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Tree News The recently published Cavern Entertainment and Hikes Guide lists 68 trees found on Cavern Territory. This merely represents what has been found so far, mainly along the regular trails. On a recent walk on the circular Fern Forest Trail another five species were added: Casearia gladiiformis, Clerodendrum glabrum, Maytenus acuminata, Olea capensis and Scolopia zeyheri. This suggests that many more species are lurking unnoticed. Enthusiasts wanting to add more can try the innumerable forest patches away from the main trails, where they are certain to find something new. The forests here must be the most diverse in the whole Berg. Of our 73 trees, 65 are forest species. The main reason for this diversity must be the mildness of the winters, which allows species normally associated with lower altitudes to survive here. Perhaps the most interesting tree in the forest is the Coffee Pear, Pleurostylia capensis. This is rare anyway and usually found in the warmer lowlands, where it is always small. In the Fern Forest there are at least four giant specimens over 20m tall and probably 200 years old. One stands right on the trail, and can be recognized by its roughish bark that reveals an orange under-layer as it flakes. By David Johnson Bird News A week or so ago I wrote about the Longcrested Eagle expanding its range, so it was particularly exciting to find one of these “expanded” eagles last week. Some of you may have noticed that we have become “frequent flyers” to the Cavern and it was there that we saw a Longcrested Eagle last week, the first ever recorded on their bird list. It did all the right things, like flying overhead to show its great white hand patches; it landed in a nearby tree to show off the almost comic long crest; there was no chance of mis-identification here. This bird had to work quite hard to find this little haven of indigenous forest. To get to the ‘berg one passes through a lot of flat, mealie country but I suppose that there are plenty of telegraph posts along the way providing excellent hunting vantage points. I am sure that the stately rows of plumed mealies have their fair share of vlei rats and other tasty morsels bustling about in their leafy avenues. Another factor to consider is that an “expanding” bird will be a young bird, not yet fully qualified to own a nest and mate and territory, so a tall tree to build a nest in will not be a necessity for the journey, but rather the reason to travel. So a high perch from which to hunt and a safe roost for the night can be equated to a restaurant along N3 and an adequate B&B! Now we have to hope that a bird of the opposite sex follows this same route and ends up at the Cavern. The antics of the Pintailed Whydah continue to fascinate me and I am beginning to think that their behaviour in a real wild situation is definitely different to that in our suburban gardens. In my garden, “The Punk” as he has been named, continues to chase and harry anyone brave enough to come to the feeder and still steadfastly ignores the couple of lady whydahs that feed there. Size does matter as the Speckled Mousebirds and Blackcollared Barbets are left alone to devour their apple, even though this all takes place on the same swinging feeder. But how different it was up at the Cavern. There, over a patch of damp grassland, I watched as a smart male whydah primped and pranced and when exhausted, retired to a nearby telegraph wire to rest. The waving grasses below him held an assortment of lady widows and bishops and whydahs and the different males appeared more intent on attracting their own ladies than trying to chase anyone else away. The dance routine and the length of the tail seemed more important than the ability to duff over an innocent bystander. The Pintailed Whydah’s favoured host is the Common Waxbill but I have not noticed this bird getting any special attention either. The life of a brood parasite does seem to be quite a hit and miss affair in this instance! By Sally Johnson
The Legend of the Cannibal Cavern
Next day, with native police and horses which our host had kindly provided, off we started before the sun was hot to visit the Cannibal caves of Usidanane. I recollect, even now, what a merry party we were that morning and how we made the mountains ring with our joyous shouts and mirth. Our guides, infected with our exuberant spirits, chanted a war song as they marched jauntily along in single file leading the way, while we riding behind followed by a path which led over broken ridges up the steep, water worn side of a rugged mountain. After climbing some frightful ledges on its face, we suddenly found ourselves in front of the entrance to the Cannibal caves of the once so much talked of Usidanane. This man, now a petty chief, used some sixty years to live in these caves with his father and other natives, who, as well as himself, were driven by starvation to become cannibals when the country was overrun by the impis and invading legions of the Zulu king, Chaka. Usidanane is still living, at an advanced age, in charge of a few descendants of these cannibals, who came forth from the shelter they had sought, and occupied the ground in the immediate vicinity, and are now called by the tribal name of Amazizi. Extract from Incwadi Yami (1887) by J.W. Matthews M.D. History of The Cavern The Cavern was originally a grazing farm but in the 1930’s it was bought by Walter Coventry after he resigned his post as Superintendent of the Natal National Park. He continued cattle ranching here and started a small guest house, accommodating mostly friends he had made over the years while running the Hostel at National Park. In 1941, Judge Thrash bought the Cavern and employed Ruth and Bill Carte to run it. His emphasis was more in the ranching side. Since the grazing was sour veld, the ranching was unsuccessful and Ruth and Bill decided to buy the farm from the Judge, recognising its potential as a Guest house. The Guest House could accommodate 15 people in thatched rondavels with separate ablution blocks. Bill started a quarry where, using his own explosives, he blasted sandstone for building. The blasted stone was transported to the main building site on a sleigh with oxen and later by Ford truck. The farm supplied fresh produce for the guest house. Farm animals often confronted guests amongst the buildings. Life was not without its problems: There was no refrigeration for eleven years and meat was stored in a water cooler, jelly set in bowls carefully placed at the edge of the stream. A Pelton wheel, which was located in the Glen where you will now find the trampoline, provided minimal electric power to light the farm house. Bill installed a small diesel power generator, but only in 1976 was Eskom power available. For many years the water runway down the mountain was the only water supply for the house. “Rhodesian Boilers”, (44 gallon oil drums suspended over an open fire) provided hot water to the rudimentary ablution blocks. Evening entertainment included games of wit and action, favourites being dumb charades and carpet bowls. The Saturday night dance was a highlight! A radiogram powered with an extension cable through the lounge window to a car battery was used for music.
Amphitheatre World Heritage Site The spectacular Drakensberg Mountains took their place on the international stage with the proclaiming of the 243 000 hectare Drakensberg Park in December 2002 as a World Heritage Site, significantly meeting the criteria for both cultural and natural properties. This makes it one of 22 sites in the entire world – a truly great achievement. The Amphitheatre is the icon of this achievement. International recognition was granted in acknowledgement of the areas unique richness of biological diversity, its endemic and endangered species, its natural beauty and its masterpieces of human creative genius in the form of Bushman rock paintings – the Worlds greatest collection of rock art. The area is home to a total of 2153 species of plants and 298 species of birds with a large number being endemic. There are 48 species of mammals to be found. The predecessors of the Bushman were here over one million years ago, but it is not much more than 100 years since the last Bushman was seen in the region. They left behind a legacy as precious as any of the great collections of the famous art galleries. Little is known of these Stone Age people. Archaeological evidence suggests that the region has been densely populated, since around 5000BC by the predecessors of the Bushman living in caves and shelters. Many years later the discovery of the bow and arrow facilitated their hunting way of life and most probably it was at this time that they started creating their art galleries as well as developing their unique cultural and spiritual beliefs. Some time after the eleventh century AD, the influx of African people from the North heralded the introduction of the Iron Age to the region. In time the Bushman people moved out of the plains and settled in the lower reaches of the Drakensberg. However, in the early 1800s there was a series of invasions by powerful leaders, Matiwane, Shaka and Dingane, followed by occupation of the land by white settlers. This created pressure on resources and the Bushman people began hunting farmed livestock, leading inevitably to their being eradicated from the region. Until their demise the Bushman people of the Drakensberg continued to live in caves and overhangs. The men hunted with bone or stone tipped poison arrows, while the women collected wild fruits and roots. Using earth colours and primitive tools, they adorned the walls of their caves with scenes that included trance dancing, ceremonies, hunts, animals such as lion, eland and leopard, tribal wars and battles and supernatural creatures. A classic battle between two Bushman tribes can be seen at the Lone Rock on the Cavern nature reserve.
