West coast spring: Fossils and flowers
Our trip starts amid contemporary consumerism: The West Coast Shopping village, with its iconic wind pump situated beside Blaauwberg Hospital, is the first sign that we are on the right route. We travel onwards, alongside the Blaauwberg hills, but there
A beginner’s guide to bird-watching at Milnerton’s Rietvlei
It had been a disappointing weekend. I’d been looking forward to joining an excursion to see pelagic seabirds. Now, I know nothing about birds, pelagic or otherwise, but I liked the idea of travelling 25 nautical miles out to sea,
The Shark Spotter of False Bay
For most of us, summer spells sand, sea and sun, but for Monwabisi Sikweyiya, it spells shark! “Every day is a headache for me,” says Monwabisi Sikweyiya, field supervisor of the shark spotters. As we speak, his attention and hands
Wonderful World of Wasps
Finding new wasp species is Simon van Noort’s passion. He explains, “You have to be an explorer. It’s one of the last frontiers of natural history. Wasps are so hyper-diverse and there are so few taxonomists that I can go
The Kanonkop baboons
Roughly half of the troops on the peninsula occupy home ranges which include coastal land. Nevertheless, while the shoreline extends an open invitation to forage in the tidal pools for mussels, limpets and the occasional shark’s egg, baboons have foresworn
Big wave surfing on the Atlantic Seaboard
The Charge of the Big Wave Brigade Cape Town is fast establishing itself as an epicentre of big-wave surfing. Our reefs and shores, lashed severely by deep At lantic storms, throw up some of the biggest waves that the planet
Birds of a feather
RECENTLY I moved home. On my stoep, as the sun softened, a flock of birds circled, as though of one mind, in a wide arc above my roof, their beating wings making a soothing sound like a sheet ruffled by
Creating an organic swimming pool
If you could incarnate as a plant, you’d probably want to avoid being a Cape Flats fynbos plant. For a start, you’d have to withstand flooding in winter. Then, because you grow in sandy soil, in summer, any available water
Sprouting Health, Wealth & Wisdom
Dawn Kennedy gets on the same wavelength as Cape Town ecopreneur Joseph Feigelson. Joseph Feigelson is passionate about sprouts and eats nearly three hands full a day. It’s no wonder, 13 years ago they cured his debilitating heartburn. The alternative
Snowboarding In The Matroosberg
With his love of surf and snow, Jeremy has an intimate, almost obsessive, relationship with weather reports, which he reads at least 10 times a day. He’s looking for subtle things, not just a good swell or a cold front.