Skip to main content

Bain's Kloof Pass

My Thursdays don't usually involve ravines, but I'm so glad this one did. Bain's Kloof is a beaut, with a delicious stretch of rapids, waterfalls and natural pools, it's a biophilic's haven for adventure. When hopping from rock to rock the pools appear as pale cups of rooibos inviting one in for a sip, and as you venture below bearing a mask and snorkel, an emerald green universe beams hello. Little redfins swim about with curiousity, 'What's this strange creature doing in our pool?'.


I was really impressed with the health of this stretch of the Witte River and the communities it supports. Submerged pebbles and boulders were teeming with sensitive invertebrates, such as stonefly larvae and leptophlebids. We watched with fascination as stoneflies rested momentarily on the water's surface, only to be gobbled up by the alert redfins below. Frogs croaked upstream whilst those nearer to us splashed into the water to hide away. Dragonflies whizzed past us warily, although Ffi managed to get intimate with one after it crash landed in the pool in front of us. We even caught a glimpse of a tiny snake swimming through one of the pools.





Comments

Anonymous said…
Awesome shot of the fish Otto!! worth the wait :)

Popular posts from this blog

Phytoplankton and Penguins

Phytoplankton are perhaps the most important group of organisms on our planet. They are microscopic, single-celled galaxies that come in many different shapes and sizes. They are the movers and shakers of our marine ecosystems that transfer energy into food webs. Without them, there would be no krill, fish, penguins, seals or albatrosses. Basically, phytoplankton use nutrients from the water and, together with sunshine, create energy (via photosynthesis) that enables them to grow and multiply. When conditions are just right, phytoplankton are capable of erupting into enormous blooms. Below is a satellite image of a phytoplankton bloom associated with upwelling along the edge of a meso-scale eddy north of South Georgia: The focus of my PhD is all about understanding the at-sea movements of two penguin species from Marion Island (the larger of the Prince Edward Islands). Because these penguins feed on krill, and krill feed on phytoplankton, peng...

Spring Flowers

Every September the West Coast explodes into the most amazing colours. Knowing this, Jem and I decided to take a day trip up to Posberg Flower Reserve (West Coast National Park) to soak it all in. I get the same stoked feeling every time I see the flowers and always end up in such awe that a phenomenon like this isn't staged by some supernatural force. Fields and fields of flowers unfurled to the sun, flaunting their saturated petals at buzzers-by. Monkey beetles, flies, wasps, bees and countless other critters whizzing from inflorescence to inflorescence spreading pollen throughout these floral metropolises. The insects are followed by the birds... and so many of them! This truly is a time for the birds and the bees; pollination at its best.

The Jumping Spider and the Ant

A few weeks ago I was admiring the veggie patch behind our house when I noticed the red pepper plant had a leaf with another stray leaf resting on it. I gave it a tug but it was fastened solidly. I decided to peel away the front and have a look to see who was living inside. I often see jumping spiders prowling through the garden, but I hardly ever see them doing more than that. Their world is so miniature, and so its really special when you happen to meet them at an interesting moment. Two weeks later, a little jumping spider had caught a common house fly just one plant down from the red pepper. He wasn't actively eating it, but just holding onto it, waiting. I then glimpsed a tiny ant making its way up the stem towards the spider. When it approached, the spider, who had been rather still, shuffled to the end of the leaf with the ant hot on its heels. Just as the ant was about to make contact, the spider suddenly rappelled down to a lower leaf along a thin stra...