Leopard in the wild

Leopard at Rooiels 2013 Photo by Tertius Gous

This photo was taken in the mountains abutting False Bay near Rooiels. What a fantastic experience it must have been to see this leopard in the wild, not in a game reserve - living proof that they have survived despite human habitation close by. It must be the inhospitable and inaccessible nature of the terrain that has enabled the leopard to remain in the area, although I am quite sure that traps have been set by locals to snare these magnificent animals, which pose a threat to man's farming activities. It is hard to imagine that someone could even contemplate killing a leopard just to save a sheep or two - sad that money has taken precedence over life.

Whenever we drive along the scenic route that hugs the towering Hottentots Holland range, with its rugged crags absolutely devoid of vegetation, I scan the slopes for signs of leopard - a useless occupation with my eyesight! - and seeing this photograph is sufficient evidence to know that they are still there and hope that there is more than one. Let's hold thumbs that successful breeding increases the population, which as far as I am aware is the natural predator of the local baboons. That in itself should serve as an incentive for preservation of the leopard population, as the baboons cause havoc when raiding the little seaside villages along the False Bay coast.

Appreciating the beauty of the world

This photo was taken seven years ago.

 This was taken on the same date last week.

The only difference is the elevation, but you can still see the kelp beds on the left and right and the rocky edge of the island at the Kom. The tide was at the same level at the same time of evening.The clouds are not all that different and the sea is flat calm.

So what does this tell us? That despite the things that go on in the background - births, deaths, divorces, marriages, buying a house, buying a car, learning to drive, traffic jams, taxis, road rage, starting school, leaving school, getting a job, being unemployed, earning money, losing money, making friends, making enemies, being happy, being sad - everything is transient and meaningless in the greater scheme of things.

While all this has happened, every day the tide has ebbed and flowed, the sun has risen and set, the moon and stars have traversed the heavens. These are our constants, the things we can rely on to never change and the things that soothe our souls in good times and bad. Appreciating the natural beauty of this planet is the most important tool we have been given for self-healing and all it requires is to sit in complete silence and allow it to be.

Crumble grumble

I threw out some pieces of bread the other day for the birds (I had originally put it out to entice the mouse out from behind the wall). Today I realised that no bird had touched it and also recalled that, although the mouse must have been very hungry, it had also not taken a crumb. There is also no sign of mould although the bread is at least five days old. Surely if the birds don't eat it, we shouldn't either?

I looked at the ingredients and found that, as with all our soybean flour and perhaps other soya products, this ingredient is genetically modified, something which is increasingly being banned around the world for health reasons, while here it seems we are unable to have a say in what we grow and eat. There is almost no processed product which is free of this GM ingredient. The blurb on the wrapper says that we can still enjoy the bread they made in 1930. I doubt it.

The fat portion is stated as palm fruit and other vegetable fat and various other preservatives, flavour enhancers and enzymes are added. No wonder the bread lasts so long, doesn't have any texture, squashes paper-thin when making a toasted sandwich and can't form crumbs. When could you last crumble a piece of day-old bread for use in meatballs or puddings?

This is just the tip of the iceberg. Perhaps we should learn from the birds.

Update on overhead activity

It's early morning on a mild winter's day in Kommetjie. Wisps of ice clouds provide a backdrop for an elegant formation of sacred ibis flying in from their roosting place. Individual birds peel away from the sides and glide down to their preferred feeding sites for the day. There is no sound but the swish of their wings.

Hard on their heels is what can only be described as a honk of hadedahs. What a racket as they approach in an untidy jumble - so unlike their quiet cousins. A few of them seem to have picked up flying tips from the ibises and they attempt a v-formation, but the rest of the flock just won't co-operate. There are now 22 of these raucous birds, which means that the environment is ideally suited to their breeding habits. Unlucky us! They eject copious amounts of bird poop as they fly and leave great streaks on the walls that have to be hosed off. I'm sure it's only a matter of time before someone gets a splat on the head. They say it's lucky, but perhaps not in large quantities.

Another johnny-come-lately is the Egyptian goose, which also appears to be thriving at the expense of more interesting indigenous birds. They are also inclined to be noisome and messy, but don't seem to travel in more than pairs, so that's something to be grateful for.

The little sunbirds nesting in the branches are feeding young ones, I think. One can only imagine how tiny and fragile the baby sunbirds must be. I would love to see one, but they are so well protected in the nest that they will be fledged by the time I notice them. I hope they survive the hazards that lie ahead, particularly my cat which lazes on the balcony railing nearby.

