h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Hi folks! I'll be away over the weekend - I'm going to have a short holiday with my parents and members of their church at a holiday resort in the Waterberg area. There ought to be wildlife and nice sights and I'll take pictures! See you all again on Monday!

Have a good time and a nice rest. I will catch up with you soon. This last couple of weeks has been very busy. I'll look forward to pictures

Take care

Websailor

Have a very good time .

Ditto re the last couple of weeks!

Waz

Yay!
Good nature stories to follow!

*waits patiently under rock*

Oh dear abbi,

Thank goodness I have found you again.

Do you remember our plan to go to the Grand Canyon - was it there or to the Rockies? - in our wheelchairs.? Was it because you had read something about there being a special path built above the trees especially for people in wheelchairs? Was it real or was it wonderful imagination?

I have put you back onto my friends list and I hope that I shall NEVER Lose you again.!!

Lovely to receive your news again.
~!

With very much affedtion

Christiane
AlsoRan1
alsoRan2
now
Also Ran80( I turned 80 four months ago)
I take the same name - it seems to me that it is only my password that I forget!

Dear Willem,

Do hope that you all enjoyed the break in the Waterberg. You have mentioned it before and said what beautiful country it is.

very bsuy writing and enjoying every minute of it.

Christiane
AR80

Hello Everybody! Here followeth the report!

The place was called 'Marula Mountain Village'. It is actually not very mountainous! It is in the foothills of the Waterberg Mountains, and the 'village' is a bunch of huts on the slope of a low hill. There are swimming pools and other facilities but I was interested in 'nature'!

When we arrived we saw a couple of bush squirrels running around on the ground twitching their tails! Funnily, we never saw squirrels again after that!

I attended some of the church events though I'm not in the church, but I spent much of Saturday exploring the 'bush' on my own.

It's not a very large place, I easily trudged across most of it, east to west and north to south. I was most interested in the rocky ridge that extended across it. Most interesting plants grow in rocky areas. At any rate, I did find lots of interesting plants! I found some of what I was specifically searching for, such as an Adenia glauca plant! I found ONLY ONE! In the entire area. Despite there being much suitable habitat (rocks in the shade of trees) there was just this single plant. I would class this, based on my explorations, as a rare but widespread species. Nowhere have I found large numbers of them, but they extend over a pretty big range. The picture (and more information) will go onto my photo website soon ... probably later today!

Another 'special' discovery was a Rock Tree Nettle! This species is a small tree and as its name says it grows in rocky places. The one I found had a trunk that was thickened at the bottom and a bark with a succulent appearance. The leaves were just emerging; I touched them but the supposed stinging hairs were little evident. I would like to see the leaves when fully grown: they are fairly large and roundish. This 'nettle' tree, in my view, would be a suitable addition to a rock- or succulent garden.

Other 'specials' included large Black Monkey Thorn trees, and large numbers of flowering Paperbark False Thorn trees. Pictures of all these, and more, will go onto my site. I'll post the link here when I've finished uploading them.

Plant-wise the excursion was quite interesting! Bird-wise as well! In the 'camp' area, there were large numbers of flowering Coral Trees, the nectar of which attracted many different bird species. Other trees in the camp included a large fruiting wild fig tree. In the short grass there were Crowned Lapwings, and Natal Francolins (a francolin is a smallish partridge-like bird) and there were thrushes hopping around also ... two species: the Kurrichane Thrush and the Groundscraper Thrush. The groundscraper is a species I haven't seen in a while!

There were also flocks of babblers flying around - the Arrowmarked Babbler, Turdoides jardineii, to be exact. These starling-sized birds have a sort of cackling-laughing call, uttered by the entire flock in synchronisation! Can be very noisy, but a very amusing sort of noise it is! They don't seem to take themselves or anyone or anything else seriously.

Other pleasant birds were the Go-Away Birds! They're also called Grey Louries, or Grey Turacos. They are rather large, long-tailed, large-winged, with bodies about the size of pigeon's and a long crest. Ashy-grey all over. Their main call sounds like 'Go-Awaaayyy!!' Actually again the sound is a bit over-interpreted; it sounds much more like 'Kwêêê!' which is why we call them 'Kwêvoëls' in Afrikaans! ('voël' corresponding to 'Fowl' in English, = bird)

When we drove into the camp I briefly glimpsed a beautiful bird called a Blackheaded Oriole. This bird is mainly bright yellow apart from a black head, and some black and olive green in the wings and tail. The bill is bright red. It has a lovely liquid flutey call. I later saw it much better, sitting and calling in the top of a large Fever Tree!

The day I went exploring the 'bush' I saw a lovely little bird that I've only seen a few times previously: a Goldenbreasted Bunting! The underparts are indeed a deep yellow colour, turning a bit orangey on the breast. The head has white and black longitudinal stripes, which is why we call buntings 'streepkoppies' (stripey-heads) in Afrikaans. I saw this bird for a good long time sitting in a tree, from not too far away!

