Tag: garden route

August winds down

_DSC9913.JPG

Birds are hurling themselves at each other in a frantic ritual of procreation. The jasmine is erupting in voluptuous wafts of heady scent, sending out trailers of greenery to grasp at every surface. Fish eagles drift overhead, taunting the resident force of crows who scramble the squadron to intercept the intruder. Doves coo and posture along tree branches, then make messy nests after the courtship deal is sealed. And the watsonias are painting impressionist splashes across the almost-alpine fields of the high Outeniquas.

It’s springtime in the Garden Route.

And that means there are Events.

Continue reading “August winds down” →

Advertisement

Sixty Million Burnt Trees

Last year, I moved to the Garden Route so that I could find a place of quieter contemplation and endless beauty.

Then, this past week I found something greater – a place of stalwart, kind people who have determination and generosity of spirit, unequalled.

The fires that tore myriad paths through the coastal plain changed a place of unmatched beauty into an enormous ash pit. Homes obliterated, properties razed to the ground, families fleeing, pets gathered into arms and buckets and boxes, vital documents snatched from safe places, clothing stuffed into pillowcases, cars loaded up, buses sent in convoy from nearby municipalities, firefighters squashed onto flights from other metropolitan areas, trucks bearing drinkable water and babies’ nappies.

Continue reading “Sixty Million Burnt Trees” →