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

Hello WebSailor! Since you put me on your friends list, is it OK if I put you on mine? I'd love to talk to you about stuff like wildlife and conservation, at the least.

ooh! Yes please, the more the merrier

Websailor

Hi Websailor! OK ... *anything* at all related to wildlife, Nature, plants, animals, any stories or any intersting things you can tell me I'd appreciate a lot! I gather you're in Britain. Which part?

Just this short message from me today - limited internet time. Will talk more tomorrow!

Willem

Short one from me too, as I should be doing something else!

I am slap in the middle of Britain, as is Nigel. See what I can do. You might like to read some of my articles in in the meantime.

Find me here under 'Websailor's Wacky Wildlife World:


http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/alabaster/thepost

Click my archives (at the bottom of the page) for past articles.

Gotta ... things to do

Websailor

Hi Websailor! Thanks for the links to 'Websailor's Wacky Wildlife World'! I've read the most recent one and commented. I'll read the others as well, as I find time! I think it's great to write to The Post about wildlife and Nature!

I also have rather limited internet time. Actually I limit it myself! I go on Sundays for most of the day, and only sporadically during the week. I have 75 hours of internet time per month! Apart from the cost, I also limit myself to not too much online time, so as to control my internet addiction!

Internet addiction? What's that Oh, the affliction that I've got too.

I have it at home so it is 'on tap' and I do try to control it but it is difficult

See you net time you are online.

Websailor

Hello Websailor! How are you? I enjoyed reading your recent piece about the British Coral Reefs!

I'd like to tell you a bit about my own attitudes towards nature! You've commented in the thread about Donald Trump wanting to 'develop' a beautiful stretch of Scottish coastline. Well you saw that I am quite vehement! I admit that I am rather an 'extreme' sort of environmentalist. To me it is a spiritual thing and it goes to the very core of my views of myself, and even more, my understanding of the Universe and our (with 'our' including humans and all living creatures) roles in it. I am not a typical western modern city dweller. I come from a very different background. Born and bred in Africa, from a background of people born and bred here. I by no means consider myself to be a 'European'. But neither am I a 'typical' African because I've had a very different education and upbringing from that of most Africans. At any rate, the upshot of all this is that my view of reality combines mystical, rational and scientific elements.

Basically I have an extreme holist view of things. We are all part of the same 'whole', and that includes humans, animals, plants, everything. Stars, galaxies, the Universe also. Is there life out there? I think there must be ... intelligent life? Probably ... but I'm sure that 'other' intelligences would be very different from ours!

To me, not just humans matter. At the very least, I include all vertebrates in the category of 'people'. I am not sure about invertebrates ... I don't know how keen their minds are, but I don't harm them unless I have to. Anyways I am deeply convinced that all animals deserve some ethical considerations.

I am also convinced that not just individuals - whether humans or animals - matter. Groups, societies, species, ecosystems, also matter. Our circumstances make us what we are, provide us (or fail to provide us) with the opportunities we need to become what we might potentially become. The breadth, depth and intricacy of our interrelationships with each other and *everything else* augment us. And that, precisely that, is what 'modern man' is wasting and destroying on this planet right now, as a result of a shortsighted and false philosophy. Can you understand why I consider this to be evil?

To me all this is not just theoretical. It's my living reality. I've found that many people are incapable of understanding this.

Ok just this little bit about me for now! I'm gonna go and read some more of your 'Websailor's Wacky Wildlife World ' now!

Hi, Willem,

I don't disagree with anything you have said, it was just that you referred to a specific person in your 'rant' about the Scottish issue, and 'rants' are not exactly welcomed on here. Sometimes you achieve more by being what is regarded as more 'rational'!!

I too see the world as whole and we damage any of it at our peril. The web of life is an intricate thing, way beyond human understanding and we are meddling with it far too much.

Every living thing from an amoeba to a whale has a part to play, thought I am not sure what necessary part humans play.