When the church folks congregated around the swimming pool, we were entertained by a group of lovely birds - Green Pigeons! Green pigeons are in a separate subfamily of the dove-and-pigeon family: they are fruit-eating, rather than seed-eating. They are mainly green, but with red legs and bills, and short yellow 'pants' around the thighs! In Afrikaans we call them 'Papegaaiduiwe' or 'Parrot-doves' since they are brightly coloured and clamber around using their feet, like parrrots.

Other birds seen included:

- White-browed sparrowweavers. Like large-ish sparrows, they can be recognised by the big white 'eyebrow' patches on each side of the head. The belly is white and the back is dark brown and sooty black; the rump is also white. Sparrowweavers make untidy ball-like nests out of dry grass, and usually nest in small groups in thorn trees.

- Other weavers, most of the time seeking nectar in the coral trees. They could have been Cape Weavers, or Village Weavers ... I didn't get a good look at them.

- Sunbirds! Specifically, a black (or amethyst) sunbird: mainly dark velvety black, but with glossy green and purple on the head.

- A little bird I showed my mom and some other folks - a Barthroated Apalis. This tiny bird has a long thin tail, blackish above, with white underparts broken by a thin but very neat little 'collar' around the throat! It has a very loud voice: 'Pillip-Pillip-Pillip-Pillip" ... and it sat and sang for us in a small tree so we could get a great look at it. It is by no means an uncommon bird, but most of the time it is unobtrusive and it is much more frequently heard, than seen.

- There were Common Bulbuls around the place ... as there usually are at most 'places' in our region ... which is why they are called 'common'! They are friendly and quite vocal birds, mostly blackish and brownish, with short crests, and a bright yellow patch just in the butt area! We call them 'Bottergatte' or 'Butter-butts' in Afrikaans.

- Apart from the Natal Francolins, there were Crested Francolins in the 'bush'. A very pretty little partridge, mostly in intricate patterns of browns, greys, and whites.

- Hornbills! First detected by their high-pitched piping calls, and later, flying around so their identity could be verified: Grey Hornbills! A small species, mainly grey and white, with a thinnish curved bill with a thin pointed ridge or 'casque' on top.

- Lesser Striped Swallows, winging around in a leisurely fashion, and uttering their wheezy calls.

- Blue Waxbills, tiny finch-like birds with powder-blue undersides.

- I glimpsed a couple of firefinches in the bush; this is another kind of waxbill, but bright red rather than blue. It might have been a Jameson's Firefinch, or an African Firefinch.

- a Black Flycatcher. A rather small and modest bird, black all over, not rare but not common either, so I was happy to see one.

- a Forktailed Drongo. Also all-black, but larger than the flycatcher, with a stronger, heavier bill, all-round more robust appearance, and a forked tail. Drongos are also insect catchers, and excellent flyers.

- Rattling Cisticolas in the bush; they're small brownish warblers, the very epitome of an 'LBJ' or a 'Little Brown Job', nevertheless, very easy to identify by their loud rattling call. They're ubiquitous in bushveld regions.

- I believe I heard and also briefly glimpsed flying, a Black Cuckooshrike. Cuckooshrikes are shrike-like birds in a family of their own; they eat lots of caterpillars and the family is named for that (Campephagidae). The black cuckooshrike male is mostly black - but its gape is orange-yellow and it often has a bright yellow shoulder-patch as well. The female is totally different, white, brownish and yellow barred and streaked with black.

- Apart from the green pigeons, there were also the abundant Laughing Doves, and a few Redeyed Doves.

Bird species heard but not seen (by me at least):

- Puffback, a small black-and-white bush shrike species. It has a short sharp call almost like a whip-crack. If seen, in display it puffs out the white feathers of its rump to look like a huge snow-ball on its back! We call it a 'Sneeubal' or 'Snowball' in Afrikaans.

- Longbilled Crombec. A small brown warbler with a proportionately long bill, and a very short tail - it appears tailless in fact.

- Yellowfronted Tinker Barbet. A tiny barbet (relative of woodpeckers and toucans) that has a 'tinking' call that it repeats over and over for almost the whole day long! 'Tink-tink-tink-tink-...' They excavate holes in trees, and eat mostly fruits.

- Brownhooded Kingfisher. This species actually doesn't really catch fish; it is a bushveld and woodland bird mostly catching insects, sometimes small reptiles.

So bird-wise the outing was a great success!

Unfortunately I have no bird photos! They are too small and stay too far away for my camera.

Unfortunately, the reserve didn't yield much sightings of much else! The only quadrupeds, apart from the squirrels we saw on Day One, were reptiles: little skinks, and a small tree agama. (An agama is a wonderful kind of lizard, of which we have numerous species ... probably related in some way to the iguanas of the americas ... we call them 'koggelmanders' in Afrikaans.)

There was much evidence of larger animals, though, strewn all over the area. I briefly contemplated taking some pictures of the droppings, but then thought against it, since even under the best of circumstances they would come out looking like cr*p. There were hoofprints as well, proving the existence of some large antelope ... kudus, maybe. But they stayed out of my way for the duration of the visit!

Interestingly, though, we saw several large mammals on the way *to* the reserve, and back! The area as a whole is still quite wild. We saw a few warthogs trotting beside a fence; we saw some impalas sheltering in dense bush; and some blesbok (another kind of antelope) in a grassy area.

