Dear Readers, today we spent all day up on the Nieuwoudtville plateau. As time is short, I just wanted to concentrate on two spots. The first was the Kokerboom (Quiver Tree) forest – these remarkable trees grow all the way up the side of the mountain, in arid conditions where you wouldn’t think anything could grow.

I’ve remarked before about the individuality of these trees – I guess that all trees are individuals (thinking of our great oaks and other splendid trees) but there’s something very idiosyncratic about Quiver trees. Maybe it’s the different bark patterns, and the different growing habits.

Apparently, last time our guide was here you could get out and wander through the trees. Alas, this time they were fenced off, presumably to protect them from people who would damage them. What a shame that people can’t be trusted to be respectful, but there we go. After all, people sometimes graffiti the trees in our local wood, so there are idiots everywhere.

Then we moved on to the waterfall just a few miles up the road. The view from the top made me quite dizzy!

There are 22 little waterfalls which all pour into this one.

All manner of birds and other creatures call this their home, but the most exciting birds we saw here were a group of Fairy Flycatchers, South Africa’s smallest bird. They were much too fast for me to get a photo, but here’s a shot of one so you can get the idea…

Fairy Flycatcher ((Stenostira scita) Photo By Francesco Veronesi , CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=39952933

Close to one of the shallower pools we saw our old friends, the Milkweed locusts. They certainly seem to be everywhere!

Tomorrow we’re off to Lambert’s Bay to see the gannets. Very excited!