When the Wife Calls

The year is coming to an end fast and year end functions are adding up on the list. Today is SRC's turn and the best place for our final meeting is over beers at Silver Star. Towards the end Andrew's phone rang, it was the missus. Time to finish up our beers and head home.

Fledging

Keep watching this space as the eaglets are about to fledge. Officially we have formed the Sugarbush Ridges Coalition, a group representing the Black Eagles Project, the Botanical Society of South Africa, the Proteadal Conservation Association, and the Wild Orchids of South Africa. Here we have left to right, Bill from WOSA; Gerhard from the Black Eagles; Andrew from SANBI and Proteadal; Johann from BotSoc; Dawid the videographer and director; and Ernest from Black Eagles and photographer. Of course missing from the photograph is me from Proteadal who took this photo and Belinda from Proteadal who is away for personal reasons.

Anyway we have a new project in the pipeline so watch this space as we historically take flight.

Alsophila Dregei

I have never seen 2 grown men so excited over 2 plants since well the Joel Stransky’s drop kick ending the 1995 Rugby World Cup. I too got into the spirit and danced a little gig.

Let me start from the beginning, since we have moved here after falling in love with the spectacular views from our deck, I have been sending Andrew, the chief Horticulturist at the Walter Sisulu Botanical Gardens just downstream from us, photos of plants found in the gorge and along the rocky edges. He has also been quick to rattle off the biological species names back to me which have been very helpful especially since I am keen to discover the extremely endangered orchids here.

Some time I go I sent him a photo of a tree fern down in the gorge that I found but after looking at my photo he responded rather flatly that it was a Cyathea Australis from Australia. He explained to me that the indigenous Alsophila Dregei is locally extinct and has last been seen here on the Witwatersrand in the early 1900s. That was until today.

Last week a naturalist posted a photo of 2 tree ferns that was taken in our gorge onto an international website suggesting that they were Alsophila Dregei. The debut started if it really was the Dregei and not the Australis. So Andrew armed with the co-ordinates found that the sighting was only a few 100m from where I live. So started the expedition down into the gorge to confirm the sighting.

Andrew along with Tony an ecologist specialising in the Roodepoort and Krugersdorp Ridge system met me at my home and we hiked down into the gorge. Andreas, chairman of the Roodekrans Community Watch, and his wife Suzanne, joined us as they hiked in from a different direction. The first tree ferns we found was the Australis species but then we found the 2 tree ferns in question and like I said early, I never saw 2 men so excited as it was a positive identification of 2 Alsophila Dregei of about 10 years old each. Extensive photos were taken of nearly everything of the fern, even a sample frond was taken to be assessed in a lab.

Andrew gave us an in situ botany lesson on the differences of the Australis to the Dregei as we felt the differences with our hands. Now I can too tell the difference and will be now looking out for more Dregei in the area.

A plant thought to be locally extinct has been rediscovered.

Proteadal Conservation Association

We live along the Greater Roodekrans Ridge System which is a ridge that runs from Northcliff all the way through to Krugersdorp. The Northcliff area is fully developed and what is left is a few isolated ridges fighting for survival. The section from Clearwater to Kings Kloof is about the last section still standing against developers and it seems a losing battle.

Our little kloof which is the deepest gorge in Gauteng is just a small part of this ridge system and I have joined the Proteadal Conservation Association in their fight to save this ridge system. Yes the fight is bigger than just our kloof and the cutting down of the protea trees because there are 3,000 high density housing proposed to be built on the ridge right slap bang in the middle of a very biological sensitive area. Watch this video below which is part in Afrikaans but luckily has English subtext for people like me who Afrikaans is not their first language. The video is about 2 years old, but the fight is still on. It is worth watching, believe me. Currently the Pinehaven Estate built below this ridge in Mogale City is struggling with sewerage issues which the local government can’t seem to solve.

Watched the video? I know that it is a long video but it is worth it.

So now you see the problem? From the Albertina Sisula orchids and the Black Eagles just to name a few.

Okay so we have the last few Albertina Sisula Orchids left in the world which are listed as Critically Endangered right in the path of the developers and still with the blessing of local government, the developers want to go ahead. Belinda, Tony, and Andrew (shown above), representatives of the Proteadal Conservation Association are doing their best in an attempt to stop the developers and local government but we need your help.

I have been asked numerous times how can I help?

1. Firstly join the Proteadal Conservation Association, it is FREE. Website Facebook
2.  Secondly is to raise awareness of the problem at hand. Share with your friends.
3.  And thirdly speak to your local government representative. Ask if they are aware of this and what are they doing to stop the development going ahead. If they don’t have answers or try to stall, then you need to make it known to them that either they personally do something or your vote is going elsewhere. They are your public representatives. 

This is the voice of our environment.

Albertina Sisulu Orchid

Today the day in-between 2 busy function days of my 50th, a day of rest between the family braai and tomorrows photowalk incorporating a cheese and wine sundowner.

Resting but no ways putting my feet up as I had to get to a Proteadal Conservation Association’s talk at Featherbrook Estate about the Albertina Sisulu Orchid. This orchid is listed as Critically Endangered and the next step is Possibly Extinct. It was first discovered in 1918 but was only named in 1955 as the Brachycorythis conica ssp. Transvaalensis but was last seen the following year. In 2007 a group was rediscovered in Krugersdorp section of the Gold Reef Mountain Ridge. The kloof that runs past my house is part of this ridge system and about 3km south of where the orchids where found.