We also saw a few nice ostriches!

The photos are therefore mainly of the landscape, and of a few plant specimens. I'm still endeavouring to get nice photos of as many plant species as possible, seeking for particularly good-looking specimens. Apart from the trees I mentioned above, I saw and photographed several other species. Like I said, the link to the photos will hopefully follow soon!

Lovely outing. I recognised quite a few of the birds. The C/Kurracaine thrush has the most beautiful call.

Thankyou for the lovely report.

ChristianeAR80

Hello AR80! I'm glad you liked the report. I didn't get to upload the photos today ... will see about them tomorrow!

I forgot to mention that several different species of butterflies were flying about ... yellow ones, and also brown-and-blue-and-yellow ones!

It sounds like you had yourself an enjoyable time Willem even if you did go your own way I have tried (hope you don't mind) to make the connection between your , Plantwarrior's Pictures and my Flickr , not sure if it works but I would like to make that contact

Hello Anoldgreymoonraker! I've no problem if you link my page to yours; I hope it works as well!

Here are the (preliminary) first photos from the trip:

http://good-times.webshots.com/album/566668246LafSFK

I am doing this backwards
.Willem I will be reading your post soon, I look forward to them!
I hope to post about it too!

***********************

I wanted to say hello to AR1 first.
It IS a real walkway AR1
It is about 2 miles long, going up at a rise OK for motorized, great workout for those with upper body strength and a workout for anybody pushing a chair.

The man that started it eventually needed a wheelchair and used it himself decades later. I happened to meet him there one day.

It takes a lot of upkeep. The original owner and builder had to give it up but I am hoping it will be taken under the wing of a larger org. or somebody.

It is such a treat to go up a mountain, many paths around but not UP. We have 2000 miles of bike paths here in the metro area. Most are paved and along side a river or park. I use those for a close nature"walk".

The mountain tourist towns often have a network of paved bike paths, quite nice.

Hello Anoldgreymoonraker *waves*

*Waves* back to Abbi

Hello folks! Abbi, it's great to see you here again. I hope you made it through the whole 'report'! I'm being as wordy as ever it seems.

It would be great if that wheelchair-accessible Rocky Mountain trail could work for you! Handicapped people should have access to beautiful wild places.

My parents are not physically handicapped, but old ... my mom, in particular, isn't doing so well any more, especially her lungs. There are many places I still want to show her ... where she would not easily be able to get to on her own! But I have already carried her up a mountain on my back ... I can do it again!

I've managed to move my album to the 'outdoors' section of Webshots, rather than the 'good times' section. I think my idea of 'good times' would differ somewhat from those of other people ... at any rate, all the pictures are now uploaded and can be viewed here:

http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/566668246LafSFK

Interesting pic's Willem , It has taken me a long time to get my head round the idea of those trees just coming into spring and how tough they look ,looking at the map is a bit confusing too, are you still in Pretoria? as you have two marks on the map?<dontpanic.

Hey Anoldgreymoonraker! Thanks for looking at the pics. How are you?

Yes, there are two 'me's on the map, the first was placed there by someone else ... at the time I wasn't able to access the map. The 'authentic' one, is the cat smiley, I told you folks about, in the city of Pietersburg. The other smiley is in the city of Pretoria. I was born in Pretoria, lived there for a while and studied there as well, but have lived most of my life in Pietersburg, these days called Polokwane (but still Pietersburg on the map).

The resort I went to, is close to the towns of Nylstroom and Warmbaths ... you might be able to find it on the map, but you'll have to go to a fairly high resolution. These towns are to the southwest of Pietersburg, just follow the main highway! You'll find Potgietersrus first; continue southwestward unil you see Nylstroom. The resort is slightly to the west of Nylstroom and to the north of Warmbaths.

Yes the trees here are 'tough' ... they have to survive several months of dry weather! And right now, we haven't had meaningful rains since April, and the weather is getting very hot and sunny. As a result of the hot, dry weather there's been many bush fires; we drove past lots of burnt-down patches on the way to the resort and back.

Even in Summer, rain is rather irregular. Some years we only get about 200 or 300 mmm. The average is about 500 mm for Pietersburg. The highest yearly rainfall I've measured here, was a bit over 900 mm.

I'm good Willem will check the map tommorow

Hi dear abbi,

I am so pleased that it really is a REAL WALKWAY. It wiould be wonderful if you could find some photos of it,.

I have a small motorised wheelchair, but when I come out of the front door of our flat, I have to do a sharp turn to the left, and unfortunately there is a fire extingiuisher which stops me from getting into the left at right angles. So the first time |I ever tried it I got the front wheels stuck in the liftdoor. I really panicked. So have not uysed it since.

I do enjoy going out. However will try and see if the fire extinguisher can be chaned to an adjacent wall. the Fire Department are very nice and helpful here.

With all good wishes.

Christiane. AR80
plus all the other AR's
Thank goodness Gnoman sent on my journal which I posted thinking I was writing to auntie giggles. !!
fortunately it has made us meet one another again. I hope the other friends whom I have "lost" due to my not remembering my password, will write to me again.

With much affection
CME