| February was mostly settling in. I finally got a house and moved in
on the 26th. March has been much more rewarding. On the 2nd I had to go south to a Baralong Landboard workshop 5 miles from
the South African border to explain environmental impact assessment. The talk went well (even if the museum slide projector
is as bad as ever) and afterward we were entertained with a black-headed oriole, white-fronted beeeaters and a toad while
waiting for lunch. After lunch I made a stop at Pitsane, the historic village where Leander Star Jameson led his abortive
raid into South Africa, a raid which foreshadowed the Anglo-Boer war. (Jameson's raid was allegedly planned with Rhodes in
the very building - then a coach house- where my office is located in Gaborone. The village has closed on Pitsane Pan and
signs of goats, donkeys and vehicles were everywhere. Most of the succulents were hiding under candle thorn (Acacia
hebeclada) which has upright pods because its so close to the ground it can't hang them down. I noted Crassula capitella
and Delosperma herbeum had been nibbled right at the point when they reached open sky. I was looking for Orbea tapscottii
which Desmond Cole implies has disappeared (which is somehow my fault?) and couldn't find any stapeliads. Fortunately I was
with Rapekenene, the same driver as the trip with Cole, who quickly showed me Duvalia polita and Huernia longituba. So at
least some stapeliads are still there. I also failed to find any Nananthus which Cole had taken me there to see. The site
is really degraded, but don't blame me. Survivors include Aloe marlothii, Ipomoea bolusiana, Bulbine narcissifolia,
Pterodiscus speciosus, Aloe transvaalensis, Kalanchoe rotundifolia and some bulbs of Albuca and Ledebouria species. The only
thing in the Euphorbiaceae was the tuberous Jatropha zeyheri. |
| On the 3rd and 4th I visited an "empty" lot two blocks south from my
house and found Aloe transvaalensis, Talinum arnotii, Jatropha zeyheri, Raphionacme burkei, Cyphostemma schlecteri, Ipomoea
bolusiana, Ipomoea holubii, Adenia digitata, Scilla, Ledebouria, Commelina, Tradescantia, Tachyandra and Ammocharis. There
were beautiful blue waxbills and bronze mannikins. Many plants were blooming and I'll collect seed when it ripens. I
painfully dug one Raphionacme tuber only to find it growing in my driveway! (The one I dug is now planted in the botanic
garden.) |