December 2005:

Sun, clear skies, golden beaches, hot days, swimming, great meals - this is the only way to describe December. The seasons wind has settled in as a dominant easterly making it ideal for kite surfers and paragliders. It has also resulted in the annual depositing of sand on the beaches with places as much as 1.6m higher than 3 months ago creating golden beaches from former exposed rock - caused by a layer of shell particles.The warm water temperatures tempted all to take refreshing swims in the rivers and the sea, later rinsing the salt off in jacuzzi's and pools. The relaxed routine of the trail and the long daylight length allowed folk to mellow out after a hard year of work, enjoying the secluded landscapes to soak up the rejuvenating energy of nature. Drought conditions in December were evident in the forest, with most plants wilting in an attempt to reduce transpiration. Even the forest birds were scarce in the midday heat. Two rewarding sightings were of the Purple Gallinule with it's nests on the Serpentine River and a fledgling Giant Spotted Eagle Owl, both seen on canoeing stages of the trail. The Purple Gallinule was undeterred as the group canoed within 3m of it. Sighting the owl was rewarding - for the past three months we have not seen the adults and now we realize why, they have been busy nesting. We spotted the first African Black Oyster Catcher nesting in November, but this month we discovered another 3 nests with eggs. It was also interesting to see the change in behavior of the Oyster Catchers as the group walks past - one of a pair now attempts to distract us to draw attention away from the partner on the nest. Feeding patterns are also focused on the rocky areas as this has the highest yield of food in the build up to the arriving chicks.Though the focus of the trail is not intended as a gastronomic tour, the meals were relished by all and Lew could not stave off theneed to succumb to a power nap after the meal at Featherbed Nature Reserve while waiting for the ferry crossing of the Knysna Lagoon. Not to mention the prawns, tuna and potjie of the preceding days. With the holiday crowds thronging in the area, there were some spectacular half day guided walks on the Robberg Peninsula with magnificent views of the bay, the Titsikamma mountains, the seal colony and always a delight, dolphin spotting, finishing off with a swim. Life's a beach and so is my office! What a way to finish a great year. Join us for even more fun in 2006.

 

November 2005

November was our celebration of one year of trails and to join in, nature gave us every aspect that she could in contribution. A year after the first trail, global warming theories seemed to be shattered. Comparatively, former temperatures of a sweltering, sunny, calm 28 to 30 Deg Celsius - the first week of November 2005 was a more tolerable 24 Deg C. Trevor even learnt the merits of having a suitable rain proof jacket when, on an overcast and blustery rainy day he was convinced we were heading for a global iceage. But since then dry sunny conditions have prevailed. The spring flush of September and October wilted in the heat and on the Yellow woods even died. We also experienced the first time that the water stopped flowing over the Touw river cascades, though this only lasted a couple of days. It was also the month of swimming with folk enjoying the refreshing cool of the Touw river cascade's and the rock pools of Gerickes.The bushbuck were more elusive, however sightings along the river bank were still made. With longer daylight available, we introduced some entertainment in the form of Boulle on the 3rd and 4th evenings. Despite accusations of cheating, great fun was had by all. And then it struck - Sudoku arrived on the trail, with Renee the most organized person carting photocopies of grids, pencils and erasers. We even had rest stops on the beach to solve the latest puzzle. Though there were no sightings of them, evidence of baboons and vervet monkeys increased. Locally, both species have families of young and remain close to places with water. The region bid farewell to the whales, but not before an exciting sighting of Humpbacks off Goukamma Nature Reserve performing what can only be described as bubble netting, a feeding activity normally observed in the Arctic and Antarctic. The washing up of a dead Humpback Whale on the Wilderness beach presented a rare opportunity to observe first hand the size of these gentle residents of the oceans. The whale had been dead at sea for a few weeks before washing up. Oystercatchers were difficult to count with numbers varying between each trail - an indication that nesting has begun and at least one of a pair is sitting on eggs. The pair at Gerickes point which had 3 chicks last season is once again on their well protected nest. The fish eagle from the Goukamma river also seems to be sitting on eggs which we will be monitoring with interest in the coming months. It is our intention to make the trail a pleasurable and memorable experience, mostly of nature. So it was with great satisfaction that we facilitated Achim's experience of one of his passions - by sitting in a Unimog, the next model up from his pride and joy back in Germany. He assures us that he did also enjoy the rest of the trail!! In all, not only did November 2005 end up being the finish to a great first year and a great month, but the start of another great season and year as we look forward to summer and 2006. Thank you all that have been part of it and looking forward to sharing with those of you becoming part of the Garden Route Trail experience in the future.

 

October 2005:

While September was the month of change, October was the month of excitement. It started off with having a bushbuck doe walk up to us and continue grazing unperturbed by our presence. Not once, but twice, on the second occasion allowing a first time witnessing of a Cape Robin landing on her head and eating the ticks from her ears. It was also the month for birders : Knysna Loeries sat for portraits, the Paradise Flycatchers arrived to the area, Cape Batis' hung around hoping for disturbed insects. But the trophy bird of the month had to be the Narina Trogan, both females, most likely close to their nests allowing more than 10 minutes viewing.The day temperatures also increased (around 27 deg Celcius), though there was a fair share of wind. Erosion of the beach at the start of the month was still blatantly noticeable as seen by Sheryl and Laurie standing next to a rock which used to be buttock height above the sand. Towards the end of the month with the winds changing, sand was seen building up again. Nature displayed the harshness of survival with a baby dolphin being washed up and a few drowned gannets indicating that the trawler fishing activities have started in earnest again. As a kiting fanatic, October was a playful month, and on the trail the wind swept clouds provided wonderful photo opportunities. Clint was the first of the season to swim at the Touws River cascade's and even managed to persuade Lida to join in at Geriekes Point. The easterly winds have pushed the warm Mozambican current in and we were able to see some tropical fish. The Cape Chestnut and the Polygala both put on a magnificent floral display, but the most impressive flower was the Wild Ginger, especially where they lined the river bank with a rich golden wall.

