finding out when the next guided walk is can contact Jenny Rump at Tel – 082 853 0700 or 041 466 1815 or

email: zwartkopsconservancy@iafrica.com.

Kings Protea in Van Stadens Wildflower Reserve

The Van Stadens Wildflower Reserve west of Port Elizabeth is one of the best and easiest accessible areas around to see proteas and other species in the Cape Floral Kingdom.  Flowers like the King Protea, South Africa's national flower, and the Pin Cushion Protea is found in abundance and when in flower is a real treat to see along one of the reserve's two trails.  I try to visit the reserve at least once or twice a year, even if its just for a quick stop while driving past on the N2, and there is always something to be seen and photographed.  Even better when I found this King Protea in such a position that I could show the Van Stadens Bridge in the background. 

New shoots of life

Nature is a wonderful thing.  It can be destroyed so easily through natural causes or human doing, but it is resilient and will always fight back.  Sometimes immediately and sometimes only much later.  We as humans don't always give nature the respect it deserves, destroying and polluting as far as we go.  At least many are waking up to the fact and is trying to do something about it.  Some people are trying hard to distroy this world we live in either through their greed or ignorence.  But Mother Earth will persist and with our help will (hopefully) be around for a long time to come. 

 

Sorry, didn't mean to be so deep this morning.  Just didn't want to write something like "A new shoot appearing after a fire" or something like that.

Cape Recife WWII Forward Observation Post

Port Elizabeth has arguably the most complete collection of surviving coast artillery buildings and equipment dating from the Second World War (1939-45) of any port in South Africa. Before the Second World War the Port Elizabeth Harbour actually had no defence in place except for Fort Frederick which was built in 1799 to guard the original landing place in the early days long before a harbour was even built. In 1942 it was decided to put harbour defences in place at all South Africa's harbours. 
 

Three Fortress Observation Posts (FOPs) were built at Amsterdam Hoek (Bluewater Bay), Seahill (Cape Recife) and Skoenmakerskop, together with a Port War Signal Station next to Cape Recife lighthouse. These three along with the Algoa Battery building in Humewood and the Battery Observation Post on Brookes Hill had to keep a constant lookout for approaching ships, submarines and planes. The buildings were all constructed with curvy, free-form profile of parapets, angle buttresses and 'fins' to break up their square, box-like shapes when seen from the sea against the background of the bush.

Just below the FOP in Cape Recife the ruins of the old barrack buildings can also still be seen.  The Roseatte Tern Trail through the Cape Recife Nature Reserve runs right past the ruines before heading up the hill to the observation post itself which has fantastic views of the surrounding game reserve.

Visit the South African Military History Society website for a lot more detailed information on the FOP's around Port Elizabeth.

Moss and mushroom