Table of contents for Dec/Jan 2024/2025 in go!

ED'S LETTER This issue is for the birds. Or rather, for the birders. Our feathered friends weave a golden thread through many of our stories, from Verlorenvlei on the West Coast, through De Hoop in the Overberg, all along the Garden Route and into the Little Karoo. Life is never the same after that first bird chirps in your ear. Birders talk about “BB” (before birds) and “AB” (after birds), and some will tell you the story of their “spark bird”. In many cases, this will be a Big Tick species like a narina trogon, Pel's fishing-owl or crowned eagle – something you definitely don't see every day. In my case, it wasn't a bird, but a book by the Lowveld author Will Hickey. Two for a farthing was a…

Friend or foe? ROELIEN CORNFORTH from Krugersdorp writes: There are hundreds of these insects on the gardenias in my garden, but they don't seem to eat the leaves and flowers. They lay their eggs on the stems, hatch and live there for years. Can you identify the insect and tell me whether they can harm the plants? Entomologist DUNCAN MACFADYEN says: This is a twig wilter bug. It's about 25 mm in length and is boldly marked with tan-and-black forewings and orange underwings. The antennae have white-and-black bands. It's common in bushveld areas and urban gardens, where it appears to favour the Transvaal gardenia and other plants in this group. A community on a tree may include a number of generations; adults with larvae of various sizes are common. They…

Veld: The Gardens and Landscapes of Patrick Watson by Garreth van Niekerk, Struik Nature R650 in bookstores If you've run out of gift ideas for your green-fingered friend – how many orchids are too many? – this beautiful book about local landscape architect Patrick Watson is a safe bet. Inspiration is always a welcome gift. Watson is known for his creative designs of green spaces big and small. He works with landscapes rather than against them, using mostly indigenous plants. Veld covers 23 of his designs all over the country, including the Spier Estate near Stellenbosch, residential gardens in Johannesburg and Cape Town, and Sun City in the Pilanesberg. Watson's designs are as varied as the landscapes they're located in; the book even features an island garden in the Seychelles.…

WHY? We publish a selection of reader pictures in every issue. Don't be shy, haul out those shots you've been hoarding on your computer and send them to us! We like just about anything: wildlife, landscapes, portraits, holiday snaps or bugs in your garden. HOW? Send your photos to takeyourpic@gomag.co.za Submit only your three best shots each month. Don't send files bigger than 4 MB – if we need a bigger version, we'll ask for it. Give the name, surname, home town and contact number of the photographer. Also include info about where and how the shot was taken, and what equipment was used. If you manipulated your photo in any way, tell us what you did. No AI illustrations, please. THE FINE PRINT We reserve the right to use…

Potato cake with cheddar and sage Serves 4–6 as a side dish Preparation time 20 minutes Baking time 1 hour You need • ¼ cup butter • 1 onion, halved and thinly sliced • 1kg medium-sized potatoes, washed • 12 sage leaves, half of them chopped • ½ cup finely grated mature cheddar Here's how 1 Melt most of the butter in a pan. Add a splash of olive oil – it prevents the butter from burning. Fry the onion until soft and glossy. 2 Use a sharp knife (or a mandolin) and slice the potatoes thinly with the peel on. 3 Combine the potatoes with the buttery onions and chopped sage leaves. Season generously with salt and pepper. 4 Preheat the oven to 200°C. Grease a 22cm ovenproof pan…

“The doctor can't write a prescription for this,” the fisherman said, flashing a smile. It was just the pick-up we needed. We were tired, having laboured for 4 km along a cambered, soft-sand beach. We put down our heavy overnight packs and looked back along the path. The sun was shining, golden sand stretched as far as we could see, the ocean was that seductive turquoise that you see on billboards advertising tropical holidays, and this fisherman was the first person we'd seen since starting the trail earlier. We were hiking the Damara Trail, a new two-day route managed by CapeNature, which runs from De Mond Nature Reserve to Arniston in the Southern Cape. From the trailhead the previous afternoon, we'd followed a boardwalk along the Heuningnes River, scanning the…

