What a wonderful spring and summer 2007/2008 we are having! After the gentle and ongoing showers in November and December, our days have been filled with delights.

We planted Leonotis ( Wilde dagga) and cotyledons around the office and houses, and have been rewarded with frequent visits from different sunbird species. What a treat it is to sit at my desk and watch the Black sunbird with his iridescent green cap and fuschia throat, together with his speckled wife, chirruping as they sway on the leonotis stems, supping the delicious nectar. The Malachite sunbird favours the cotyledons and is just as beautiful. Skirmishes between the above birds and the Double Collared variety occur from time to time, as the little red- breasted chaps try to get a look in too!

On the 7th January we welcomed our Canadian volunteer, Thom, who has since become part of the Skilderkrantz family. So far he has hacked aliens, started preparing the organic veg garden for planting next spring, taken some excellent photos of Grysbokkies and other creatures, helped move a swarm of bees into a hive and taken parties of guests on swimming picnics. Having eagerly volunteered to check it daily, yesterday he helped us drive, then lug the leopard trap 2 hours over very rough terrain to the remote cave where we regularly see his?her? their? tracks. I have resisted interfering with the leopards' idyllic existence up in the Bushman cave, but have finally conceded that if we radio-collar them, we have a better chance of keeping them safe should they cross over onto neighbouring farms to the west of us where they could get shot or caught in gin traps. To the east we luckily have fellow conservateurs as landowners, and to the North is the Wilderness. So now Thom has a long daily trap -checking mission, as we wait with baited breath.Once the leopard enters, he will let us know, she will immediately be dart tranquillised, then we will collar her and re-release her in the same spot. Hopefully we might learn that she is in fact staying in the protected areas. Although with ranges averaging 20 000ha, this is not very likely.

Food from the Veld

This season has seen the fattest ground figs (Carboprotus edilis) ever! What a feast! Mostly they are eaten dry, but I prefer to squeeze out the sweetish succulent pippy sap into my mouth while they are still succulent. Having learnt the art of doing this, I realize the baboons are onto a good thing!

We also found the most exquisite little "wild chives" flowering alongside the stream at the Bushman cave. We did not pick any, as there were only a few.Could these be species of Tulbagia? We will have to find out.

Building work continues on the various cottages and the "Old School". Soon we will be opening to our first paying guests. Things take a while in the Kouga, especially building, but boy, will it be worth it when it is done!

Climate Change

This already seems to be with us in the Kouga and we are seeing changes in rainfall patterns with the tendency being for the rain to fall more violently in fewer periods. This was seen in the cloudbursts in the Langkloof in December. Luckily the heavy rains missed us( we had gentle rain) and the only effect we felt was the flooding of the Kouga River whose catchment falls partly in the Langkloof. Sadly a lot of scouring took place in the Kouga River, partly due to bad farming practices such as denuding of catchments resulting in increased runoff. This meant that we lost many of our lovely sandy beaches.

We also seem to be getting more summer rain than winter these days.