Bird News The month of June seems filled with shivery winter days – I am so glad that mid-winter has now passed by and there in the not too distant future lurks that wonderful season called spring! I wonder if the birds feel the bite of cold as they hop about on frozen spindly legs, searching for hardy bugs that have not themselves succumbed. It is definitely a time of fewer birds to watch, but as I mentioned a few weeks ago with the House Sparrow story, also a time to really concentrate on those we see. Back from my brief visit to the warm Kruger Park (and the chill of Sabie), this happy intra-South-African migrant winged her way to The Cavern in the Drakensberg once more. Very chilly indeed, but with clear sunny skies during the day the winter birding was good. The banks of Aloe arborescens were still holding their spires of flaming flowers and the Gurney’s Sugarbirds, and Malachite and Greater Doublecollared Sunbirds enchanted even those guests who did not consider themselves bird-watchers. It is impossible to get tired of Gurney’s Sugarbirds, a bird endemic to a narrow stretch of Eastern South Africa but so common in the Cavern gardens during aloe flowering time. Protea roupelliae, one of the tree proteas of the area, is what they really hanker after and as soon as these begin to flower, the sugarbirds will leave the gardens and attend these, their favourite plants. At this time of year the male Malachite Sunbirds have lost their incredible green-ness and a little shiny green on the shoulders and a few spots here and there on the chest are all that remains. But they are easily told from their lady friends by their mightily elongated central tail feathers. The large slashing red collar of the male Greater Doublecollared Sunbird is always there to alert one to its presence. Oh dear, why is it that I so often have to say that the female is a definitely more drab bird? Afraid it is really true in this instance and this makes identifying them much more difficult. Did you know that birds can be right or left-winged, in the same way that we are right or left-handed? There is an open grassy area just below the formal Cavern garden where one can be pretty certain of seeing Groundscraper Thrushes. At present there is a family of Mom and Dad plus the two teenagers from their last brood. I had not really noticed their habit of moving and then “saluting”. Sort of like the Familiar Chat who actually flicks both wings each time it lands, giving us a wonderful identification handle, for it is a very plain little bird otherwise I always think. Well, the Groundscraper Thrush only salutes with one wing, and they are not all “right-winged”. I became quite bemused watching this group of four rushing about demonstrating their left-or-right-wingedness – and they don’t seem to be ambidextrous either! This added a whole new dimension to my bird watching. By Sally Johnson Bushman Art The existence of so many paintings, representing an otherwise lost culture, is a matter of fortune. All of the Drakensberg paintings are on Cave Sandstone, a rock custom-built for the purpose. It erodes in a way that produces weatherproof overhangs – few are real caves. The sandstone is porous so that paint applied will sink in and does not peel off. The age of the paintings is open to speculation, but the newest are generally considered to be about 130 years old, and some as old as 500 years. Very likely the Drakensberg Bushmen and their art are much older than this. Like most art this has a distinctive style, perhaps combining the attitude of the artists and what was considered fashionable. Its greatest value is that it is a picture book of the past. Because many of the pictures are of clearly recognisable subjects, we can place a lot of trust into other pictures. The majority of pictures are of animals. Here again, animals portrayed that are present today act as verification of pictures of animals that are not. Leopards are rare in the Berg today, but may have been more common in the past. The eland must have been the favourite animal of the Bushmen. Eland pictures outnumber those of all other animals put together. Something all the eland pictures have in common is the exaggeration of those qualities so typical of the eland, its huge neck and shoulders. To emphasise the point the legs are made small and weedy. Nobody has dared say so, for fear of appearing irreverent, but these are the world’s first cartoons. Two other Berg antelopes are often portrayed; the red hartebeest and the vaal rhebok. It is interesting to note that the blesbok is never painted, evidence that it never occurred in the Berg. It is not obvious why not, for it is a highland dweller common not far away. But recent attempts to introduce it failed; the Bushmen had it right. Bushman paintings also illustrate a host of animals not found in the Berg today. We have to believe that they were there. The occurrence of elephants is confirmed by the recent discovery of elephant bones, probably 200 years old, at Giant’s Castle. Lions, rhinos and antbears are also depicted; they would have come up from the lowlands during the warm summers. The end of most of these animals in the Berg came with the extravagant hunting of big game by the colonials in the nineteenth century and their settling of the migration route. Realistic battle scenes are often depicted and from this we can deduce that life was not all peace and harmony, man has always fought over the best things! The portrayal of the human figures shares a characteristic with the animal paintings – lifelike, but not exactly true to life. Distinctive features are emphasised. Here this means enlargement of the buttocks, the feature that most obviously distinguishes the Bushmen from other races. It is a great sadness that Bushmen art will not last forever, at least not in situ. It is up to us to preserve it. A law passed in 1911 protects it but in the end it is up to each one of us to preserve this wonderful reminder of a past we can never recreate. Cavern Pooh Patrol Many animals scarcely show themselves at all, and when they do it is at night. Incidentally, long ago, when all mammals were small, they had to be nocturnal to avoid dinosaurs. Our warm-blooded condition today has its origins then, when mammals had to withstand the cold of night. One of the best ways to detect secretive animals is to look for tracks, and especially droppings. Easier than it sounds because most animals use human paths. So watch your feet, you never know what you will step on. Porcupine droppings occur every few hundred metres on most paths. They are blackish tubes, about 3 cm long, bluntly pointed at both ends, always arranged in neat piles of five or more, long axes pointing in the same direction. When broken open you can see the fibres of roots and bark. The frequency with which droppings are found is an indication of how common the animal is. Serval droppings are a kilometre or more apart, as befits a fairly large carnivore. Servals eat mice almost exclusively, crunching up and digesting all their bones. So the droppings consist entirely of dark hair matted together, with a twisted point at each end. Crabs are common in the streams, and often wander quite far from water if the grass is long and wet. They are the main prey of two carnivores, the evidence being brightly coloured orange-and-white pellets of crushed shells loosely stuck together. The manner of distribution of the pellets gives the clue as to their owner. Cape Clawless Otters have a midden – a predetermined latrine site. The idea is not to keep the environment clean but to establish a territorial marker. If it is kept “fresh” a visiting otter will take one sniff and move on. On the other hand the Water Mongoose drops a single pellet wherever it happens to be when the mood takes it. Brown Hyaena droppings are the easiest of all to identify. There were two piles between Cowslip Falls and Top Dam in November. They resemble those of a very large dog, but are snow white, glistening when fresh, drying out to resemble hard balls of chalk. The