As summer draws to an end, the staff are hard at work tidying up the beds and removing dead foliage, plants and general detritus, and mounds of magnificent rich, dark compost were being spread liberally. (If I had taken a wheelbarrow, I would have filled it and hotfooted out of there with my loot! Imagine how my barren, sandy soil would love a boost of real soil - the plants would die from shock.)
New growth is bursting forth in many places and it seems that the gardens are in peak health.
Although avid bird photographers are posting their photos of many interesting birds on social media, we were again unlucky in that there were few species evident today - perhaps we just didn't scour the slopes enthusiastically enough - and perhaps the emergence of the sun after about an hour didn't help. However, some close interaction with a confiding little dusky flycatcher made up for the lack of paradise flycatchers and woodpeckers, and it was very enjoyable watching the olive thrushes thrashing through the humus for tasty morsels. A forest canary was consuming berries with gusto on a distant branch.
I took the opportunity to get up close and personal with the fynbos - I don't have much opportunity on the hikes, usually being prodded with a hiking pole and told to move on! I do understand the viewpoint as they are hikes, not rambles, but I feel that as I have taken the trouble to climb the dizzy heights I should at least have a photographic record. My interest is in zoom photography, of which I have much to learn, as it enables me to see the minutest details of the minutest flowers (some of the ericas are just 2mm in size) on a nice big screen and really enjoy what the eye cannot see. I hope you will enjoy them as much as I do.
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