I understand that your roots are closer to the earth perhaps than ours but please don't generalise. <> or European.

Many of us city dwellers are here from necessity not choice and feel the same as you do. My city grew up around me, I had no choice, I could have run away to green pastures, but I chose to stay and fight for the wildlife we have left. I don't consider myself European either, which will probably upset a few people, but my roots are firmly in the land of my birth, and its' soil just as yours are! You must also remember that my country is tiny in comparison with yours and we just don't have your space.

I sincerely hope you will be able to maintain that space for future generations.

Have to run as I have to do Sunday lunch, but rest assured we are not as far apart in our thinking as you have suggested. I just try not to use my energy up on lost causes. It will be interesting to see if a certain tycoon fights or runs elsewhere.

Websailor

Hi Websailor and thanks for your response!

You are helping me very much by telling me that what I posted about that certain tycoon would be considered a 'rant'. I honestly don't know how my postings come across! I don't know if it's an individual thing or a cultural thing, or what! When the situation is as clear as it seems to me to be in the case of the 'development' of that particular piece of coastline, in the manner described, I don't think there's any cause for mincing words.

Also ... I was by no means comparing myself with *you*! You are very much like me, truly, and I've never thought otherwise. But there's a world of other people out there who do *not* understand how people could really care about nature, about animals and plants, about the planet! The ignorance 'out there' is vast, and *that* is what I want to confront! This 'tycoon' is to me an example of such ignorance ... and ignorance that is so, totally, unjustifiable in a person who's in such an incredibly fortunate and blessed situation! If I had a thousandth of the sort of money that person has ... I would do so much for nature and wildlife ... there is so much that can be done that would *really* be positive!

This 'person' wants to use money ... so as to 'change' a place that really should stay the way it is. My own 'projects' would instead try and protect and preserve places that ought to stay untouched. But I am also for more 'active' campaigns! You know I cultivate plants. I want to help raise awareness about plants, and their absolutely vital role in ecosystems ... they are the 'producers' that make life possible for everything else. I also want to help with 're-wilding' ... where plants have been destroyed in large numbers, such as on farms and with mining activities ... re-introducing as many wild plants to the areas as possible, ecologically re-habilitating them ... allowing the insects, reptiles, amphibians, birds, mammals and other things to have more living space again. If I had billions of dollars or pounds ... I would be able to 're-wild' huge areas of my own country!

South Africa is not really that much bigger than Britain. Britain is, about, 250 000 square kilometres; South Africa is, about, 1 200 000 square kilometres ... a bit more than four times as big. Our country, at the moment, is suffering terrible environmental destruction and degradation.

Hello again Willem,

Your post came across exactly as you felt and you are justified in your feelings, but this probably wasn’t the best place to express them so forcefully. Things seem just as clear cut to me too, and I find it very frustrating. However, after twenty years in conservation here I have found that an expression we use here works better than firing on all cylinders sometimes. I don’t know whether it is used in the same sense in SA but we say ‘softly softly catchee monkey’ meaning that sometimes a softer approach achieves more.

I am glad you had worked out that I am much like you (only older ) The ignorance is abysmal. People don’t react until it affects them directly. Either that or they are just apathetic.

Incidentally I suspect this tycoon, like many, is only in that fortunate position precisely because of his greed and disregard for these issues. I have always maintained that if I had that sort of money, I would happily write cheques 24/7 but only to causes I believed in.

I have taken part in many active campaigns and there has been considerable success over the years, though naturally not enough, and not fast enough. When I look back twenty years though I am amazed how things have change for the better in some respects. When I first started we were met with blank uncomprehending stares, but now at least people know what we are talking about, even if they don’t agree.

Your aims are admirable and I wish you luck. The same thing is happening here on a small scale, particularly with trees and wild flowers. I bow to your superior knowledge on the sizes of our respective countries but we are still small and cramped by comparison. The main difference is that most of ours could be productive for wildlife if left alone as generally we don't suffer extremes of temperature. I feel so sad that your country is suffering so. It is very beautiful in spite of the destruction.