colour is due to a diet almost exclusively of bones. So don’t fall asleep in the veld if you’re out after dark... David Johnson Migration of Birds As Summer slowly quietens into Autumn, so the birds too slide gently from the frantic frenzy of being a parent to the more decorous state of grandparent-hood. The season’s young have been packed off to fend for themselves as best they can, and the parents can now potter about satisfying only their own simple needs. With a nest full of hungry chicks, nearly all our bird species are driven to find an almost unending supply of good insect food; protein for the fast growing youngsters. Once the chicks are fledged and self sufficient, the pressure to find protein-rich food is gone and the exhausted parents can take a well earned break from bug-hunting. Now a vegetarian diet of fruit and berries with an occasional nutritious worm is quite enough to keep body and soul together. As winter approaches it is interesting to note how many of the local trees choose this seemingly inhospitable time of year to fruit. One good explanation of this phenomenon is that if the trees fruited in summer when insects abound, the birds would not be interested in such second-class food as berries, and the trees would not benefit in the dispersal stakes. There are of course another group of birds not at all interested in helping the trees move their “children” around. These are the Palaearctic migrants who have come here to enjoy our summer and must now take the long and arduous journey back to Europe and Britain to breed. The European or Barn Swallow is a good example, along with the Willow Warbler, Spotted Flycatcher and many others. These birds must actually put on weight in order to have enough energy for the long flight ahead so need all the protein they can find. A small bird can actually increase its weight by half again without falling out of the sky! Migrating birds do feed along the way but seem to beef up before leaving just in case the wayside cafes are not up to scratch. Aerial feeders like the swallow stand a better chance of finding food en route, whereas a bird that has to land to feed can get into all kinds of trouble. Sally Johnson Winter Birds at The Cavern
Everyone knows that summer is the best time for birds. Migrants come from all over the world to join the hardy residents. Winter, by comparison, seems almost birdless, especially as the residents have given up singing. Its dry cold may seem daunting, but it actually brings in birds from other areas where winters are worse. Winter also rings a few local birds more into the public eye. The dry cold of mid winter may seem daunting, but it actually brings in birds from areas where the winters are worse. The Fairy Flycatcher breeds on the very top of the Berg, but moves to lower altitudes in cold weather, especially during snow. It is the smallest of all South African birds. The plumage is a delicate blend of black and grey, with a pink tinge to the white underparts. It can often be seen flitting between bushes just beyond the formal garden. Another winter flycatcher comes from the Karoo. This is the Fiscal Flycatcher, much larger and bold in black and white and often mistaken for a Fiscal Shrike. It perches on a protruding branch, watching for insects to fly in front of it, or drops to the ground onto other small prey. Summer sees six species of swallow and martin here, but winter only one. This is the Rock Martin, plain brown. It nests under rock overhangs on the Little Berg. Only a few frequent the Cavern in summer, but become common in winter when most of the martins from higher up congregate at lower altitude. The Black Stork is another winter special. It is present year-round, but breeds in winter. Seems crazy, and nobody knows why. The nest is a large pile of sticks on a remote ledge. While one parent looks after the nest, the other is often seen flying high to and from a favourite feeding ground somewhere in the surrounding grassland. The most famous of all the birds round here is the Bald Ibis. It is resident, but winter is the best time to see it. This is because it forages on the ground, like any other ibis, but especially likes freshly burnt grass. Fried grasshoppers are no doubt delicious, and insects that escape the fire are more easily found in burnt areas. So winter fires are its best thing. The birds’ fame rests on it being endemic to a small area centred in the Drakensberg. Its nearest relative lives in the mountains of Morocco. This strange distribution dates back a million or so years to when Africa was drier and colder, and the ancestor of both species ranged throughout the highlands. As the climate warmed, this cold-loving bird retreated to refuges at the opposite ends of Africa. They have now been separated long enough to have evolved into distinct species. Amazing what you can learn when visiting the Cavern…………………….. by David Johnson Cavern Tree Names Explained The scientific names of plants can be very daunting – a strange, unspoken language that we often reject as far too difficult. But with a little explanation they become interesting and very informative. More often than not the generic name is of Greek origin and the specific name from Latin. Take for example the Cheesewood which is found growing in the hotel gardens. The scientific name is Pittosporum viridiflorum. Notice first that the name is written in italics and that the surname or genus name is written first, with the specific name or species coming second, written with no capital letter. Pittosporum is derived from the Greek pitta meaning resin; and spora, a seed. This describes the seed which has a resinous coating. The specific name viridiflorum is of Latin derivation and refers to the greenish coloured flowers. In Latin viride = green; and flora are flowers, thus green flowers. So not so terrifying after all! Sagewood, a tree very common around the Cavern goes by the scientific name of Buddleja salviifolia. The genus Buddleja (pronounced bud-lia) is widespread and many of the popular garden varieties come from China. Buddlejas are often the chosen food plant of butterflies, so planting them will encourage these lovely creatures into your garden. The specific name salviifolia means “with a leaf like a salvia or sage”, very descriptive of the thick, greyish-green leaf; the Latin folium = a leaf. Then there is Rhus dentata, which has very obvious teeth on the leaf margin, the specific name being derived from the Latin for tooth. Think of the words dentist and denture, all referring to teeth from the same Latin derivation. The two common Yellowwoods in the forest and garden have rather strange common names which do not tell you anything about the tree itself. There is the “Real Yellowwood” – that does not tell me anything about the tree at all; but the scientific name is Podocarpus latifolius and the specific name tells us at once that this is the Yellowwood with the broad leaves; from the Latin for leaf and the prefix lati- meaning broad. The other Yellowwood is the Outeniqua Yellowwood (again not a good descriptive common name) with the scientific name Podocarpus falcatus. The leaves are not broad and are slightly sickle-shaped or “falcate”, so now we can easily separate these two tree species. Not all the tree names have a classical background. Sometimes explorers and collectors named plants for their benefactor or best friend. One such is the beautiful Mountain Bottlebrush, Greyia sutherlandii. Nothing Greek or Latin here, simply a Mr Grey and a Mr Sutherland who were very important in the life of the guy who first found and named this tree. You will see however that the English names have been made to fit into the scientific mould with the addition of –ia in the generic name and –ii in the specific name. We know it was Mr Sutherland and not Mrs because a specific name called for a woman would have the suffix –ae, as in Aloe barberiae. So next time you come across a scientific name, don’t just shudder and turn away; it might tell you much more about the tree than the common name!
