Karoo National Park

On our way to Cape Town we stayed over in Beaufort West and went into the Karoo National Park for a few hours in the late afternoon. Day visitors pay R40 pp (RSA citizens).

Some interesting history about the park from the brochure: "During the late 1950s a local farmer William Quinton campaigned for a conservation area in the Beaufort West vicinity. However, it was only in the 1970s that the South African National Parks proposed the establishment of a National Park that would be representative of the Nama Karoo Biome after a campaign launched by the South African Nature Foundation and funded through the commission and sale of special art stamps, depicting the flora and fauna of the Great Karoo,"

I asked the ranger at the gate if there were actually lions in the reserve, and he proudly told me that there were indeed; eleven in fact. Considering the size of the park (just under 90 000 hectares) we realised our chances of spotting one were slim! Game is not abundant in this reserve (we saw 1x Gemsbok, 1x Kudu, 1x Red Hartebeest and some Klipspringer in our two hour stay) but this is a reserve you visit more for the landscape and experience rather than for animal spotting.

One such experience is driving up Klipspringer Pass: the road that snakes its way up the mountain is constructed with a beautiful, curving stone packed retaining wall. It is reminiscient of the Zimbabwe ruins and is quite beautiful to see. I wonder how long it took to construct?

There are lovely birds to see (more than 200 spp). Apparently the Park boasts one of the largest concentrations of breeding pairs of Verraux's Eagles (Black Eagles) in the country. We were fortunate enough to spot a pair soaring over Klipspringer Gorge Look out Point.

We didn't stay over in the park, but the beautiful Cape Dutch style self-catering units look picturesque with expansive views over the Karoo landscape. The campsite looked very inviting with lots of vegetation and grass as well as good facilities - we will have to come camp here one day! Visit www.sanparks.org to check availability or make a booking.

I didn't have high expectations for the the 300m Fossil Walk, but we decided to do it before heading back to town. The slightly raised stone pathway (wheelchair accessible) was beautiful: clean and smooth as it weaved its way through the golden grasses and Karoo scrub. I appreciated that plants were given name tags every few metres and the fossil boards were very informative. I have to admit that I am not all that excited about animals that lived and died millions of years ago, but I really enjoyed the walk because you get to experience the landscape and feel part of the nature that you are in. And isn't that we we are looking for when we go someone different: experience the place you are visiting, connect with the beauty around you.

Water Sensitive Design

On the of 25th of November a seminar was held at the University of Pretoria on the implementation, operation and management of Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) / Water Sensitive Design (WSD). It formed part of a series of country-wide seminars hosted by the Water Research Commission, UCT Urban Water Management research unit, City of Johannesburg, City of Tshwane, City of Cape Town, eThekwini Municipality, and SAICE Amathole.

The introduction by Professor Neil Armitage included a brief overview of the conventional method of manging water in cities and how this needs to change to create cities that are Resilient, Liveable and Sustainable. Dr Kirsty Carden also shared on the water crises and how important education and stakeholder engagement is in order to change behaviour and achieve the goals of Water Sensitive Design (WSD).

The aim of Water Sensitive Design is to transform South African settlement into settlements that “mitigate water scarcity, improve water quality, thereby protecting ecosystems, through the development of water sensitive urban areas (for all) that are sustainable, resilient and adaptable to change, while simultaneously being a place where people want to live” (http://wsud.co.za/ - two important resources can be downloaded from this website, see images below)

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Conventional engineering dealt with water as a waste substance to be collected and removed as quickly as possible. WSD proposes that water be managed as a precious resource through infrastructure that utilises stormwater in a way that transforms spaces into multifunctional assets with numerous benefits. The philosophy behind WSD is to keep the water in the city through establishing Blue/Green corridors which have multiple advantages to the city including: increase in biodiversity, climate control, water and flood management, human well being, increase in property value, recreation opportunities, tourism as well as the added benefit of storing carbon.

