On Monday, 4 June 2018, eight excited learners from our local farm schools were ready to be brave and zipline in the canopy of the Karkloof’s magnificent indigenous forest. Earlier in the year, these learners achieved first prize in their age categories at the Three Cranes Big Day Out event, where they ran a mini […]
Article by Dr Jolene Fisher (Vogts), School of Animal, Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand. Mistbelt forests historically occurred within a pristine grassland matrix – found on steep south-facing slopes where they are protected from fire and found as ‘pockets’ of forests throughout KwaZulu-Natal. Sadly, from around 1880 until 1940, many of these […]
Toddle (verb): to move with short, unsteady steps, as a young child. With the recent rains which filled the streams, combined with the many forest obstacles, the toddle was the only mode of transport for the 27 hikers who joined us. Carol Owen, a member of the Karkloof Conservancy, organised this second quarterly hike which […]
It was a warm Autumn morning when the troops assembled for duty at the Karkloof Conservation Centre, ready to be deployed for a snare patrol and animal tracking activity on Gartmore Farm. We started by looking at Di Martin’s exciting collection of signs and scats, then had a briefing on snares and poaching. No snares […]
On a beautiful sunny Autumn morning about 40 parents and kids met for a family hike to the base of the Grey Mares Tail Waterfall. Although families did not necessarily stick together, the day provided wonderful memories for all who attended. The hike started with a tough uphill through the plantations, but the energy lift […]
The excitement was brewing as the team were heading to the start of the final leg of the journey along the Karkloof river. This would involve walking the section from below the Karkloof Falls to the confluence where the Karkloof meets the uMngeni River. This entire stretch traverses through the Karkloof Safari Spa property, which […]
The 1st April was a beautiful day for our KRANES bird ringing activity – the winds were at bay and the sun was shining. Karin Nelson, a qualified bird ringer was up with the sparrows to set up her nets and get started for the day (anyone who know Karin, will picture her drinking tea […]
On Day 5 of the Catchment to Confluence Karkloof River Walk the team was thrilled to be joined by 2 fresh pairs of legs, Mbuso Khambule (new SAPPI Environmental Officer) and Mondli Goba (SAPPI Communications Officer), just in time to pass through some of the SAPPI Shafton plantation areas on the Karkloof floodplain. Our destination […]
After difficult and long days, Day 4 promised to be less strenuous as the team were now truly in the Karkloof floodplain, where the terrain was more open and the river starts its characteristic meanders. With Sue Viljoen (WWF) unable to join us for day 4, Simon Bruton of GroundTruth stepped in as a substitute […]
On Tuesday 28 March, as we reached our drop off point for day 3, courtesy of C. MacGillivray’s Karkloof Taxi Services, Sue Viljoen (WWF-SA) remarked that she was in need of a double espresso and a red bull. Yip, the typical day 3 stiffness had set in, and our bodies were yelling for more sleep […]