Stars of the Night Sky
The Zulu and Xhosa word for the moon is inyanga which is thought to be of Khoi-khoi origin. Whereas Europeans have traditionally talked about a "man on the moon", the Zulus and other African tribes see a woman carrying a bundle of sticks. A Zulu tale tells that meteors (or shooting stars as they are popularly known) result when celestial cattle rush off to better pastures in another part of the sky. Their hooves break through the floor of the sky, creating streaks of light that soon fill up with mud. The bright star Spica seen high up looking north in winter is also the main star in the constellation of Virgo. Known by Zulus as iNonqoyi it is also see as the wildebeest star. San Bushman considered the star Sirius to be the Grandmother of Canopus. These are the two brightest stars in our night sky and visible from early November right through to May in South Africa. The morning "star" is known as iKhwezi amongst Zulus. The Southern Cross - which is prominent in our winter night sky - was recognised by the early Portuguese seafarers as a symbol of their faith. Bushmen knew it as the "giraffes" because these were the big stars. Other African tribes saw the two pointer stars of the Southern Cross (alpha and beta Centauri) as the male lions and the three brightest stars of the cross as the female lions. Some of the loveliest stories in Africa are spun around the Pleiades - ‘The Seven Sisters’. It is not easy to recognise this cluster and it takes good vision to see the seven stars. Yet if we take a pair of binoculars or a small telescope we soon count 40 or even 100 stars. In total there are over 500 stars in this small open cluster near the constellation of Taurus. The Zulus know them as isiLimela and they believe these stars die in the winter (as they sink below the western horizon not to be seen for many months) and when the rainy season starts in late spring they are reborn as they reappear in the east. These stars are also referred to as the hoeing or digging stars, thus having importance as agricultural signs. For Xhosas the dawn rising of isiLimela was a traditional indicator for a male coming-of-age. The Milky Way was seen by the San people of southern Africa as a girl that threw the hot glowing ashes from a fire into the sky to make a clear and visible path. Zulus refer to it as umTala a "hairy stripe" in the sky. ASSA: South Africa Sky 2005 Stories in the Rocks The Drakensberg has dramatic scenery, but a relatively simple structure. Except for the lowest slopes, the whole of the Berg is made up of only two rocks. From 1500 metres altitude (The Cavern) up to about 2100 metres is the Cave Sandstone. It forms conspicuous pale yellow-brown kranzes capped by an undulating plateau – the Little Berg. The name “Cave” refers to its pattern of erosion. The bases of big rock faces are undercut to form overhangs or shelters, rather than caves. This is where the Bushmen lived and painted, secure from wind and rain. The Cave Sandstone was formed during the Triassic Period, about 200 million years ago. This region was then a desert. Examination of the sand grains in the rock shows them to be angular, a feature of wind-blown sand. Eventually the shifting dunes compressed and fused under their own weight. It rained occasionally. We know this because fossil footprints of small bipedal dinosaurs can be found. Rain washed finer sand into hollows where it stayed damp long enough to record footprints. As the prints dried out they were preserved by new layers of sand blown on top. Finally, perhaps yesterday, the ancient rock cracked at this plane of weakness, typically in a cave ceiling collapse, revealing the footprints. Overlying the sandstone is 1000 metres of basalt, best seen in the Amphitheatre in Royal Natal National Park. This igneous rock was extruded by the biggest volcanoes of all time in the Jurassic Period 140 million years ago. The lava flowed smoothly, and the top of the Berg is still fairly flat. The “Dragon’s teeth” appearance from below is due to the differing speeds with which river valleys cut back into the basalt wall. Originally much thicker, this layer covered most of southern Africa, as well as Australia, India, Antarctica and South America. In those days all these land masses were joined together in the supercontinent Gondwana. It split apart during these eruptions, the pieces drifting on the Earth’s semi-solid mantle to their present-day positions. The piece of the geological jigsaw that fits against our eastern shores is now on the far side of Antarctica. Basalt crystallizes in neat hexagonal columns. In side view these form vertical stripes. A nice example forms a thin layer capping the hill above Echo Cave. Geodes can be found beneath the eroding basalt. These look like large rough pebbles, but are hollow, and are steam bubbles that were frozen into the rock as it solidified. Violet crystals of amethyst line the inside of the hollow. Undamaged geodes still contain their original water which can be heard swishing about if the geode is shaken. David Johnson Dragonflies and Damselflies Next time you are sitting peacefully at the edge of one of the many Cavern dams – either admiring the tranquil beauty around you, or maybe fretting at the lack of fish bites – have a closer look at the lovely dragonflies flitting so effortlessly about you. The first thing to note is that there are actually two different designs, one called a dragonfly and the other, smaller and more delicate, a damselfly. The chunkier dragonfly has two pairs of wings and the fore- and hind-wings are noticeably different in shape, the round eyes are lumps that seem to merge and take up the whole of the front of the head. There are big dragonflies and there are small ones, but they all share this pattern. The tiny, slim damselflies also have two pairs of wings, but there is no difference between the fore-and hind-wings. The eyes are much smaller bumps and they appear to be stuck on at each side of the front of the head. They flutter about while the bigger and tougher dragonflies zoom with great speed and determination. Males and females of both families can be told apart easily; as with birds the males are far more brightly coloured. It is the males that hold a tiny territory along the water’s edge and alight on reeds and grass stems to display their beauty to a passing lady. When he sees a lady of his species looking interested, the male will swoop and clasp her tightly behind her neck with specially designed hooks at the base of his abdomen and whiz her around his territory encouraging her to curl her abdomen round to collect sperm from a special sperm-sac on the underside of his thorax where he has already deposited some sperm. This looks to us like a very complicated manoeuvre but it seems to work for them! Once her eggs are fertilized the male releases her and guards her fiercely while she lays her eggs. They all need water for the egg and nymph stages, but different species choose different places to lay the eggs. Some just drop them into the water, some place each egg carefully under floating vegetation, and others actually cut a slit into a reed and place the eggs there, from where the nymph can drop into the water on hatching. These fairy-like creatures are in fact fiercely carnivorous and a large species will happily devour an unsuspecting smaller cousin. More usually they perform the useful service of eating mosquitos. If you encounter one away from the water’s edge, it will undoubtedly be a female, as they will wander far and wide in their search for food, while the males are tied to the water and their territory. Their life span is governed by the strength of their wings – once the fabric is torn or worn, it is sadly ‘tickets’. Thus as winter approaches we see fewer and fewer, for they need strong wings and the warmth of the sun to fly. As spring bursts forth so does the next generation of these enchanting creatures. SITE OF CONSERVATION SIGNIFICANCE
Recently – July 2006 – The Cavern was awarded the status of Site of Conservation Significance. This title is given only to sites that contribute significantly to nature conservation. The Cavern qualifies because of its:- Landscape: Natural communities: Protea woodland is very well represented, and is the only habitat that supports the endemic Gurney’s Sugarbird. Proteas are also Gondwana relics, with near relatives in Australia and South America. Rare species: Endemic species: Many of the endemics present are typical of the uplands, emphasising the “island” role in speciation and endemism. David Johnson THE CAVERN DINOSAUR