Professor William (Bill) Hunt from North Carolina State University is an expert in this field and he shared insightful information on how WSD systems work and best practice for their construction and maintenance. Practices currently being utilised worldwide include: dry ponds, wet-ponds, wet-pond with floating island, stormwater wetlands, bio-retention cells, level spreader, swales, bio-retention and swale (also termed “Regenerative Stormwater Conveyance”), permeable paving, green roof, underground device, and street trees. An innovative system using a steel grid to create a well that is installed below street trees was shown. The tree root ball grows downwards into the grid filled with a growing medium instead of lifting paving in search of surface water because of compacted soil below. A landscape architect would be able to assist in choosing the best species for street trees in this application because tree size, root growth and water requirements are all factors to consider in selecting a tree that will survive.

Professor Hunt also explained how the State of North Carolina has enforced legislation which compels new developments to reach certain hydrologic goals. Certain sites qualify as “Low Impact Developments” and these need to manage stormwater in such a way that the run-off levels are the same as the pre-developed site. Several case studies were explained and the results were not always as expected: for example a wetland filtration system with three ponds had the largest amount of filtration happening in the first pond and not much more in the second and third pond. Which suggests that it may be better to only have a system with one pond instead of three. These studies prove be very beneficial in providing the knowledge of how to build the most effective and cost efficient systems and clearly there is still much to learn.​ 

ILASA 2015 Year End Function

On the 6th of November we spent the morning exploring the incredibly beautiful Nirox Sculpure Park (http://niroxarts.com) situated in the Cradle of Mankind. The park manager Stephan du Toit gave us a brief history of the park and also some interesting insights into how the park was designed and how it functions on a day to day basis. The park is closed to the public but opens for special events and functions such as the upcoming concert with Freshly Ground. Stephan also informed us of an exciting partnership happening next year with Yorkshire Sculpture Park which will take the form of the winter sculpture fair, definitely something to look forward to.

The park is looking remarkably lush and green in comparison to the rest of Johannesburg where the heat and drought is taking its toll. Stephan said that he does not feel guilty about irrigating because the water is taken from the water system that runs through the property and the water ultimately works its way back into the same system.

It really is something special to walk in such a large open area, woven with water bodies and beautifully maintained, and then discover beautifully placed sculptures that are intriguing and delightful.

The walk was followed by a delicious three course meal at Le Sel restaurant where refreshments were well received while enjoying the beautiful view. Eamonn gave a brief speech and the ILASA 2016 conference was discussed, urging everyone to put 29 and 30 September 2016 into their calendars. A great way to end the year off. See you all next year!

IERM Convention: Olifantsvlei Cemetery

I was fortunate to sit next to Reggie Moloi who not only acted as tour guide, giving us entertaining commentary as we drove through Soweto, but also passionately shared insights into the City of Johannesburg’s cemeteries. He proudly told me about the numerous awards the Diepsloot Cemetry has won... how the Jewish and Muslim sectors of Westpark Cemetry are run… how the crematoriums were mostly run by the Hindu community and how objective you need to be in this line of work when most people can be irrational and highly emotive. Another wealth of information in this field is a recently published book called “A journey through Johannesburg’s Parks, Cemeteries and Zoo” by Lucille Davie which was showcased at the convention.

Reggie continued to explain that Avalon Cemetry is 172 hectrares with a 45 hectare extension, but some areas are too rocky and it is nearing full capacity. Furthermore, all central cemeteries (besides Westpark) are full. For this reason the City of Johannesburg looked to Olifantsvlei to be the new cemetery that will serve Soweto. It is 400 hectares and estimated to last sixty years with 888,000 first burials. I found the “recycling” of graves quite interesting: one grave can be used for up to three burials as long as it is within the same family. Reggie jokingly said, “If we mix family graves, the ancestors will fight”.  

The cemetery has most infrastructure in place including roads, trees and impressive gabion entrances to the various sections of the cemetery. The circular forms referred to as “cells” give the cemetery an organic and spacious feel. Cells will have different themes including areas with headstones, a full memorial and a memorial garden with only plaques. The wall that has been built around the cemetery (at a cost of R80 million) has been built specifically to incorporate gaps in the pillars so that small animals can pass through it. This is to comply with the environmental impact assessments done for the site.

