Do NOT hug a Tree in the Southernmost Forest of the African Continent

Tree huggers are a rare breed of the human race. They hug trees, seemingly unaware of damaging (even killing) the life of the bark of the tree such as mosses, epiphytes and fungi that have a lively mutual beneficial exchange with the tree. Especially in the ‘Platbos‘ (meaning ‘Flat Forest’) near our village which is the Southernmost remains of a forest that covered South Africa’s lowlands for millions of years. Five million or so years ago a climate change (less rain, increasing average temperature, etc.) caused a change towards fynbos and savannah grasslands. All those details can be found in the mentioned link.

Recently I scanned the forest for an upcoming photo shoot with a complete team including stylist, make-up artist etc. and photo model; Just to find the right spots for the right pictures and I was amazed by all kinds of details I noticed on my walk through this 40 hectare large canopy-forest. And I made some snap shoots during my hike but I’ll go back for more one day or a week…

‘Platbos’ is owned by  ex-Capetonians Francois and Melissa Krige. Strangely enough it seems that not many local people know about the unique character of this biome right on their doorstep but visitors and camping guests from far and far away know to find their way.

At the edge of the forest is a Cretan Labyrinth made of snail-shells (huge ones….)

Oh .. for the tree huggers amongst you; the pamphlet of Platbos is very explicit about bee swarms living in tree hollows and also mentions puff adders  and tree snakes (poisonous snakes). 😉

Author: Herman van Bon Photography

" I like to explore the possibilities and limits of digital art, I just let it flow to see where it can go, sometimes the end result appears quickly, sometimes the creative process takes months and other times  the creation dies in its own beauty".  View all posts by Herman van Bon Photography