Heterodontosaurus was one of the smallest dinosaurs, about half man-size. It often walked on its hind legs, and its three-toed footprints can be found in the Cave Sandstone surrounding The Cavern. “Heterodont-“ means having teeth of more than one design – unusual in anything other than a mammal. Some individuals, presumably males, had pointed “canines”, probably used to fight other males. All the cheek teeth formed a flat grinding battery suitable for chewing plants. The way in which the flat-topped teeth were perfectly aligned suggests that they slid back and forward rather than up and down when chewing, so were evenly worn down. But some jaws have been found where brand-new unworn teeth protruded above the main battery. The animal would not have been able to feed with the teeth like this. All dinosaurs constantly replaced old teeth from below; no problem with conventional chewing, where teeth in all stages were found in the same mouth. So Heterodontosaurus having high, unworn teeth can be best explained by a season in which it did not feed at all, although tooth replacement was continuous. Very likely it aestivated – the summer equivalent of hibernation. It literally dozed off in a safe, shady corner during the long hot dry summer. North African snails do this today. Animals that aestivate do all their feeding in the cooler winter rainy season when plants grow. This life-style is linked to a near-desert climate. Although The Cavern today is temperate and green, this was not the case 200 million years ago. The climate then was very similar to that of the present-day Saharan fringes. We know this because the sand making up the sandstone was a wind-blown dry land deposit. Its grains are rough-edged, whereas marine sand grains are rounded. The continuity of tooth growth also suggests that Heterodontosaurus was at least partially warm-blooded. Despite a generally lizard-like appearance – it had a long tail – it would have much more the ecological equivalent of a duiker than of any modern reptile. David Johnson BIRD BADDIES IN THE BERG Within the seemingly organised and wonderful world of birds, there lurk cheats and baddies; birds that knock the system and get away, not with murder, but without lifting a finger (nor even a wing) to help with the bringing up of their offspring. These are the brood parasites, the birds that do not make their own nests but simply dump their eggs in another’s nest, knowing full well that the chosen host will be an excellent parent and that their genes will go on into the next generation. For that is the driving natural force – to reproduce. In the beginning there were no baddies, it was each species for itself, trying to carve its own niche in a not so friendly world. But as things settled down there opened up gaps for the birds with dubious morals; cheating was suddenly a viable way of life. Early brood parasite ancestors must have made their own nests, and by chance an individual laid an egg in another bird’s nest and this chick was successfully reared by the unsuspecting foster parents, and so was born the Bird Mafia. Cuckoos are not the only members of this gang; honeyguides, whydahs and widowfinches are also among their number. Each member has its own preferred host species and devious ways of combating discovery. Here at the Cavern we have five cuckoo species with the Redchested Cuckoo or Piet-my-vrou being the most vociferous. As with most brood parasites, this large bird chooses a much smaller victim to bring up its kids, most commonly depositing its egg in the nest of the Cape Robin. Robin eggs and nestlings are summarily despatched by the much larger cuckoo chick, and the foster parents work themselves to the bone trying to assuage the hunger of this enormous child. Unlike mammals that become imprinted on whoever they first see at birth, these cuckoos go off into the world believing they are cuckoos and when it comes to singing the right song and choosing the right mate, they seem to get it right. Black, Jacobin, Klaas’s and Diederik Cuckoos are the other Cavern cuckoos, all having different host species. The frenetic Pintailed Whydah is another of this gang. The cheeky black and white “King-of-Six” leads his wives to the nest of the enchanting Common Waxbill. In this case the whydah chick is reared alongside the waxbills, no murderous tendencies here. The Black Widowfinch chooses Bluebilled Firefinches as its favoured host. The honeyguides, of which we have three species recorded in the Cavern grounds, have a different strategy. They use hole-nesting birds such as the Blackcollared Barbet to rear their children. In the darkness of a nest hole there is no need to match the egg to the host’s egg, but the danger lies in first getting the egg into the hole, and second when the young honeyguide is ready to leave. Fully grown and in adult plumage, it runs the risk of being recognised by the barbets as an undesirable, and mob justice can be harsh. Sally Johnson THE PARTNERSHIP AND THE SWINDLE
Just outside the front door is a Strelitzia regina, with banana-like leaves and complex orange-and-blue flowers. Often quoted as a perfectly adapted partnership between plant and bird, it actually demonstrates that skullduggery in business is not just human. The sunbird recognises an opportunity from afar, its visual pigments being specially tuned to orange and red. Experience has shown it that the orange petals promise nectar that will be found in a deep cup somewhere in the middle of the flower. This flower even has a strategically placed landing platform – the blue spike – in exactly the right place. As the bird lands, its weight bends the spike, opening a central crack. Inside the crack is white pollen that sticks to the bird’s belly as it leans forward into the nectar cup. It then takes the pollen away, to be delivered to the next flower, ensuring cross-pollination. Or so the textbook says. But watch carefully. The sunbird goes to uncomfortable lengths to land anywhere except the custom-built air-strip. It scrabbles on the slippery flower stalk, reaching the nectar with difficulty. Obviously it dislikes the sticky pollen on its feathers, and is taking the nectar without fulfilling its part of the bargain. Nectar piracy is the game, and all adult sunbirds seem to do it. Pollination must rely upon juvenile birds, doing what they are supposed to, before they learn the evil ways of the world. David Johnson ROYAL DRAKENSBERG PRIMARY SCHOOL
At the turn-off to Sungabala there stood a sad and roofless sandstone barn. Built with blocks hewn from the surrounding hills, this lovely old building had stood empty for many a year. At last it has emerged from its chrysalis and burst upon the valley as our beautiful new primary school – The Royal Drakensberg Primary School. Standing proud and glowing in the sun, this double-storey thatched building looks out over the valley it hopes to serve. We believe that there is a great need for holistic education of a world class standard in our area. Conditions in these rural areas are poor and the teachers lack resources and infrastructure. We feel that an established private school, which is properly staffed and managed, will go a long way to giving children the necessary grounding to reach their maximum potential. To this end we opened our little school this year and have enrolled 16 children. Seven of these children are close relatives of our own staff and their fees have been sponsored. We are hoping to find sponsorship for more children from disadvantaged homes who have academic potential which otherwise would not be realised. Providing these children with a good primary school education will help them to gain access to good secondary schools in Pietermaritzburg and so give them a chance to excel in life. Hopefully they will then be able and willing to give back in some way to the community in which they grew up. At present we have a pre-primary group of 12 children and a Reception/Year One group of 4 children. We hope to grow a grade each year and establish a primary school that will take the children up to Grade 7 (12 – 13 years of age). In time we will