One problem they are facing, which is preventing the cemetery from opening, is constructing the entrance. Council has indicated that an expensive bridge needs to be built because of the busy road it is located on. There are further ambitious plans for the cemetery, including introducing game into the conservation area close to the stream, employing 200 people, building a one stop commercial facility with florists etc. and removing the paving in future to maximize space. 

IERM Convention: Leratong Park Site Visit

The annual IERM convention was held on the 28th,29th and 30th of September at Glenburn Lodge in Johannesburg. After two days of informative and insightful lectures everyone was excited to spend the third day out in the field to view some of the parks developed by Johannesburg City Parks (JCP). The atmosphere was relaxed and jovial as everyone climbed onto the luxury air-conditioned buses that the City of Joburg had sponsored, which we were so grateful for when the temperatures soared into the high thirties.

The first park we visited was Leratong Park where you are welcomed by a large red steel sculpture, consisting of several hands on tall masts shaped in the hand signal that means “I love you” in sign language. The park is situated in Region C, located in the Greater Roodepoort area near Krugersdorp, in an informal settlement and named after the nearby Leratong Hospital. 

Puleng Ditabe, Regional Manager of Region C, shared insights into the park and described the two main challenges that they were faced, the first was finding suitable space for development. The park is in fact built on a servitude where Rand Water pipes run and ironically you will see signs throughout the park warning people to stay clear of the area because of the pipes running below, although this is quite the contrary now that the park has been built. Although it is risky this was one of the only open areas available and Rand Water and JCP were able to come to an agreement because the pipes do not need to be accessed regularly. The second challenge was vandalism as they had a recycling station that was burned. 

Puleng with David and Fortunate who are permanently employed to take care of the park

Vendor bordering the park

The park is 2 hectares in size and boasts numerous brand new facilities including: artificial turf soccer field, netball court, outdoor gym, braai areas, two playground areas, ablutions and a vegetable garden. The vegetable garden has not been handed over to the community yet and I imagine that managing this production in a public space has its own challenges. Planting Fruit Trees was raised as a question and Thabang Mokone from JCP mentioned that Urban Forestry and Food Security are priorities for the City of Johannesburg and educating people is what is needed for fruit trees to become successful. 

Playground

Soccer Field

Food Garden

As with any successful park the community needs to take ownership and adopt the facility as its own. Only in this way will the community take pride in it and make sure that it is maintained and cared for. We met two of the community members who have been permanently employed to work in Leratong Park: David, head gardener, who reports to a senior horticulturalist and Fortunate who not only looks after the ablutions, but acts as a mother and caretaker to the park.

Many Olive and Bushwillow trees have been planted which is in line with the City of Joburg’s drive to make the Southern suburbs greener. The park is not fenced off and neighbouring houses are encouraged to have gates that open onto the park so that they can use and enjoy it. Phase 1 was completed in 2014 financial year and cost R1.7 million while Phase 2 was recently completed in 2015 and cost R2.4 million. A large amount of money was invested into this flagship park and it is evident that its investors care deeply about it, now it is up to the community to fall in love with it too. 

Graphic Design II

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I have been meaning to write a follow up post after completing the short course in graphic design. I enjoyed learning a new programme - Adobe Illustrator - and have used it to create marketing material for Sprout.

I designed a number of business card options: I wanted the layout to be crisp with a clean, professional look. In the end I chose no.6/6 displayed below. I considered adding colour to the logo (Red and Green) but in the end decided that I liked the simplicity of the Black and White layout. I designed the logo before I learnt Illustrator so I actually drew it up in AutoCAD.

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This is an illustration of a landscape with some trees drawn in Illustrator.

