Welcome to South Africa (Pt 2)

Contents of the winter 2007 Northants News

Welcome to South Africa (Part 1) Trevor Wray

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As an introduction to South Africa our trip went very well. I saw a big selection of common succulents and Sue saw the wild animals on the game reserves. There is a bit of excitement when a huge elephant brushes past your car, (then later a family with ‘twiggies’ caused a road block), a male lion challenged us when we approached mum and the cubs and the cheetahs were so photogenic I took more pictures of them than the succulents all around. Most unlike me.

Above: Aloe dichotoma at the Karoo Botanical garden

In the last episode we had crossed the Mittelburg Pass with the car plastered in mud and threatening to slide and plunge over the cliffs. By contrast Worcester was civilised, relaxed and the Karoo Botanical Garden is a ‘must see’ for any tourist vaguely interested in the succulents (or wild flowers) of the area. The garden area is well tended, aesthetically pleasing and quite natural. A few more plant labels might have been handy but never mind, (yes, it would have then been less natural). The helpful staff showed me the pot-grown reserve collection which was really interesting. This part of South Africa is between the winter and summer rainfall areas and plants were marked with coloured tags accordingly.

In the sales area there were local Aloes and colourful vygies. Vygies you will know is the local name for the mesemb family and apparently it is pronounced Fy-guys. Now you know. Here you could also buy ‘pigs ears’ or Cotyledon orbiculata a member of the Crassula family with large succulent, white, farinose leaves. A good plant to grow in South African gardens and in some of its more refined forms, (‘oophylla’ springs to mind), in greenhouses here.

Best part of Worcester is the wilderness trail which leads into the hills. Here was an opportunity to see native Karoo plants in their natural habitats. You must bear in mind that access to plants outside of the National Parks is very limited by good fences and ‘keep-out’ signs. Here I could wander among them to my heart’s content and I did. Sue got a bit bored.

I saw Adromischus filicaulis in crevices in the rocks with Conophytum ficiforme. Under shrubs I found large rosettes of Haworthia pumila (which means small, though they were large). Everywhere were those ‘photoshopped’ vygies in every colour but blue. Here also were humongous Tylecodon reticulata, the biggest we saw. The local common Aloe is A. microstigma with white flecks over the leaves. When I looked closely these wild plants have other, unwanted, white flecks from Aloe scale insects. This is also a problem in cultivation in the gardens, the staff told me.

Above: The trail at the Karoo Botanical Gardens and below: a colourful Crassula rupestris on a rock face along the trail.

On our return to the visitor centre I was able to copy (on my digi-camera, aka the photocopier) the plant list for the wild area. We had seen Haworthia pumila but there was a second species - H. herbacea recorded there which I had missed. Later while looking at pictures of Adromischus under bushes, I saw the elusive H. herbacea in all its glory. Well maybe not, it is a rather boring thing.

We spent just one night at Mossel on our way to the pure luxury at the St James at Knysna. At Mossel we dined at a Kingfisher fish restaurant to die for. Snails - so cheap you just have to gobble down the little beggars while you can. (Save the planet!) A fish course to remember. Did we have a pud? I don’t know but we were surrounded by around a hundred people eating and enjoying a very good meal. There were also kids running, playing, eating and occasionally sleeping . Foreigners seem to find a way to integrate children into the ’dining experience’. The next day I discovered that the lighthouse area around Mossel is just packed with succulents but we just had to get on and half an hour is not long enough. However I saw big plants of Crassula ovata (yes, the ‘money plant’), creeping bead plants, (Senecio), my first, (actually my only), Gasteria, G carinata. Aloes, mesembs, Othonnas, just masses of succulents. Two nights next time - and I could eat at the Kingfisher both nights!

The St James at Kysna is a pretty posh hotel. They want to carry your suitcase and they know your name, (Good morning, Mr. Wray) even when you haven’t seen them before. They wash your car in the night, (scary). You don’t get this level of service at the US National Park camp grounds. (Perhaps I should have a word with the US President) Still a great experience but I have to report that the succulents in this immediate area were not great. Or maybe we were immersed in such luxury we failed to notice them.

Addo National Elephant Park was next and we were immediately aware of the dominant succulent there, Portulacaria afra. You will probably know this in the variegated form which wants to grow sideways. At Addo it grows up and out, robustly, vigorously, up to 10 foot. Funny it is the same in Santa Barbara, California where it is used a fair bit for utility planting. At Addo it is the favourite food of the elephants who just wander through the thickets and eat as they go. Occasionally they pull up a plant which impedes their gentle browsing. Perish the thought that elephants would escape at Santa Barbara and rip up the road side planting.