With just over 100 left, this last know viable population of orchid species is the reason for me being here at this talk. The conditions are the same as the Protea forested veld outside my home and I am hoping that we can find another population of these orchids here.

Interesting facts about the Gold Reef Mountain Ridge which includes the kloof is that there are 700 plant species, 200 animal species, and 22 species of birds of prey, in this area and the bonus is it is all outside my home, not that I have seen anywhere close to 1% of them.

After 26 Years

So finally the day has come for us to say farewell to Andrew, who after 26 years of looking after this property where Mogale Business Park currently stands, is now going to spend the last of his days chilling with his family.

At first Andrew worked for Goldfields when they owned this piece of land, then Summerfields took over and Andrew stayed on. In 2005 when Bosasa bought the land and build the Mogale Business Park, Andrew became the Facilities Manager that is until today.

Well goodbye Andrew, may you continue to be blessed to be a blessing.

Farewell Andrew

I am not sure when I will see Andrew again as he is about to be medically boarded. I met Andrew over 2 years ago when I first started working here at Bosasa. Andrew is a kind hearted man who is works as the Caretaker of the Mogale Business Park. Now he will be moving back to Limpopo to spend the rest of his days close to his family.

Farewell my friend, may God continue to bless you till the end of your days, and may there be many more good days to come to enjoy the rest of your life with.

Persepolis Celebration

After a successful Persepolis action by the Resistance in Gauteng last Saturday, those involved decided to celebrate at Piza e Vino in Rosebank. A lot of people were crucial to our victory but below is our story, a small but critical element to the Resistance winning. Please note some ingress terms are used and may require some knowledge of Ingress. Photos are from today’s celebrations and sorry if I missed anyone.

The Persepolis XM Anomaly started with lots of intelligence work on the ground with sleeper cells reporting info which went into the planning. Friday night started with a pre-emptive strike of blockers going up joining secure locations. From the feedback we heard from the sleeper cells that this action had them, the Enlightened, on the hop and they finally dropped the blockers in the early hours of the morning.

For us that was our job done and dusted but two Resistance members, Paul and Wesley who had been assigned to protect Soweto, a huge potential MU area, asked if Lynda and I could join them on Saturday afternoon. Not sure what the plan was but we met up in Krugersdorp and saw green fields up everywhere. After a brief strategy meeting at the side of the road we decided to start at one anchor which was not far and disrupt as we go.

Arriving at the first anchor portal we found a car load of bored tadpoles protecting the portal which was armed to the teeth with AXA shields. Poor toadies, they seemed so eager for a battle when we pulled up only to see shock on their faces when we ADA’d the portal and drove off. By the time they had reverted the portal we had blocker links up from Kagiso. Speaking only about our action on the West Rand and towards the south, we later learnt that they had about 6 teams of over 20 frogs all camped at strategic portals against only 4 of us. Wow, this day turned out to be a David against Goliath sort of day.

The blocking portal from Kagiso didn’t last too long as expected but we were already on the move to put up blockers further south west into Soweto. Nothing could be done as the fields went back up other than stay on our course of action. We later found out that our next group of blockers put a real spanner into the works of the Enlightened’s overall plan to win this Persepolis war that they had to specially send out a team to kill them. As soon as they were down a large green field went up which we knew it would from the intelligence that we received.

By that time our small team of 4 commandos were already on the move to our next target of the southern anchors of the layered fields over Soweto. Now that the large field was up no one could make any more fields so by taking down the small layered fields was a good move. A Toad team based at a main anchor was sent up to recapture them while we sneaked down to kill the main anchor. Knowing that this was a strategic anchor we decided to camp there, knowing that when the big green field came down, that this portal would need to stay blue.

And battle for this portal became known as the Battle of Soweto as a fierce battle then ensued at the Grasmere portal. The attacks kept coming and coming and we defended like heroes. Somewhere in the heat of the battle I kept hearing our intel telling us to keep going, you nearly there. It felt like Darsana all over but somehow in the fog of war we won.

Afterwards I heard that every Resistance member played their part well, from those that went out to kill the long links, to the Defence of Tembisa in the north to the Battle for Thokoza in the south, not forgetting those at home running our intel, and of course the 4 Resistance members who stood tall in the Battle of Soweto.

So hence the celebration at Piza e Vino. Well done everyone to a job well done.

Road Trip

Six Vespas with their riders myself, Francois, Andrew, Magda, Romi and Staford left Johannesburg at 5am this morning and headed to Phalaborwa. Ten hours later we arrived, bums sore but all in one piece. After booking into luxury tented lodges with air conditioning we went on a 3 hour evening game drive. Moment of the Day: Our game ranger while waching 3 young hyenas said there is the mother calling her young while it turned out to be Romi snoring away. For more photos see Mille Day One on Facebook

Manage your Finances

I went on a course today on how to balance the budget and invest in the future. In times like these I think it is wise to learn how to manage money. It is a pity that no-one taught me when I was young. Here are two youngsters, Andrew and Nick, who are starting out in live and have learnt some priceless information which will stand them in good stead. I better start now than never. Oh by the way Andrew went to the same high school as I did, Port Shepstone High, but was class of '94.

The Cameron Clan

Back Row: Jonathan, Debbie, Kevin, Andrew, Robbie, Pat, Fiona, Tim, Rachael
Front Row: Matthew, Sarah , Rhoda, Michelle, Emma, Eugenie, Lucy