need to move the present school down the road so that it is more accessible to others in the community. We have started it here where we can keep the costs as low as possible. If you would like to know more about this exciting project, or perhaps pop down to see it all in action, please contact Megan. Our staff at the Entertainments Desk will help you find her. WITH PRIVILEGE COMES RESPONSIBILITY, THE DRAKENSBERG PLANT MUSEUM The history of life is sometimes seen as a series of advances, with the obsolete being discarded along the way. As it happens, nearly all of these “failures” hang on somewhere, documenting the past in a living museum. The Drakensberg is home to many of these refugees. Liverworts represent plants’ first emergence from the water. These little flat structures can be found on shady boulders in the stream near the stables. They must always stay damp. The more familiar mosses are their nearest and more advanced relatives. They are more resistant to water loss, so are not confined to stream banks. The transitional stage to a fern is demonstrated by the club-moss Selaginella, which creeps over the Fern Forest floor. Like its ancestors, it still reproduces by means of spores, which consist of DNA and the tiniest amount of water, and little else. So they must germinate rapidly in a damp spot. Adult club-mosses survive well if there is enough shade. True ferns appeared about 350 million years ago. By then competition for space on land stimulated plants to grow taller. In those days all trees were ferns, and it is their half-decayed remains that are mined as coal. In most parts of the world tree ferns have been shouldered aside by bigger, stronger, more modern trees, but tree ferns still linger in isolated places in the southern hemisphere. They are quite common along grassy streams behind The Cavern. Cycads mark a further advance. Instead of spores, they produce cones containing seeds, which additionally have food and a waterproof coat. They survive long periods if there is no rain. Now it is possible to colonise land far from water. A fine example of the endemic Drakensberg cycad Encephalartos ghellinckii has been transplanted into the garden in front of the Cave Bar. Dinosaurs ate cycads. Yellow-woods are newer conifers, and still quite abundant, but only in southern continents, memories from 150 million years ago when they were joined in the Gondwana supercontinent. Three species occur in the Fern Forest. David Johnson VELD FIRES Fires have been a regular feature of the African veld ever since grasses evolved 20 million years ago. Originally lightning would have been the cause, but more recently man has seen the benefits of fire and is the main agent. Grass itself improves when correctly burnt. As winter – the dry season – approaches, grasses must shut down activities, so transfer any valuable minerals down to the roots for storage and later recycling. The aerial portion dries out as it is abandoned, and, without minerals, becomes useless to grazers. Unless burnt it shades out next spring’s new growth. Grass that is never burnt loses vigour and supports no wildlife at all. Long dry grass also shades out nearly everything else. The wealth of beautiful flowers for which the Drakensberg is famed, many of them endemics, depend upon fire. Without it the smaller species would never see the sun, and most of these erupt through the blackened landscape with the first rain, and sometimes even before it. Their reproductive cycle must be complete before tall grasses form shade. Proteas must have fire to germinate. Once it was thought that heat stimulated dormant seeds – as it does for some other species – but smoke is the vital agent. Fire rarely kills the trees growing in open veld. These are species that are too small to compete for light in the forest, so must withstand fire. They do so with thick corky bark that insulates the trunk. Grassland animals all have a way of surviving fire. Bigger animals can easily keep ahead of advancing flames; smaller species retreat down burrows; some insects get burnt, but never all. It is these fried snacks that attract birds to burns even before they have stopped smoking. At the Cavern fire is controlled using firebreaks. These can be seen as broad stripes across the landscape. They are burnt very carefully, all hands in attendance, on windless days, so the fire cannot escape. Firebreaks cannot burn again, even with fresh green growth, so bigger fires cannot cross them. Enclosed blocks can then be burnt when necessary, usually as a mosaic in a two-year cycle. Most animals forage in blocks of younger grass, while many nest or hide in the older grass. David Johnson IT’S A BIRDERS’ PARADISE
The bird list for the Cavern and its surrounding nature reserve is an impressive one, boasting many endemic species - those having a very restricted distribution. A variety of habitats in close proximity to the hotel offer birdwatchers a chance to find species that have previously eluded them. It does not matter whether you are a real beginner or a serious twitcher, as the saying goes “Birdwatchers do it at The Cavern”! We also offer birding and nature weekends with David and Sally Johnson, where the emphasis is on birds but all of nature is included, and this is at no extra cost to the guest. For dates refer to our Green Activities Calendar. Early mornings are the best time to see the most birds and a walk around the Cavern gardens before breakfast is certainly a good way to start the day. An easy circuit from the front lawn, down past the bowling greens (good place to see Groundscraper Thrush, Rock Bunting, Cape Wagtail) and through the gate and down to Darter Dam. Walk round the dam and on a really good day one can spot all four of the resident kingfishers, the Halfcollared being a real Cavern special. Keep on the bottom level and head for the Charleswood Dam, keeping eyes and ears open for Grassbird and Drakensberg Prinia, look left over the stream and admire the Mountain Bottlebrush trees clinging to the rocky slopes. At Charleswood Dam you may be lucky enough to find a Black Duck, normally a duck of tumbling streams. Sit and enjoy the tranquillity here before heading back along the path below the tennis courts to a welcome breakfast. If grassland species are missing from your list, then head out to Cowslip and the Top Dams, or take the road down to Natural Pool. For the more adventurous whose wish list includes a Ground Woodpecker, head off towards Echo Cave. Never forget to look up into the skies where Jackal Buzzard, Lammergeyer and Cape Vulture can often be seen. Forest birds are always difficult to spot, they are secretive and elusive but if you sit quietly for a while, you may be rewarded with a view of the tiny Yellowthroated Warbler or the exciting Olive Woodpecker, perhaps a Barthroated Apalis or that megatick, the Bush Blackcap. A trip to the Sentinel Car Park does not always mean scrambling up the Chain Ladder – you could just be looking out for Orangebreasted Rockjumper or Drakensberg Siskin. A gentle wander up the path leading towards the base of the Sentinel will provide a feast of mind-blowing views, high altitude birds and a dazzling array of alpine plants. Sally Johnson GLOBAL WARMING Not everyone believes in global warming, after all, what happened to those glorious warm summers of our childhood? But it is here and real, with lots of evidence for the discerning. Bird observations offer a means of following global warming. Because many species have – locally – fairly specific altitudinal ranges, a new appearance of a bird above its traditional range might be significant. The principle is that birds, and indeed other animals and even plants, “follow” their preferred climate by moving up or down hill. Here at The Cavern bird observations have been made fairly systematically for about 45 years. The following species are “new”, and collectively suggest local warming. None are typical Berg birds, and some have never been seen at this altitude before. Glossy Starling. Never present until about 1995. Now resident, with probably three pairs in the hotel surrounds. They are no longer confined to the garden, and are often seen in the acacias. Black-collared Barbet. This has been resident since about 1997. About five pairs are present, loosely dependent upon the garden, but they also use scrub clumps in the