In May 2023, I spent a week in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park with my parents, André and Adanda. We arrived soon after veld fires had ravaged the area and we didn't see many animals. Most of the big herbivores had migrated to the Mabuasehube area on the Botswana side of the park in search of food, and the carnivores had followed. But you should never underestimate the Kgalagadi. There's always something to amaze you; it just takes patience and a keen eye. Late one afternoon, as we were driving back to Twee Rivieren, we saw a vehicle pull over. We quickly scanned the landscape and saw a honey badger among the shrubs with what looked like a rugby ball-sized rock. I zoomed in using the Sigma 150–600 mm lens on…

What's the rarest bird in South Africa? There are a few contenders for this not-so-coveted title. African penguin and Botha's lark are declining alarmingly fast, and vultures are slowly losing the war against the myriad threats they face. But if you're talking numbers, then the white-winged flufftail might be your guy. Fifty. That's how many individuals are thought to remain in the cold, windswept marshes that these birds haunt. Finding a flufftail is a fool's game. There are five species in our country, and very few birders have seen them all. The white-winged version is about the size of a tennis ball; it lives in dense, impenetrable and often flooded wetlands; it's incredibly sneaky and elusive, partly nocturnal and almost never flies. Think about it this way: Take 50 tennis…

TRAVEL JOURNAL The spinach (if it was spinach) and street chicken from the previous night woke me in the early morning. Breakfast consisted of black coffee, a malaria pill and stomach medicine. It was going to be a long day. Our experience at a filling station in Cabinda in Angola made us think… We'd arrived in the city looking for petrol, but all the pumps were dry. Then, suddenly, we found a station with a long line of motorcycles and old cars. A guard waved us forward and signalled us to ride past everyone right up to the pump. No one complained or swore at us or threw things. In fact, people waved and took photos. That evening, after eating fish and talking about the day, we wondered about our…

African penguin in peril Critically endangered. That's the new conservation status of the African penguin, as declared by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in October 2024. What does “critically endangered” mean? It means that this iconic bird is only one step away from extinction. With fewer than 10000 breeding pairs remaining in the wild, the African penguin is the first of the world's 18 penguin species to be classified as such. Climate change and commercial fishing are the major threats to the survival of this species. SANCCOB and BirdLife South Africa have initiated landmark litigation to force the South African government to implement stricter laws to protect the African penguin, with special focus on fishing restrictions around their breeding colonies. You can help by signing a petition:…

PIT STOP A pit stop in northern Botswana requires a certain level of caution. There are no fences around the national parks and other reserves, which means that lions, elephants and other dangerous animals roam wherever they want. It's best not to sit next to a herd of elephants while peeling an orange. Things won't end well for your orange – or you. While driving, you have to keep your eyes open. Look out for potholes on the A3 between Maun and Gweta, yes, but also scan the thickets and grassland next to the road. Elephants are easy to see from a distance, and you will see them because a pipeline in this region has sprung several leaks and the water attracts thirsty ellies that don't often look both ways…

HAVE YOU SEEN SOMETHING AMAZING? Send your series of photos and a short description of the sighting to toast@gomag.co.za. You could win a Thule Subterra PowerShuttle bag! The Thule Subterra PowerShuttle bag is ideal for people who travel with a lot of tech. It's a sturdy carrier made from durable materials and is perfectly sized (21 x 7 x 14,5 cm) to organise everything from cables, earphones and adaptors to power banks and compact external hard drives. There's also an easily accessible pass-through slot that allows you to charge your device in the exterior slip pocket from a power bank inside the bag. With the Subterra PowerShuttle, you'll never have to search for a single cord again! For more information about this and other great gear for your active lifestyle,…

