Category: this is south africa

Hadeda

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One thing I never saw in the UK was Ibises. Well, only in the zoo.

But we have a few types here in Cape Town, and this is (probably) the most common. Step forward Bostrychia hagedash – the Hadeda Ibis. One of the few local birds which has the same name in English and Afrikaans (see also Bokmakierie and Hamerkop), it’s named for its call. Honestly then, it should be the Raap-Raap Greer Ibis, but let’s not get picky.

These may be rather dull and drab, with a well-earned reputation for being very noisy, but they’re also curious, gentle birds and I love them. And their Linnean name (see above) sounds just like something out of a well-known book and film series about a school of witchcraft and wizardry.

We’ve got a few more that have come into our area over the last couple of months, and I would much rather have them here than damned Egyptian Geese or (more) Guineafowl.

So, yes: more of this please (just not at 6am on the weekends, thank you very much).

Twenty-One

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Wow. Look at that.

It’s the 23rd January 2025, and that means it’s exactly a whole 21 years since I upped sticks and moved from Oxford to Cape Town. A whole 6000 miles from civilisation… (if you can call Oxford that).

Since then, several (or maybe even more) things have happened, including marriage, kids, a beagle, a couple of houses, a cottage and maybe the odd Castle Milk Stout here and there.

Nothing special planned today to celebrate – maybe just an early night, given the lack of sleep this week.

But hey: here’s to the next 21.

Local Woolworths’ avo shortage leaves Capetonians desperate for alternatives

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It’s bad news for health-conscious Capetonians as premium retailer Woolworths confirmed that they’re rather short of avocados.

I’m not desperate for avocados, but I know that many local people are, basing many of their daily meals around the healthy, trendy fruits. And desperate people are easy to fool, because they will do anything for their green, pulpy fix.

Still, I’ve got to say that I thought this effort might be a bit of a stretch by Woolies today:

But apparently not.

I overheard one person saying that they were so glad that “somebody had made a plan” and someone else suggesting that they “were probably organic or something”, before piling them into their respective baskets.

Eish. Good luck with that guacamole, guys.

Local cricket

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While the Boy Wonder was out and about doing a thing today, he spotted some SA vs England cricket action.

A quick look at the internet determined that this was the SA U19s vs the England U19s, playing their first 45 over ODI of a 3 match series.

And then I forgot all about it.

But the cricinfo page was still open when I came back to my laptop after horseriding (not me), this evening. And it turns out that England won – somewhat convincingly – bowling SA out for 87 and then knocking off the required total with [ahem] 189 balls to spare.

Eina fok!

But you’ll notice that they still “only” won by 5 wickets. That’s because, of the 18 players who batted, only 4 of them* (2 from each side) made it into double figures. Wow.

Cricket matches are clearly going to look very different – apparently mainly much shorter – in the near future.

If you’re in or around Cape Town on Sunday, you can watch the second ODI at WPCC.

* one of them being Archie Vaughan, debutant and captain of the England side, Sheffield born, and son of ex-England captain Michael Vaughan.

Succulent issue

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Not much time today, so here’s something someone else has written (and filmed).

Just another way in which a lack of will or effort to carefully use a unique natural resource to benefit the impoverished local communities has allowed organised crime to take hold, even in the smallest dorpies in the Karoo.

A biodiversity hotspot in a remote part of South Africa has become the hub of an illegal trade in protected plant species, with organised crime groups capitalising on overseas demand.

“They’ve not just stolen our land or our plants, they’ve stolen our heritage as well,” a livestock farmer angrily tells the BBC, as she expresses dismay at the social and ecological crisis that the poaching has caused.

It’s a sobering read.