veld. Crested Barbet. First appearance here in 2002. Now established, probably two pairs. So far they seem confined to the garden and immediate surrounds. Long-billed Crombec. Traditionally a thornveld bird, it first appeared here in 2005. The flat-topped Acacia sieberiana is the probable attraction. This tree is spreading up the valley, and this itself is a warming indicator. Long-crested Eagle. Normally a mist-belt and coastal forest species, its first appearance here was in 2005. Black Cuckoo-shrike. First appearance of three females was in 2006, and in the Fern Forest interior. This forest contains several warmth-loving trees usually found at lower altitude, and not found at Royal Natal just round the corner. Spectacled Weaver. First appearance here in 2007. Now resident in the garden. ALTITUDINAL MIGRATION Most bird migration is a long-distance business. The idea is to breed in long summer days at middle latitudes, and to move to the equator or other hemisphere for the winter. But in KZN we see a very special short-distance migration where birds breed at high altitudes, moving downhill for the winter. This is altitudinal migration. In most parts of the world it would make little sense. For example the temperature on equatorial mountains is much the same year-round. So birds just stay there. In cold regions it is still too cold at sea level for insect-eaters to stay the winter. And in flat country there is nowhere to go either up or down. But in KZN we have the unique combination of high mountains only a day’s flying time from a sub-tropical coast. So in spring many bird species start shuffling uphill, looking for a territory. The higher the climb, the better the chance of finding unclaimed breeding space. The Cavern is located in the middle of this system. This means that in winter, and only then, we see birds that breed on top of the Berg. The Fairy Flycatcher is the best example. The Rock Martin is also much more likely to be seen in winter. Other Berg-top breeders do not descent as far as The Cavern but can be seen on walks to the Sugar Loaf. Examples are the Sentinel Rock-thrush, Yellow Canary and Orange-breasted Rockjumper. In summer dozens of migrants arrive, most from the Tropics or Eurasia, but a few from lower altitude. Most obvious is the Black Sawwing Swallow, two pairs endlessly circling the garden. Cape Wagtails become abundant, whereas in winter there are only one or two pairs. Some apparently resident species are actually altitudinal migrants – the birds we see in summer are not the same individuals present in winter. The Chorister robin provides interesting proof of this through its great ability to mimic other birds. One bird living near May’s Falls has the Crowned Eagle call in its repertoire. But the Crowned Eagle has never been seen here, and indeed only occurs at lower altitude. The only explanation is that the robin learned this call while on its winter holiday. David Johnson ELECTRICITY SAVING The Cavern has already been doing this for many years. We use low energy globes where possible and our geysers, freezers, pool pumps and other large electrical appliances are turned off at peak periods using load shedding devices. Now Eskom has asked us to save another 20%. The hot water temperature has been switched down to 50°C. Traditionally, geysers are set at 65°C, but this is unnecessarily hot and dangerous for young children. All of our geysers are insulated with geyser blankets and our hot water pipes are cladded. The most economical way to get a hot shower at The Cavern is to turn the hot tap in THE BATH on full – once the water runs warm, then change to the shower tap. Be patient, in some of our rooms it can take up to 6 minutes to get hot water. Don’t give up too soon, some of the pipes are very long, but the cold water is not wasted. It all goes into the Woodstock Dam to be used in the Hydro-electric scheme and pumped up to Gauteng. There is enough hot water for everyone in the hotel to shower at once, provided each person is reasonable. But there is not an infinite supply and Eskom load shedding can exacerbate this. During load shedding we use our 180kw Caterpillar diesel generator. This is an expensive machine to run – it can use 50l of diesel per hour. It can cope with most of the load but cannot provide all of the demand at peak periods. In winter, during peak times, the under-floor heating will be switched off until the demand drops. In the case of electricity black-outs please remember that the generator is switched on at 7:00am and off at 10:30pm. When there is no electricity it gets very dark – you will need a torch or your cellphone light works well in an emergency. When leaving your room, please turn off everything, including the under-floor heater. Close the windows and curtains if you want to retain warmth. Please report electrical faults, or any public lighting that is left switched on all the time. Please feel free to turn off any lights when leaving public rooms. Thank you for your help – together we can really make a difference. SIX-LEGGED MARVELS
Of the many insects living at the Cavern the African Hummingbird Moth must be the most intriguing. Not all moths are nocturnal, and this species flies by day. It can easily be mistaken for a tiny hummingbird (except that hummingbirds are found only in America). It hovers, with wings faintly whirring and almost invisible, in front of flowers, testing each in turn with its long “beak”. Only its antennae expose the moth for what it is. Its favourite flower is Plectranthus neochilus, used as an edging plant, and best seen in the garden on the way to the Forest Retreat. Our biggest bee is the Carpenter Bee (often wrongly called a bumble-bee). It is black and orange-brown, very furry, and always found near Polygala myrtifolia bushes. The attraction is the pink flowers, produced year-round. A good example of this association can be seen next to the sentry-box. The bee is solitary, and defends its favourite bush against all comers, including tourists. The Carpenter Bee’s nest is a hole, neatly drilled straight into dead wood, hence its name. Another insect that lives on the Polygala closely resembles the bee, an example of defensive mimicry. Although obviously smaller than the bee, the colour is exact enough to fool a predator that has been stung before. The hemispherical concrete-earth mounds in the grassy areas above the hotel are home to Snouted Harvester Termites. A whole self-contained city exists out of sight. The termites emerge at night to cut short lengths of grass. This is stored underground. The city is ruled by a long-lived queen who has a resident king consort. All workers are female, as are the soldiers who defend the mound if it is attacked. They do not bite, but squirt a sticky irritant fluid at the enemy. Periodically swarms of “flying ants” disperse from the colony to begin a new life elsewhere. David Johnson CAVERN BUTTERFLIES
The most common butterfly at the Cavern is the Garden Acraea. It is small, mostly dull orange with a few black spots, and with conspicuously transparent fore-wings. It flutters weakly around its favourite plant, Kiggelaria africana (Wild Peach tree). This is where it lays its eggs, so the caterpillars have the right food. Nearly every plant-eating insect specialises on the single species that it can digest (all plants produce defensive chemicals to keep the ravening hordes at bay). Acraea caterpillars are small, black and hairy, and are the main food of cuckoos. The caterpillars hatch in such numbers that they can eat every leaf on the tree. With no food left they must pupate. Now the tree grows a new set of leaves, recovering completely. The African Monarch is also dull orange, but is bigger than the acraea, and does not have transparent fore-wings. It is fringed black, with big white spots on the wing tips, and is a strong flyer. It is not eaten by birds because it is poisonous. It gets its poison as a caterpillar, eating milkweeds such as Asclepias. The caterpillars are beautifully banded and spotted black, blue and yellow, obviously a warning to hungry birds. Perhaps the beauty prize goes to the Green-banded Swallowtail. This is a dashing flyer, mainly black, with turquoise bands on the wings, and an extended “tail”. It frequents citrus plants, mostly wild relatives of the lemon, especially Calodendrum capense (Cape Chestnut) and Clausena anisata (Perdepis). Both these trees are common in the garden. The young caterpillars resemble bird droppings, a good way to avoid trouble. Older caterpillars adopt a different plan, becoming brightly coloured and capable of suddenly extruding a menacing-looking red structure from the head. This conveys a warning of worse to come, but it’s just a bluff that works. David Johnson ROCK HYRAX