LETTERS WINNING LETTER WRITE TO US & WIN! Rudolph wins a set of Zartek ZA-725 two-way radios, GE-295 car antenna kits and GE-259 speaker microphones, worth R4750 in total. Zartek'stop radio model is perfect for outdoor and indoor communications. It offers crystal clear audio, excellent distance coverage and a robust design. The optional GE-295 magnetic-mount vehicle antenna improves signal while in convoy. A car charger is also included. zartek.co.za This trail rocks! Over the last few years, I've grown addicted to the natural scenery of the Cape region and I hit a hiking trail almost every week to make the most of it. Every now and again I also do a longer trail recommended by fellow hikers. Earlier this year, someone shared a link to an article about a trail…

Look for the Star of Bethlehem The Star of Bethlehem is synonymous with Christmas. It's the star described in the Gospel of Matthew in the Bible, where it attracted stargazers from the east to Bethlehem and led them to the stable where Jesus was born. Something about the star was special, which prompted them to make the journey to Judea. Many articles and books have been written about what the Star of Bethlehem could have been. Was it a comet? A supernova? An occultation? Or maybe a conjunction, when planets or other celestial objects appear close together in the sky? Every possible explanation has been researched and debunked. There's only one remaining explanation… a miracle! There are many spectacular events in the night sky this December and January that can…

In the foreword you ask: “How can one capture the spirit of a boundless, threedimensional landscape with a tiny twodimensional camera sensor?” So, how do you go about trying to distil your experiences into something as beautiful and poignant as Spirit of Africa? This book is my humble attempt to do justice to African wilderness, and my intuitive response to it. My work as a photographer for NGOs and safari companies has taken me to some amazing wilderness areas in Africa. Still, getting the shot is often a matter of luck. It's about being in the right place at the right time; like a surfer, you have to get up early every morning, regardless of the weather, to catch that rare, perfect wave. Also in the foreword, you write: “Most…

WINNING PHOTO BASILIKI GERICKE Canon EOS R7 Canon 100–500 mm lens BASILIKI WRITES: Not all lions are created equal; and some sightings are definitely more special than others. In September 2024, we spent a few weeks in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park. Early one morning, while driving from Nossob towards the Polentswa waterhole, we found this lion sauntering down the road near the Langklaas waterhole. It's one of the biggest, healthiest and most beautiful lions I've seen in a long time. It walked onto the shoulder of the road, which was higher than the road surface. We could take great photos because we were at eye-level with the beast. The lion stood there as if to bask in the moment. It posed for a few photos, walked further and then lay…

What is a seashell? It's the skeleton of a mollusc, a kind of sea animal that doesn't have a skeleton inside its body. The shell forms a protective layer around the animal – it's called an exoskeleton; “exo”means outside. There are two types of molluscs. Gastropods look like slugs and have a “foot” on the bottom of their body which they use to move around. Their shells consist of one piece. Then we get bivalves, like mussels – their shells are made up of two pieces, or“wings”. The shell grows along with the mollusc. When the animal dies, the shell remains and sometimes washes onto the beach or into a rock pool. Is a shell made of bone? Not quite. A shell is composed of calcium carbonate crystals (like an…

ANSWER #2 Do you also find it difficult to identify raptors? They always have me scratching my head! One of the reasons they're hard to identify is that it takes a raptor many years to reach maturity. And during this time the bird's brown plumage goes through about 6 million variations (or that's what it feels like at least). Fortunately the bird in the photo is an adult – and very beautiful! Sometimes the shape of a raptor is a better clue than its colouring. This one has fairly short but wide wings and a heavy tail. The tail is designed for hunts at high speed and quick manoeuvres in the sky, not for surprise attacks from a perch or for riding the thermals for hours. When you page through…

A cool breeze stirs from the east – it must have rained somewhere over there during the night. It almost rained here as well, but the few drops that fell left no trace in the sand. Yesterday was a scorcher – close to 40°C – and today might be the same. But for now, the morning is soft and benign. Earlier, an African paradiseflycatcher fluttered in from the marula tree next to my tent to catch an insect. Two Meyer's parrots also rushed past. Somewhere between coffee #1 and coffee #2, a groundscraper thrush arrived to patrol the area with its resolute stride. My laptop is open on a wooden table under a thatched roof in the campsite. From my “desk”, through the branches of silver cluster-leaf trees, I can…