Report and photographs by Jane le Roux.
Friday, 5th November 2021
It was great to meet Roger Mayes again and to spend the evening re-orientating ourselves with regards Arthropods. Not even the weather could stop us as we moved our outdoor classroom to the kitchen due to a lovely downpour. It did however stop us from the traditional Friday night braai.
Saturday, 6th November 2021
We got off to an early start to avoid the midday heat. First up was preparing the traps and bait, followed by hanging the butterfly traps around the camp. Next, we were off to the wetlands area to place pit traps. Roger could not believe that our group was so well armed with cameras and cell phones to capture all the species we discovered along the way.
The afternoon was spent hunting for more insects and we enthusiastically chased butterflies, moths, beetles, grasshoppers and a myriad of other insects until the weather once again chased us back to camp. However, we were fortunate that the storm passed quickly and allowed us one more opportunity to share a sundowner next to Mushroom Rock. Andre took the opportunity to capture photographs of a special group of people that faced many trials and tribulations over the year but came out of it all a very close group.
We managed to end the day with our traditional braai.
Sunday, 7th November 2021
Another early morning to check traps, hunt for dragonflies and damselflies, aquatic arthropods, as well as a visit to the so-called “Kruger house”. Sadly, this beautiful Cape Dutch house built by the soldier Henry Chamney (1861-1947) now lies in ruins.
Some traps were more successful than others and the storm of the previous evening flooded a lot of our wetland traps, but we still managed to capture a few great specimens and tons of photographs.
Thank to everyone involved for an educational and fun-filled weekend.
Editor’s Note: Thank you for the report Jane, and sorry about your pit traps flooding. Still, it was a great weekend – a weekend that will always make me think fondly of Maria.