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Here are some of the assignments we completed for the course:

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 Here is a picture of me showing off my certificate :)

Graphic Design Short Course

I am currently doing an online graphic design course and hope that the skills I learn will be beneficial for my new business. I have created a few mailers for marketing purposes on Photoshop and am interested to see how these compare with mailers that I will be creating after the course. The course runs for 10 weeks and teaches you to use Adobe Illustrator. Here are two flyers I made using Photoshop:

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The yellow colour is really awful... so these definitely need to be worked on! In the course we have been introduced to some contemporary designers who are currently leaders in their field.

One of the fmous Graphic Designer we learnt about is Marian Bantjes who makes very beautiful, sensual, detailed work. You can watched her TED talk below which is very inspirational.

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"Sorrow" by Marian Bantjes was made from real flowers that were donated by a local flower shop for an installation at the Chicago Design Museum. She named the artwork Sorrow because the fresh flowers wilted and dried up over time while they were on display.  (see http://bantjes.com/work/sorrow/)

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I really like the way she used real leaves and flowers as materials to design with. So for my first assignment I also used this technique. The brief was to write your name using different tools in Adobe Illustrator and also make use of a raster image. The aim was for you to experiment and learn how how to the program. I took photos of leaves from my garden and incorporated them into the design. This is what my assignment looked like:

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Once I am finished with the course I hope to see a big improvement in the kind of marketing material I will be producing for Sprout Landscapes.

Babylonstoren

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One of my favourite places to visit when I am in the Cape is the beautiful winefarm near Paarl called Babylonstoren. Anyone who loves gardens and plants will be in their element exploring this formal vegetable garden- there is so much to discover! With its wide variety of herbs, vegetables, roses, fruit trees, indigenous plants and areas of interest all beautifully co-ordinated; combined with an incredible attention to detail makes this garden worth revisiting each season.

When I visited now in May was very different to the last time I was here in September last year: instead of the fruit trees having blossoms they are now heavy laden with citrus - naartjies, oranges, lemons, guavas. You can smell the citrus in the air and the sound of flowing water follows you everywhere.

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A lot of the fruit trees are deciduous and have lost their leaves which gives the garden a naked beauty that makes you aware of the changing seasons and the effect of time.

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The display in the "Puff Adder" (a snakelike tunnel made out of timber slats) is on the Spurflower plant or Plectranthus spp. with some beautiful plants on display. This is an indigenous plant group that belongs to the family Lamiaceae. Plectranthus is indigenous to South Africa and often grows in shady areas. On a previous visit they had a Clivia exhibition. But the exhibition is no longer necessary because they have planted a massive bed of Clivias running all along the pathway under the trees - the River and Clivia Walk.

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I love all the timber trellises and obelisks that they have created - it really gives the garden a lot of character and compliments the main wooden structure of the walkways.

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You probably can't see them in this photo because they are so small but there were Swee Waxbills here that I enjoyed watching. The whole garden was actually filled with birds and birdsong.

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Even though it was an overcast day we had such fun exploring this garden. I will definitely keep going back.

Cape Town...a beautiful city

The Mountain

Just some pictures of a trip to Cape Town...

Lions Head

Long Street

Gardens Give Joy

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Free Veggie Garden Outside this Church

Cobbles

Green Market Square

Funky Street Furniture

Rainbow Nation

Karoo National Botanical Gardens

In March we travelled to the Cape for the Tour De Boland Cycle Race. This is a cycle race that spans over five days and includes cycling between various towns in the picturesque Boland region. The first day the route went from Paarl to Worcester and while we were in town we stopped in at the Karoo Botanical Garden. ( see http://www.sanbi.org/gardens/karoo-desert) It was not the ideal time to visit because the annuals nor aloes were in flower, but it was still lovely to see the plants that were there. There is also a nursery where you can buy some succlents. The Big Bugs Expo was on while we were there and these artworks were scattered all over the lush green lawn. (for more on the expo see http://www.sanbi.org/news/big-bugs-expo-tours-sanbi-gardens)

Church in Worcester where the race ended on the first day and started on the second day

Some Big Bugs in the distance

Beautiful Succulents

Lovely Mountains all around