September 2005:

September was definitely a month of environmental transition. There was a flush of plant growth which seemingly cloaked shrubs and trees with a light green cover of new growth. The beaches continued to demonstrate the erosive effects of the sea though the sea calmed down substantially from August. An impressive display of the seas power was the lifting up and moving of 3m X 4m slabs of rock near Platbank. Also impressive is the 'greening' of the recently exposed rock. The predominant species of algae colonizing the rock is Ulva. sp, a vivid green carpet which is exposed at low tide. The removal of up to 3m of sand by the sea has obliterated the beach for the ghost crabs which this month were lacking - their absence is no doubt due to a combination of winter and the erosion. On the fauna front, September appeared to be natures ruthless month of thinning out the weak and ill. Two seals, showing signs of starvation, swam up exhausted on Swartvlei and Buffalo Bay beaches respectively and two more dead seals were found. This is the harsh reality indicative of the dwindling fish stocks as the area is heavily fished. There is a definite need for new marine reserves and more sustainable fishing policies. A number of weak penguins also beached and a few dead penguins were found, all seemingly due to illness which is common at this time of year. Still washing up are dead South Cape Gannets, injured in trawler nets when they dive for fish and break their wings on the net cables - unable to fly they drown and wash up. However, the most tragic discovery was of three dead dolphins, two humpbacked and one common dolphin, on the beach between Kleinkrans and Goukamma. The humpbacked dolphins where pink in colour, an indication of chemical exposure. This was interesting as there had been a wash out of litter and debris after the our last rains. An exciting moment was walking close to a bushbuck doe while returning to the canoes on the first day. She was unperturbed by our presence and we were fortunate to be able to watch her briefly walk down the path in front of us. The lizards are also coming out as the days warm up, especially on the Featherbed walk. Carol had a double celebration of a birthday and an anniversary with Collin and both agreed that being on the trail was the perfect way to celebrate. This month I introduced the practice of collecting a stone on the first day, to be carried for the whole trip and deposited on a cairn on the final day. Fitting for this inaugural event where two Southern Right Whales in the Knysna Lagoon mouth as we placed the first stones. May the cairn grow...

August 2005:

August started with the same sunny warm weather of July and proceeded to be bombarded with cold fronts in the second half. Much needed rain fell to water the sprouting vegetation. And then there was a night of heavy frost just as a reminder that it was actually winter. However, this did not stop the early nesting activities of numerous species of birds. The series of cold fronts had an enormous impact on the coastline, washing away the bases of some of the dunes. The tides during the last week were exceptionally high, even on the neap tides, providing convincing evidence of rising water levels associated with global warming. In the few days preceding the hurricane that devastated the Gulf coastline of the US, low tide levels were higher than some neap high tide levels. As can be expected, rough seas will have an impact on the marine life and one washed up penguin was cared for during a beach walk. A juvenile, it was exhausted and it's eyes were stuck with sand, but was unperturbed when we cleaned it. Sitings of whales and dolphins were impossible in the rough seas, though on the 22nd two Southern Right Whales entered the Knysna Heads and swam all the way to the railway bridge. The flamingoes are still in the Sedgefield estuary, though with the mouth closed, water levels are high and they have to wade up to their bellies to feed. August can best be described as the 'Yellow' month as the majority of flowers in bloom are yellow with the Bitou and the Leucodendrons dominating the landscape. A family of shrubs which contribute to the distinctive smell of the Garden route are the Buchu's (Agthosmia spp) which have started flowering with their delicate pink and pastel white blooms. Unfortunately the train service was halted to determine a repair plan for the flood damaged railway track. It is uncertain when we will be able to resume use of this service for the trail

 

July 2005:

As with June, the weather was magnificent with lovely warm days and cool to cold nights. Bookings for trails were mainly for day trails with most of the visitors to the area being participants in all the sporting activities of the Knysna Oyster Festival. A tragic finding was a washed up male Humpbacked Dolphin near Gerickes - hopefully he was not one of the two residents of Gerickes. A popular option proved to be the night walk to Gerickes to investigate all the occupants of the rock pools. Popular sightings where of octopus and cuttlefish, thought the dexterity of the various species of starfish proved to be a great crowd pleaser. But of all the creatures sighted by groups, the proximity of the whales to the shore delighted so many, with displays by Southern Right and Humpback whales. Inland, the flamingoes arrived at Swartvlei and could be seen wading belly deep (the water level is up with the mouth closed) on either side of the N2 bridge. In the forests, the effects of the drought on the animals can be clearly seen as they now constantly forage along the trails at night. There was a fortunate late afternoon sighting of a caracul (lynx), which unaware of it's observers was viewed for over 15 minutes.

Most noticeable has been the indication of global warming as some species such as the Polygala are still in bloom since the onset of their second floral flush in February. Other species like the coral tree are coming into bloom and sprouting new growth and a number of the deciduous trees have retained their leaves.

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