Mouse on the loose

We have a mouse in the house! The cat brought in a striped field mouse and let it go and it ran into the toilet where it has been hiding ever since. There is a tiny gap where the plumbing exits (wooden house - you can make alterations at the drop of a hat, but somehow we never bothered with the gap, not expecting a mouse!) and it has now decided to hide in the drywalling. My daughter is worried that it will get into her room and never be seen again, as it munches its way through her wardrobe. I did think about leaving the toilet door open to encourage it to come out, but the remembered the last time the cat brought a mouse in and it ran behind the kitchen cupboards, only to meet an untimely death, judging by the smell a few days later. And of course, a mouse in the food cupboard would cause chaos.

Now I'm thinking of closing the mouse inside the wall and hoping that it will just run down until it reaches a gap at ground level, but then what if it is a stupid mouse and doesn't go in the right direction and thinks it has to chew its way to freedom? Do you think it will smell the biltong in the bar area in the back of the garage? Do mice eat biltong? Will it call its family? What to do, what to do? (Wringing of hands, pacing back and forth.)

Perhaps a piece of bread and some water will entice it out, but there is no chance of catching it - they move like greased lightning. And leaving the cat in there will defeat the whole object of trying to save the mouse.

Any suggestions?

Weather extremes

Our Spanish trip last year exposed us to the extremes of weather that can occur over very short periods. We left Madrid in sweltering heat - it was 40 degrees for the first 3 days. Then we arrived at the hilltop town of Arcos de la Frontera and the wind started to blow, which brought temperatures down to a more bearable level, and the sun continued to shine. On the third night, we were woken by an almighty clap of thunder right overhead, the curtain billowed and the shutters banged. The roof leaked a little but fortunately not over the bed.

In the morning, everything was washed clean and we headed off into the mountains to the picturesque village of Grazalema, which is in the area traversed by the famed Camino walk. As we drove higher and higher along a narrow, twisting road, the views became more and more spectacular, while the outside temperature decreased with altitude. We didn't notice until we stopped in a lay-by to take photos and nearly froze our fingers off! After that I resorted to taking photos through the window. The photo below shows the terrain these brave hikers pass through.

It got progressively darker and within half an hour, it was hailing. These are some of the highest mountains in Spain, so it was hardly unusual, but we had packed for Marbella and I was somewhat underdressed for cold weather!

The next day we set off for Granada. The bad weather had passed through there as well and we were thrilled to find that the Sierra Nevada had a substantial coating of snow. It was as though it was specially arranged for our visit, and our hotel room faced towards the mountain range, providing us with memorable pink-tinged sunsets at 10pm every night that we were there. 

After heat, hail and snow, we finally reached the Mediterranean, where the temperature was mild and sunny, the sand too hot to stand on and the water too cold to swim in! You just can't win.

But we're ready to do it all again!

Up a ladder

He Who Can Fix Anything is known among his friends as McGyver, for obvious reasons. He's been restoring the windows and window frames in our wooden house by the sea, which over the last 30 years or so has taken a tremendous beating from the sea air, winter storms and blazing sun in summer. He started off with a long ladder (the windows are all on the first floor) and spent hours at a time perched precariously as the top of this without any way of actually anchoring himself to the building. But with him, it is either the whole hog or nothing, and each piece of glass was removed, the beadings broken out and everything sanded down to the bare wood. Ably assisted by Appie #1 (me) and sometimes Appie #2 (K).

Weekend after fun-filled weekend has gone by while we have painted, puttied and varnished, cleaned windows with thinners and chipped off resistant old paint with our bare nails. All the while, McGyver has balanced on the outside, looking in. And the more I insisted he was going overboard and that no-one was ever going to see that a top storey window frame had a tiny spot of white paint on the varnish, the more determined he became to do it his way or no way. The result is windows that look as though they have just been newly installed in an old house. He assures me that the rest of the outer walls will soon be matching, and I have no doubt that, when it is eventually done, he will be right and the house will be good for another 30 years.

By that time, our ladder-climbing days will be long over, and we may even be living in Shady Pines retirement home, if they will have us! So he is banking on never having to climb the ladder again when it's done. His McGyver skills came to the fore when the ladder was unsuitable for the situation of the window and he built a scaffold between the steps and the house, nailing planks and clamping a platform into place in a matter of moments. The windows were taken out and only replaced the next day, leaving easy access for any would-be criminal straight from the front door into the office area and the computer. But as I refuse to allow that kind of activity on my property, I slept easy that night and even the wind and rain stayed away, just to make sure all was well!

It will be a sad day when he is too old to fix things, as there is no doubt that nobody else can do it as well as he does, but it will definitely cut down on the swearing!