What to do in the absence of trees

Oliver's tree substitute

The infamous Hondepisbos

A simple field mouse

Checking traps

Namaqua Dwarf Adder

Coming to Namaqualand for the first time is a strange experience for a dog. Now I am talking about a dog as in not a bitch. Know what I mean?  Because a well-trained dog needs a tree every now and then to do the Gents-thing. And where we are now, everything looks like miniature bonsais. Yet, when a dog’s got to go a dog’s got to go. Fortunately, Annelise introduced me to the Hondepisbossie. (See pic attached.)

Apparently Il Doctoré Olivier shares the same problem as me. No, no, no he doesn’t use the Hondepisbossie, but he also misses trees. I now mean miss as in long for...

I asked him about it and he said:

“I am fanatical about trees. I have been visiting several wonderful forests in Africa and tropical America. From the majestic tropical forest of French Guyana to West Africa in Cameroon and Madagascar, and more recently to Mozambique, I have to admit that I do feel more at ease in a forest environment. The Cape Flora is a well-known exciting place for botanists around the world but I had no idea of what was waiting for me in Namaqualand.

When we drove to Noup I saw the vegetation becoming lower and lower and I wonder… Hou la la… I will now have to bend down on my knees to focus on much smaller plants in order to fulfill our collection targets.

Thankfully we have Annelise le Roux with us who is a working encyclopedia on Namaqualand plants. What a relief! After a few hours of collecting, Annelise seemed to realize that I would be delighted to see a plant with a trunk… so she suggested we drive toward a dry riverbed. Finally I can see a few plant specimens to collect that are higher than a few centimeters. C’estmagnifique…. I collect an Acacia karroo, and some interesting succulent representatives of the genera Tylecodon and Cotyledon.

Overall, I realize after a short time that the vegetation surrounding us is as exciting as a forest. Your eyes slowly get used to looking at this extremely tiny but amazingly rich and astonishing vegetation. Trees or no trees, I’ll be back!”

I’m with you Il Doctoré… Oh, another thing before I go look for a Hondepisbossie  and go to sleep, Snakeman and I did go and check out his traps of yesterday. I bet you think we came back empty handed. Not quite. Let me not spoil his limelight. Over to you, Snakeman:

“Checking my traps is like opening Xmas presents. In anticipation – I’m filled with burning curiosity and I bubble with excitement. Hmmmm – a Striped Mouse in the first funnel trap. Not quite what I had on my wish-list, but hey, at least the traps caught something. Next funnel trap is empty, and so also the next and the next. Gmffff – stupid mouse…

The four pitfall traps contain an assortment of invertebrates, mostly a variety of beetles and spiders, a multitude of millipedes and a fat scorpion. But the centre bucket is my Jackpot. A Namaqua Dwarf Adder! Now the mere mention of the word adder or viper usually causes a blood-chilling moment for most of us. It is to my mind, the icon of Namaqualand’s snakes, because it is endemic to a narrow (<5 km wide) stretch of the west coast from a few kilometers south of Noup and extending into southern Namibia. It is the world’s smallest adder, with even the largest specimens not growing beyond 27 cm.”
So there it is, the proof of the pudding is in the pit. And with those words I bid you good night, tomorrow we leave Noup, with a bit of Namaqualand forever part of us…