… also the start of the ‘sneezing season’ for some people ..
season
Cactus flower season in South Africa
2 pictures
Cactus season has started
Although we had a few flowering cacti this Winter; most of the cacti flower between September and February/March. This Fero Cactus symbolizes the beginning of the Cactus Season here in South Africa. Although even local cactus nurseries tell their customers (who prefer indigenous plants) that cacti originate from (South) Africa I can assure you that they all originate from the Americas except for one (Rhipsalis baccifera) which does not look like a cactus at all and originate from coastal woodland between Durban and Kenya …
Again an Aloe in flower
Well; it’s the season over here.
Winter flowering aloes; the season has started.
We have about twenty different aloe species in the garden; all native to Africa and all genuine species (no nursery hybrids). Part of it is Winter flowering and virtually all of these originate from the Western Cape. Here is one in our border along the street.
Whale Watching
Hermanus in the Western Cape, South Africa attracts many tourists for whale watching. Even in season (June-December) it can happen that there are days that you hardly see any and other days it’s a joyful sight seeing them play as far as the eye reaches. Yesterday, virtually the end of season, they were very quiet but just before I went back to Stanford I could make a few shots and added together with photoshop it looks like real. And I realize now that many (commercial touristic) shots of whales nearby a beach are manipulated ….. Best is to go with one of those whale watching boats and a telelens mounted on your camera to obtain a nice close-up.