Websailor

Hello once again Websailor! I never heard 'softly softly catchee monkey' yet. I think the outlook is very different here in South Africa! After all ... the country has recently gone through a transition where there was incredible violence on all sides ... and violence is still seen as a legitimate 'means' of achieving political ends. Speaking vehemently, is at least, much less violent than shooting people or blowing them up!

I'll try to moderate my views here on h2g2, though ...

Have you ever been anywhere in Africa?

I understand what you say and I do wonder how long people in this country will put up with things they don't like and say and do nothing, but I don't believe that violence is the answer. Speaking vehemently wasn't the problem so much as the verbal attack on an individual which in some circumstances could have got you 'modded off' which would have been a shame.

I think you are safe to express your views forcibly, leaving names out of it. I am afraid we live in a very 'politically correct' society here these days. Here, in the home of 'free speech' that doesn't go down too well with most of us.

Oh, and I will let you in to a secret, I have never been outside the UK. Never had the opportunity when I was younger and now it is not possible for various reasons.


Websailor

Hi Websailor! Isn't it so that people who are in the public eye should be willing to take public criticism? Would it be OK for instance to say George W. Bush is evil, or Robert Mugabe is evil, in public media? Over here in South Africa we definitely have that freedom. The papers regularly publish letters and articles saying things like those.

At any rate here on h2g2 there are moderators to remove unsuitable stuff ... well I don't know ... are they still here In the past I've been moderated quite a few times! But I don't think they'll actually kick me off the site. I should first receive a few warnings, shouldn't I? I haven't received one yet. But I don't think they'll kick me off. I'm a bit hotheaded, but really, I'm no troublemaker!

OK about coasts ... Britain, though smaller than South Africa, certainly has a coastline that is a lot longer! If you look at a map, the British coastline is irregular with lots of indentations and squiggles, where as the South African coastline is very even along its entire length with only a few indentations or bits that jut out like at the Cape of Good hope. Also Britain is entirely surrounded by the sea but the northern half of our border is on dry land. South African coastal areas are under huge pressure.

There are different kinds of coastal vegetation here. There are a few mangrove forests on the northeast coast. On the dunes right next to the sea there is a special vegetation that is resistant to salt spray, consisting of plants like dune tackies, sea pumpkins and dune morning glories. The mangroves and the dune vegetation 'pioneer' areas of mud and sand to make them habitable, later, for other plant and animal life. So deeper inland beyond these 'margins' are the coastal forests and grasslands (east coast), finebush scrub (south and southwest coast) and succulend sand 'veld' (northwest coast). All of these different kinds of vegetation have plant and animal species that are endemic, meaning they occur nowhere else.

Animals especially dependent on untouched coastal areas include sea turtles in the east, and certain seabirds like terns, gannets and cormorants in the south and west. Off the coast there are islands where penguins and other seabirds breed, and also we have a few very nice coral reefs.

Apart from their ecological importance, untouched coastal areas are lovely, and to me, extremely spiritually uplifting! I enjoy almost nothing more than being able to walk on an unspoilt white beach with the sea to the one side and coastal forests on the other! Our coastal forests have a unique 'look' as a result of the wild banana trees with their huge fans of leaves, the wild date and lala palms, and other interesting plants like the coast aloes.

We are rapidly losing our unspoilt coastal areas here to 'development' like sugar cane plantations, holiday resorts and people who apparently want to build their houses right up on the beach.

What I especially do not like, is that most of this 'development' over here in South Africa is not necessary! The developments on the coast are to a very large extent for the benefit of the rich folks rather than the poor. Many of the houses are holiday houses that stand empty for most of the time! So anyways, this is why I also dislike the idea of building hotels, golf courses etc. on one of the last remaining unspoilt beach areas in Scotland! Surely if houses have to be built, they can be built in areas that are less ecologically and aesthetically sensitive!