Elephants at the Addo National Park

At Addo we were not allowed to leave the vehicle but we could see that the broken stems of Portulacaria soon put down roots to produce new thickets. Unfortunately the second dominant succulent here was an Opuntia species which had been introduced from America as cattle fodder, (probably at the same time this plant ran amok in Australia). Acres of ground in Addo and at the Game reserve we visited later were overgrown with this plant. It seems that without control the entire continent could be dominated by the Opuntia. Where will the wildlife be then? Or do they like to eat Opuntia?

The two nights we spent in the game reserve were fabulous. On game drives we saw the usual antelope, rhinos, giraffes, elephants and the lions and cheetahs. Bearing in mind that this is a magazine about cacti and succulents I have to admit that the half hour we spent with a lion family and two observations fairly close with cheetahs were sublime and worth the trip alone. With the lions (in the lion’s den?) we drove slowly towards mum and the cubs; dad ran defensively over and my shutter finger took bursts of snaps. Thank goodness for digital and large memory cards. Posing with his family, more snaps, he then walked menacingly towards our open jeep. There was a certain frisson in the vehicle. Though there was no rifle in sight I wondered idly if there might be a hand gun. My trigger finger worked full time but fortunately as the lion's head filled the frame (through a 400mm lens I hasten to add) he thought he had done enough and lay down midway between us and his family. Phew. Thought, for one minute, I might have to choose between saving my own life and snapping the F.L. being eaten.

Above: underfoot near the cheetahs were these fine Euphorbia esculenta.

Above: A cheetah family at Blaaubosch Game Reserve. Right: a lion (through a 400mm telephoto lens!).

There was a small cluster of a Trichocereus sp in the lion enclosure which was problematic. I later saw a large colony of the same species near Graaff-Reinet. Maybe they escaped from the succulent nursery there. There were many acres of escaped Opuntia which I am sure will be a future problem here.

Several of our companions and, of course, the FL were aware of my love of succulents plants. As our landrover sought those rare animals, exquisite plants of Aloe striata in flower were reduced to mush beneath the wheels. I can report that it is a sickening sound, quite crunchy. I am glad that there were two Belgian doctors on this drive in case I felt faint.

Next day superb specimens of Euphorbia esculenta went under the wheels as we approached cheetahs; these were by contrast squishy as they were pulverised. I think that somewhere in the game plan for these Game Parks there should be a realisation that native plants as well as native animals must be preserved. Maybe.

Furthermore the invasive Opuntia has to go. Where ever it is seen.

We stopped at the town of Graaff-Reinet. Among the attractions featured at the Tourist Information Centre was a cactus nursery called Obesa Nursery. Derek Tribble and others had mentioned this as a worthwhile stop.

It was chucking down with rain when we arrived. An interesting planting of cacti and succulents outside on the pavement looked promising. Through the entrance I entered a fantasy world of succulents. There was an incredible outdoor display of desert plants - cacti, aloes, euphorbias and other prominent succulents. The fantasy element was provided by two inches of standing water, which is hardly compatible with growing deserts plants.

In the propagation/sales area the roof leaked like a sieve. There were many attractive plants which seemed to be grown from propagated material, (rather than gathered from the wild). The plants were most reasonably priced: I could afford to be a succulent grower in SA.

Running out of time we covered the miles to return to Cape Town and the airport. Only occasionally would Sue let me stop to look more closely at something I had seen. Our last night was spent at Kalk Bay, a quiet seaside town with pleasant harbour walks, a great selection of restaurants and whales near the beach. What more could the Wrays ask for?

Three Aloes from the Cape. Above; A. claviflora, Right: A. striata. Far right: A. africana

We had some time to spare before our evening flight and dropped by Kirstenbosch again but just for a few hours. The beds of annual flowers were fading but there was still plenty to see. It was curious to visit the garden centre and see propagated plants for the local gardens. Ernst van Jaarsveld promotes the concept of ‘low-water gardening’ in a book and classes at Kirstenbosch and here were the plants he has in mind. Shrubby mesembs and Crassula family for ground cover, Aloes and cycads for effect. I wish we could do that.

A final view of Kirstenbosch with a field of mesembs before Table Mountain.

Sue was most taken with bunches of Protea from the cut-flower stand at give-a-way prices. Sorry Sue, only one item of hand luggage and it would hardly survive in your suitcase.

So that was that. We passed the extensive township by the airport to remind us how the other half live and had an uneventful journey home.

Yes, we have to go back. Quite soon! Next time we will drive straight by the lions and cheetahs and concentrate on the little choice succulents. That would be a real holiday.

Oh dear, the FL has read this and said ‘No way!’

Trev