Keurbooms Nature Notes or When God was A Rabbit

Six hours from Cape Town, on the Garden Route toward Nature’s Valley, lies the Keurbooms River Nature Reserve - unspoilt, unpolluted beauty, far from the madding crowd

You couldn't visit a more beautiful place! The headwaters of the Keurbooms River come from the quaintly named Tsitsikamma mountain range - you can almost hear the sibilant sound of crickets and rushing water as it flows swiftly through the undergrowth down towards the sea 

An ancient river, the placid waters of its estuary hide its tortuous journey through the inland mountain valleys as it plunges into a spectacular gorge

 And pours into the golden sand-rimmed bay a few miles from what is affectionately known as 'Plett' - originally christened "Bahia  Formosa" - beautiful bay - by early Portuguese explorers

 No less than ten important nature reserves embrace the varied ecosystems of this amazing area. Plants include agapanthus, arum lilies, bracken and various fynbos species like pelargoniums and this stunning aloe

The Keurbooms Reserve is named after the Western Keurboom (Virgilia oroboides) or choice tree with its sprays of pink-mauve flowers which grows in the coastal forest edges


It is here that we travel to a beautiful beach house



Just moments from the sea and right on Keurbooms itself

Where we are greeted by the attentive staff - including a very cool Rasta retainer called Peter, 
his wife, the delightful Florina and Gina the Cook

Mint greens and pastel pinks create a calm and relaxed holiday atmosphere

Breakfast on the terrace is the start of a weekend of hedonistic delight

Our charming and very energetic host and our hostess-in-absentia

Soft New England-style décor creates a perfect ambiance for our sybaritic sojourn

Glazed terraces add a contemporary note and provide beautiful vantage points
from which to survey the dazzling mountain and sea views

Casual attire is the order of the day - here Mr P wears his vintage 'I love Africa t-shirt' 

And here Mr P at the pool - deciding whether to get in or not

Our bedroom with lovely old kelim and Mr P's trusty trilby

Simple fabrics and a comfy bed - what more could one ask for?

A Tessa Kiros cookbook should one get bored


The odd novel to pass the time - and this one is odd

And the most amazing sea view right from the bedroom window

The very helpful Peter set up our umbrellas and chairs on the sand

Then all one had to do was gaze out to sea and dream

Or have a welcome cup of tea

Read an occasional line or two in between the arduous task of applying Factor 15

Then there was the difficult job of climbing up to the lunch terrace

Where with our London friends Sue and Keith, after a hard day at the beach, we were served the most generous of banquets

Beautiful salads,  lavish roast chicken, enormous platters of smoked fish  -
enough for a family of at least dozen - until we realised it did feed a family - the staff no doubt enjoying the copious 'left-overs'

An afternoon nap on the terrace was the order of the day once lunch was over

Followed by a late afternoon beach stroll

Lots of opportunities for photo shoots

Reverse angle on very chilled Mr P

The Chance Muse could get used to this but has decided we need a more serious approach to matters ecological and natural - and so offers the nature lover a guide to the local fauna and flora

A variety of habitats are conserved and patches of virgin Knysna forest still grow in protected kloofs tumbling into coastal fynbos above the sea. One is immediately made aware of a strange smell - a salty bitterness that takes me straight back to childhood holidays at Plett...

It's the Milkwood, a tough wily sort of tree that grows in twisted caricature down to the sand and can survive the terrible winds and salt gales of winter. Other noteworthy trees to be seen in the forest are the Cape beech, giant stinkwoods and Outeniqua yellowwoods

The White Milkwood - Sideroxylon inerme - "melkhout" in Afrikaans - as noted, is a low-growing, evergreen tree, its gnarled, sprawling branches create impenetrable thickets home to a variety of wild life. The small, yellowy-green flowers have an unusual sour-smell and the edible, juicy, black fruit are enjoyed by birds and baboons 

 Of which we saw an entire troop sauntering casually just up the hill back from a morning on the beach

Also observed on our first morning walk - the red-billed black oyster catcher plots his future

A mussel shell recalls its past misdemeanours and wonders about the possibilities of reincarnation

Alien species stalk the beach in search of subject matter

The great forests lying at the feet of the fabled Outeniqua and Tsitsikamma mountains are a rich source of local folklore including the tale of the mysterious Knysna elephants and the trickster-god of the Xhoi San, commonly disguised as a hare or rabbit who lives in the moon. A careless messenger who when charged by the Moon with bringing a message of immortality to humankind, mistransmitted the good tidings as a message of death...

The bay itself is a nursery to the endangered Southern Right Whale which come here to calve in the winter and spring - June to September - and one of which we were lucky enough to see - far left


 As well as unique marine reserves, home to soft coral reefs, dolphins, seals and a host of other marine life including a rather nasty rank-odoured plague of red bait

The dining room with huge plate glass window proved a wonderful place from which to observe

the local wild life

On a fine day one can be lucky enough to spot caracal, the shy blue duiker, bushbuck, grysbok, or even a lone leopard

Other common sightings are mongoose and the very friendly vervet monkey

An exciting opportunity to see the last remaining forest elephants of South Africa

Some of whom mate for life and are always seen in pairs

Where the female is always the boss although the males of the species are good at bar-b-queing, changing light bulbs and occasional rewiring of plugs

The entire area teems with birdlife - nearly 300 species are to be found in the great variety of habitats ranging from fynbos to forest to wetlands

Most notably are the Malachite and Giant Kingfisher pictured above

And the distinctive and comical Knysna Lourie with its flashes of red and deep green plumage - which announces its presence by a sort of deep grunting as it hops around from tree to tree

 But the verdant hills also conceal the regal fish eagle - above courtesy of forestedge.co.za - as well as the reed cormorant, yellow-billed duck and the black-headed oriole, to name a few

  Nesting - often in elaborate bird's nest castles -  is confined to coastal areas and they are often left empty in the long winters, only for the inhabitants to return in the summer months with numerous offspring

The Knysna Woodpecker with its peculiar gait and distinctive colouring can be quite stand-offish on first meeting but warms on later acquaintance

Various visiting Sunbirds flourish in these sunny climes though they have on occasion been noted to develop more nocturnal habits

The peripatetic Strandlooper is a very communicative creature prone to long hours chatting to its mates and sporting plumage that indicates a strong propensity to support Arsenal

And favours gathering at water holes along the way with like-minded folk, where thirst is quenched by a favourite pre-dinner tipple

Though some species prefer a good red of some vintage - believing in the old adage that all things come to those who wait as long as one remains young at heart

The mating habits of the little grebe and the great crested hamerkop can be quite endearing

But what's that coming over the hill...? Could it be...?

A rare sighting of the European swallow!

Migrating every season -- an escape from her usual chilly northern hemisphere habitat - to be glimpsed on occasion sporting specially adapted headgear to ward off the fierce rays of African sun

 

 

Don't look now, dear, but their are two strange birds following us. Definitely not locals.

If we don't turn around they may not notice us... Too late!

And as the sun sets in the southern ocean we hope these nature notes have been edifying 

Or at least a distraction from your Northern hemisphere winter


And that we will come this way again soon 

 
And perhaps meet you here when our migrating trajectories cross 
or when god becomes a rabbit again....