*OR* the 'developments' can be made less ecologically damaging! Like building under the ground! I loved that site the link of which you gave me, about the round igloo-like houses that can be covered with soil and have plants growing on top!

Hi, Willem,

My son has been visiting today which doesn't happen very often so I haven't been online much. I will reply to your very interesting post as soon as I get the chance but it is getting late now.

Don't worry about your posts being moderated, I doubt they will be, I just thought you might say something more inflammatory and wanted to warn you. Our freedom of speech is being eroded daily although the newspapers can say a great deal more than the broadcast media for reasons I cannot fathom.

Bye for now,

Websailor

Hi again Websailor! How are things? I hope you enjoyed your son's visit!

You've never been outside the UK? I've only been to South Africa's neighbour country Namibia. It's a wonderful country! Mostly desert ... but quite spectacular desert! I've hiked through the Fish River Canyon, about seventeen years ago. I'd love to go there again! Back then, I wasn't as 'plant aware' as I am now. I was nevertheless astonished to find so many plants in a desert that looked quite bare, if you just glanced at it. But back then I didn't know the species of plants at all ... now, if I return, I would have a very good idea. Namibia's deserts are ancient and contain a great diversity of life - animal as well as plant - that have been evolving and adapting to the desert rigours for millions of years.

I also just *saw* Botswana and Zimbabwe, standing on the bank of the Limpopo River where the three countries meet. But I haven't been there. Botswana is a very nice country ... but Zimbabwe has terrible problems! Over there in Britain you might have heard about Robert Mugabe ...?

Anyways I would like to travel the whole world! But due to my constraints it is possible that I, too, might spend the rest of my life just in this one country. But that doesn't bother me at all! My country is lovely and wonderful and there is enough 'stuff' here to keep me busy for several lifetimes!

Hi, Willem,

Nice to hear from you. Yes, I enjoyed my son's visit. Don't see a lot of either of them so it was nice.

Deserts have always fascinated me but I have to admit I wouldn't want to visit one, I don't like very hot weather, and I would SO miss my trees Watching, on TV the change that a flash flood brings to desert areas is amazing. You are young yet, you might still be able to visit other countries in the future. I have no real regrets about not going abroad as I don't travel well. If I could shut my eyes, snap my fingers and arrive anywhere, that would be different

Have we heard of Robert M over here? We most certainly have! What he has done to Zimbabwe and its' people is horrendous, yet he gets support from other leaders! I am not going to start talking about politics etc. it winds me up too much, but suffice it to say it is a country well avoided at present.

Take care, hope all is going well with your plants. We are having a prolonged spell of bitter cold weather with ice and frost. Great for killing off the bugs that plague gardeners but not so good for plants themselves, or us either for that matter.



Websailor

Happy to hear you enjoyed the visit!

OK I'll avoid speaking about politics ... too much! The trouble with politics is that it impacts *everything*. I've found that I absolutely have to have an understanding of political issues, for my work, so as to be able to contribute meaningfully to my own country. Not just political issues in my own country ... other countries as well. What happens in the USA for instance is affecting the whole world ... American politics has become everybody's business. All the countries of the world are interdependent today. Zimbabwe's problems *are* South Africa's problems. We are inundated with floods of refugees. Many of them can't find work here. Many turn to crime. Many are extremely upset, frustrated and desperate, and take this out on people here. In turn the people here tend to regard the Zimbabweans with suspicion or overt hostility. This feeds a vicious circle of Zimbabweans getting even more angry and frustrated and committing even more crimes and assaults.

All of this is depressing as heck. And Zimbabwe is such a nice country! And the Zimbabweans themselves are great people. I've known a few ... they, at least, had managed to find good jobs here. Intelligent, hard-working, honest people. They don't deserve the prejudice against them, and they also don't deserve what's happening with their country.

Maybe I shouldn't be talking to much about that ... gets me really angry and depressed!