Students of the Bible will have come across a creature called a coney. Biological details are few, but we know it lived in the rocky hills. Around here we call it a dassie, or hyrax. It looks a bit like a large, elastic rat, but it’s not related to rodents. Among many differences it lacks a visible tail, has tusk-like incisor teeth used for fighting and grooming, and rubber “hooves” instead of claws. Their short legs and sticky glands on the feet make dassies excellent climbers and rock jumpers. Other unique features are scent glands along the back, with erectile hairs there to advertise them Dassies are gregarious, roosting together in caves or boulder jumbles. They even have a communal latrine, which might be centuries old. The early morning sun-bath is essential, for dassies are not completely warm-blooded, cooling down overnight to conserve energy. They feed on plants, always with one elder on sentry duty. Black eagles are the main threat. An alarm call sends the whole colony under cover. A group usually has a dominant male, and up to 17 wives and their offspring. Young males are tolerated if they keep out of trouble. Females start breeding at one year, litter size 2-3. Dassies are slow breeders, gestation period seven months, by far the longest for such a small animal. Once common in the Drakensberg, an epidemic killed most of the population around 1980. Since then there has been a slow recovery, and dassies can now again be seen near the river bridge on the way to Montusi. Soon we can hope to see their return to the Cavern grounds. Long ago the hyrax tribe was important. Thirty million years ago there were many species, some of them large. Hyraxes evolved in Africa, along with their cousins the elephant, elephant shrew, golden mole, aardvark and dugong. These afrotheres (literally “African beasts”) are not at all related to the rest of Africa’s mammals: cats and antelopes and the rest are all invaders from Asia, arriving after the two continents joined. So our little dassie is part of Africa’s long history, and one of the few survivors of ancient times. David Johnson ELAND About 2000 eland roam the Drakensberg and its foothills. Roam is the correct word, which is why we don’t see them at The Cavern every day. Summer tends to be spent grazing in the higher berg while the grass is at its most edible. Individuals congregate in breeding herds, maybe 50-strong. In winter the herds break up as the eland move to the lower berg. Here they browse on small trees, especially Buddleja salviifolia. They are messy feeders, leaving a trail of wreckage behind them. The eland is the berg animal. No better proof is needed than the Bushman paintings, more than half of which portray eland. It is the biggest animal here, and indeed the biggest antelope anywhere. Imposing and elegant, its great dewlap conveys an air of opulence too. Despite this, the eland is an athlete, easily jumping over a two-metre fence, or right across a district road from a standing start. When walking, eland make loud clicks, sometimes likened to castanets. The sound comes from their front-leg “ankles”, actually foot bones just above the hooves. The significance is unknown. Both sexes bear tightly spiraled horns, those of the males being heavier. The wide open spaces of the berg suggest that many more eland could live here, yet they never increase. In former times there were many more. The difference was that, before the extensive human settlements in the midlands, many of the large animals migrated seasonally. The Drakensberg grasslands were nutritious enough in summer to support large herds, making the uphill trek worthwhile. Even elephants and lions came. Then, as winter approached, the grasses lost palatability as they transferred their minerals to their roots. This was the signal for most of the herds to return to the lowlands. Now this migration route no longer exists, and the eland population is restricted by what the winter can support. David Johnson Leopards in the Drakensberg Once upon a time leopards were everywhere. Even now they are not confined to the lowveld, but live in most rough or mountainous areas. The Drakensberg is no exception, although the general shortage of food means that leopards are few and far between. Being elusive and mainly nocturnal too means that they are rarely seen. However, one was seen near Sungubala in 2008, and signs around the Cavern suggest a resident individual. Footprints have been seen recently above the stables, and droppings just beyond the Fern Forest. Now comes more dramatic evidence on our doorstep. On the pre-breakfast bird walk in March a half-eaten mountain reedbuck was found beside the pond just below the hotel. From the rib-cage down not a morsel remained except for a carefully pushed-aside stomach. The remains were fresh (and certainly would have been noticed if present the afternoon before). Half an hour later the evidence had been dragged to a hiding place under bushes nearby. Then by the afternoon it had disappeared altogether. Obviously its “owner” had been keeping a close watch throughout and didn’t want to share the spoils. Of all the large carnivores the leopard is the one that adapts best to the human presence. It keeps almost entirely out of our way. Nearly always it takes wild prey, even though sheep and goats would be much easier. It’s just as though the leopard knows how to stay in favour. Attacks on people are virtually unknown. So when walking around the Cavern there is now the added excitement of knowing that somewhere in the hills our most famous predator might be watching. And it’s a lot less dangerous than driving around Jo’burg.... David Johnson ROBIN SONG Birds sing to advertise. Males do most singing, to announce that they hold a territory. The song warns other males to keep away, while enticing females to come closer. The song itself also identifies the species of the singer: it does not do to fraternise too closely with the wrong species. Because the song is usually precise it often enables the human listener to identify a bird that cannot be seen. But listen carefully, for example to the Cape Robin. Although the basic tune, tone and volume are always the same, subtle differences exist between individuals. In fact every individual has a unique voice. Each robin recognises its neighbour’s voice exactly as we humans know a friend over the phone. This is very useful to a robin because a quick early morning burst of song tells everyone who is who, no need to spend unnecessary energy on old established relationships. On the other hand if a newcomer appears there will be much jousting in defining new boundaries. The Chorister Robin has a more complex story. As well as its basic repertoire it learns new tunes – mostly calls of other species – with age; older robins know the most tunes. This is business, not fun. The robin with the greatest range of song has the highest social status. This makes the oldest males the most attractive. The system works because old robins don’t look any older than young ones. So an old widower gets first pick when choosing a new young wife. He will also get the wink from other young females looking for extra-marital affairs. What the little husseys want is the best possible genes for their next brood, while kidding their regular husbands to continue supplying family food. David Johnson The Stables Wine Estate The Stables Wine Estate, on a former thoroughbred stud, is a few kilometres from the centre of Nottingham Road. It is set on farmlands in the picturesque KwaZulu-Natal Midlands, with vineyards stretching out across the old racehorse paddocks and pastures. The majestic uKhahlamba-Drakensberg is in the distance. The scenery and tranquillity on the estate are remarkable and it’s the perfect setting for a wine estate. The Stables Wine Estate tasting room is open for wine tasting and sales 7 days a week from 10h00 to 17h00.
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