The Other Side

I always wondered what the gorge looked from the other side, well now I know. My house is over the ridge, that tree at the top right corner is in my front yard.

Other than being the deepest gorge in Gauteng, I have been doing some research in terms of this being a critical biodiversity area, and there is a chance that the extremely rare Brachycorythis conica subsp. Transvaalensis could be found on the southern slopes of the Protea wooded grassland but I can only go searching for them next year January and February when these red listed orchids are visible. Also red listed is a small fish, the Enteromius motebensis which has been found just 2km downstream from here so the chances too are high that they could be found in this gorge.

The Verreaux or Black Eagles use this gorge as their hunting ground and animals such as the Honey Badger or Ratel, Slender Mongoose, Banded Mongoose, Yellow Mongoose, Large spotted-Genet, Civet, Grey Duiker, Mountain Reedbuck, Porcupine, Rock Hyrax and Smiths Red Rock Rabbit are also found here. So far all I have seen are the Black Eagles, Guinea fowl, Night Adder, Rock Hyrax and the Smiths Red Rock Rabbit. It is time to put on my sleuth hat and look for these rare creatures and plants that could be at my back door.