So ... onto other stuff. Myself, I love hot and dry areas! I can stand heat pretty well. My own town, Pietersburg, is situated in a region of dry savannah. We get about 500 mm of rain a year, over the months of summer, with a dry autumn, winter and early spring. Sometimes 8 or 9 months go by without any rain. The 'veld' then dries up and becomes gray and bare. But when the new rains come everything turns fresh green! You should see how the bushveld looks at the moment - lovely!

You know even in the desert there are trees! On the Fish River Canyon hiking trail, there were trees all along the course of the river. The river itself was half dry ... only pools left every here and there. But the trees growing along the river course still had access to the underground water! I didn't know all the species back then ... but I knew that the main kind of tree there was the Abiqua Yellowwood, Tamarix usneoides. Also, there was one rest-stop under a grove of palm trees! Almost like an oasis. They are the descendants of some date seeds someone dropped along the riverbed there several decades ago. Anyways ... to me, finding trees ... or any other plants ... in such a severe desert makes them even more precious!

The hike was quite tough ... we *did* experience quite extreme temperatures. The daytime was hot and I kept my sweat shirt on to protect me from the sun ... I was absolutely drenched with sweat after the first day's hike. Then the nights got bitterly cold. We slept under the stars in the dry riverbed. I had no idea it could get so cold ... I put on all my clothes and still I was shivering in my sleeping bag!

Apart from trees along the river there are even trees that grow in the surrounding stony desert! One species is the Giant Quiver Tree. I saw some of them on that hike! It's an aloe, a succulent plant with thick leaves and trunk that store water during the periods of good rains in the desert, and can then survive several years of little or no rain until the next good rains.

Well anyways, we have several different desert and semi-desert regions here. But we also have the opposite! There are wonderful rain forests in the mountains to the east of Pietersburg, my town. Only about 60 km away from us, in the Transvaal Drakensberg Mountains, we have the lush forests of Magoebaskloof. They get, in some places, over 2 500 mm of rain per year (i.e. about 100 inches). There are still a few patches of native forest left. They have over 100 different species of tree, lots of understory shrubs and herbs, epiphytes, a great diversity of ferns, mosses and lichens. There are also beautiful birds, like the Knysna louries - crested, green, rather long-tailed birds that clamber around like parrots, and have beautiful bright crimson wing feathers that 'flash' in the sun when they glide from one tree to the next.

It's a bit hard to watch birds there ... you have to look up all the time as everything is happening far above you ... and you can get quite a sore neck! But the scenery is magnificent.

The forests have a cool climate as a result of being in the mountains. Though it rains a lot there, there are plenty of days of sunshine as well, or sometimes only a very light drizzle, which is not bothersome.

Hey Websailor, how are things over there? A white Christmas perhaps?

Over here it has been a bright and sunny day today. This is some change from the rainy weather we've been having since September! I hope we get a few more hot and sunny days. I want to take advantage of the sunny weather to visit a nature reserve, or two.

There is a nature reserve to the south of town, where there are white rhinos! About ten of them; they frequently get additional calves, but most of them are sold and transported to other reserves. Our reserve can't hold more than ten or so. There are also giraffes, zebras and lots of antelopes there. There aren't any lions or large predators. They occasionally take people in to hunt. I don't like hunting at all!

There's a wonderful diversity of birds there. Plant diversity is not as high as I would like ... the place used to be a farm and much of the original vegetation had been destroyed and have only had a few decades to recover again. At 32 square kilometres, the place only has about 50 species of tree. The Potgietersrus Game Breeding Centre, at only 8 square kilometres, has over 100 species of tree.

Will drop you a note tomorrow Willem. I have been busy with family, but will try and catch up with you in a day or two. No white Christmas - just dull damp and miserable.

Happy New Year as we can't either of us 'drink' - alcohol that is

Websailor

Hi Websailor! Happy new year to you too! Thanks for the ! I like that a lot! Here's one for you too . Over here it's sunny and very hot - it hit 30° C here today. I've been spending the time with my parents and friends. Will speak more in 2008!

Willem