Dassies (Procavia capensis) are a common sight when hiking in the Table Mountain National Park. More closely related to elephants than the guinea pigs that they superficially resemble, dassies are one of four living species in the order Hyracoidea, and the only living species in
Last week, while driving through the Swartland’s lush wheat fields, I was met with a spectacular sight, at least 20 Blue Cranes were wandering through the green fields. It was enough to cause a minor traffic jam as day tourists pulled over to photograph our
Spring has sprung… Today the Southern Hemisphere celebrates the Spring Equinox and thus the “official” start of spring. To celebrate the arrival of one of our favourite times of the year we are launching a Spring Flower Photographic Competition. Weekly winners will be announced and your images
Hot gusty and dusty winds have buffeted parts of the Western Cape since Saturday. Blowing into Cape Town overnight, we woke up to a very warm early morning temperature and we knew that we were in for some unusual weather. The dust made for a
Last night Cape Town was buffeted by a cold front bringing torrential rain and gale-force winds. The build up to this cold front, and the subsequent weather, is a classic case study of Cape Town’s winter weather. Firstly a stream of high cirrus clouds rolled
The biodiversity conservation of the Cape Floral Kingdom was given a major boost on 3 July 2015, when UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee approved the expansion of the Cape Floral Region Protected Areas (CFRPA) World Heritage Site. With the approval of this expansion the CFRPA has
The Cape Sugarbird is one of two endemic sugarbird species to be found in South Africa and is restricted to the Cape Floristic Kingdom between the Cedarberg Mountains and the Buffalo River near East London, where its distribution is linked to the occurrence of Protea
Critical breeding grounds for African Penguins, Cape Gannets, gulls, cormorants and tern species, the guano islands that lie off the coastline of the Western Cape of South Africa protect seabirds from disturbance and predation from land-based predators. Sadly, the populations of many of these seabirds
Historically confined to the coastal plains of the Western Cape, the Bontebok was almost brought to extinction by overhunting. With a remaining population of less than 20 animals, a few farming families on the Agulhas Plain near Bredasdorp started to protect it in the mid
Measuring in at only around 15cms in length the Orange-Breasted Sunbird has to be one of the Cape Floristic Kingdom's most attractive endemic species. The male’s spectacular coloration of metal-green head and neck, blue collar and orange belly make it unmistakable, while the female is