Rietvlei Fynbos view

Rietvlei a scary sight.

Photographs of Rietvlei Cape 2001 and 2008

2001 lush wooded bushland and bird haven

December 2008

Even though this land is scorching under the hot sun, it is still a pleasure to look out over the water and admire the mountain.
Newcomers who have never seen the vlei before it was stripped from "alien" vegetation, may think it is a wonderful place. It is still nature.

I admired the birds. It was only when I compared today's photographs with some of those taken back in 2001, that the impact of our conservation efforts hit home.

On the photographs, this place, Rietvlei looks like a window into the future. It is a scary sight. It looks like life "after the holocaust" or something like "global warming and the Armageddon".
It could be part of a film set for "After the Koeberg nuclear meltdown"

Not all of Rietvlei looks like this. There are many new trees growing up. New plants have been planted and the conservation department has big plans for the area. It is this interim period that is scary. This period of nothing but desolation.

(Photographs will be placed in the album soon to show a more balanced view of the area and some of the new trees and plants)

Intaka Island 2nd visit

Friday, 28 November 2008

Last week, when we walked around the periphery of Intaka Island, I said to my husband that it was the best Cape Town nature experience I have had since the trees were removed from Rietvlei.

We had a wonderful morning, and I also mentioned that Intaka island must be the best kept nature secret in South Africa.

Allan Liebenberg, nature conservation spokes person for the area, explained that they created seven natural habitats for birds and then allowed nature to do the rest.

I think the emphasis must be on the word CREATE.

This is not a daydream. This is the reward of careful planning and hard work that we see here.

This morning was our second visit to Intaka Island or should I say our third visit, because we visited this place once when it was still called Blouvlei.

We packed a picnic bag and armed with our cameras, binoculars, my faithful note pad and pencil, we set off on the fifteen-minute drive from our home.

We decided to drive straight to the entrance gate.

Since we walked from Century City around the periphery of the canal last time, we had some difficulty finding the island by car, because there are hardly any signs to show us the direction and the brochure is not much help either.

It did not take us too long to find it though. We took one or two wrong turns.

The entrance gate itself is also a bit hidden, as the signage has not been completed yet. We just looked for the two train steam engines we knew was at the entrance.

We paid our entrance fees after having a bit of a chat with the friendly access control staff.

The gate fees are R8 per person and only R4 for pensioners and children. Season tickets are also available.

For anyone wanting to photograph birds in their natural habitat, this is the place to be.

The brochure promised:

What to see and do:

• Bird Watching

• Self guided trails

• Breeding heronry (award winning)

• 177 species of indigenous plants

• 120 bird species

• 7 different habitats

• 45 minute Nature trail (2 Km)

It also offers:

• Guided group tours

• Bird hides

• School tours / educational programs

• Viewing platforms

• Plants and seeds.

From the start we were enchanted. When we got to what they call the "breeding heronry" we did not expect to be photographing birds right in front of us.

They were so close, that even I with my 1,5 mega-pixel camera could capture them.

I shall leave the photographs to explain the rest.

Intaka Island is an ideal venue for writers with writers block. While this place is such a well-kept secret, it is quiet on weekdays. We saw two other visitors from a distance, but we never bumped into them. There are seven rest stops to choose from. I am sure the inspiration will flow.

Awesome! Five stars for them. At a scale of 1 to 10 I give them 20.

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Rietvlei is now ready to turn into a butterfly

Rietvlei, November 2008

The trees have been removed from Rietvlei, and she is now like a blank slate.

The money is available and there are great plans afoot to turn her into another Nature Conservation - Recreational wonderland

Updates on Rietvlei

I have not been back to Rietvlei since May, but I want to go and see if the removal of the trees have improved the plant and bird-life at the vlei yet.
The daisies should be wonderful with all the promised effort that the vlei would be returned to a fynbos paradise, after the removal of the trees.
The Rietvlei Water Ranger has his own blog, you can check it out

Rietvlei, Cape, South Africa is transforming slowly

It is two years since the height of the big tree xenophobia at Rietvlei when nearly all alien trees (or nearly all trees) were removed to make place for indigenous vegetation.

The slow metamorphosis of Rietvlei is changing the wetlands (alien vegetation) paradise to a (hoped for) threatened

sandveld vegetation.

This area was about to receive RAMSAR status

as a wetlands reserve, when the urgent need to preserve the local sandveld fynbos was realized.

This type of vegetation was perceived as more urgently in need for conservation as the established wetlands.

There is still much room for improvement.