In the bowels of a giant Yellowwood tree

Today is the day you find out whether this photo (see here) was photoshopped or not. All of the people who commented on my previous post, got it right! Some of you may already have read my previous posts about an intrepid band of tree surgeons who climb very big trees in their spare time. […]

Carve Beyond Reality – Wood Carving Contest in Kenya

Ru-an Hsu, one of the organisers of World Wood Day, (see World Wood Day – 21 March 2013 ) sent me a link to a beautiful video of a wood carving contest held during August 2012  in Kenya. It shows the wood-carvers at work, and they get to talk about what inspires them in their designs. […]

World Wood Day – 21 March 2013

As some readers may already know, this blog is primarily about nature in Africa. We love trees and wood! So it is with great pleasure that I want to promote World Wood Day 2013.  The inaugural celebration of World Wood Day is being hosted in Tanzania with a series of specially designed events. I had […]

Climbing “The President”

Following on from my last post Hanging about in the tree tops (about climbing very big trees in South Africa), I wanted to share this story about scaling another forest giant. This time a giant sequoia (redwood) in the Sequoia National Park. It is a truly magnificent tree. The story appeared in the December 2012 […]

Hanging about in the tree tops

What do you do if you’re passionate about trees? You climb them of course! If they’re trees the size of the one in this post, you are going to need mountain climbing gear and some serious climbing skills though. Two years ago Leon Visser – a Cape Town based tree-surgeon – visited our area to […]

Season’s Greetings from the Southern Cape

Happy Holidays to everybody! I hope that this week is a happy and peaceful one for you and your loved ones. Wishing you all a Healthy, Happy and Peaceful New Year. Thank you for your support over the last year!

Weekly Photo Challenge: Reflections

Sometimes reflections are clearer than reality . . .

Namaqua rock fig

The Namaqua rock fig (Ficus cordata) is found in arid areas along the western side of South Africa (especially in the Succulent Karoo and Nama Karoo) and into Namibia. It is described in the Namibian Tree Atlas as a graceful tree, often drooping with light grey smooth bark which can look white at a distance. […]

Time passing – 3 seasons in 3 months

One of the things I have noticed more since I started taking photographs, is the changing of the seasons. Sure, I had noticed before that it was getting hotter or colder. I noticed that the trees had the leaves, or were dropping their leaves. That there were flowers, or there weren’t. But I didn’t pay […]

Wangari Maathai (1940 – 2011)

On Sunday 25 September 2011, Kenya and Africa lost a true leader and visionary. For those of you who don’t know, Wangari Maathai was a “Kenyan environmentalist who began a movement to reforest her country by paying poor women a few shillings to plant trees and who went on to become the first African woman […]