Didima

After sampling the Nagles dam in the Valley of a thousand hills, our next stop was Newcastle farther north of Durban. We spent the night at Didima camp near Cathedral's peak on the Drakensberg mountain. Night fell as we drove to the camp and it was pitch black. The road was windy as we went down into the valley. The sky was illuminated by stars. The Milky way was splendid, shimmering above us. It was beautiful. In the morning I drew my curtains and the mountains were right there infrom of the chalet. The chalets have thatched roofs that slope almost touching the ground. The decor on the inside is of a rock art theme. The lamps have rock art images etched on them. The images seem to dance on the wall when the lamps are alight. The area is pristine and tranquil and the community lives in huts on the hills that surround the area. Orange flowers that blend with the landscape seem to be everywhere.We sampled the Tugale river on the way to Newcastle in the morning.
Newcastle is an area with coal deposits and there are various industries along on the road. We sampled the Buffalo river. The site was under a bridge where the water flowed slowly and was fairly clean. However, we made the grim find of a few dead goats wrapped in plastic bags lying in the water. It was a long drive back to Durban and when we got back to the house all everyone wanted was a warm bath and a hot meal.

The Valley of a thousand hills

On Wednesday we had the pleasure of sampling the Umgeni river. It flows through the Valley of a thousand hills, which lies between Pietermaritzburg and Durban. It was in this region where mercury from an industrial plant tainted the rivers approximately 10 years ago. Travelling to the site was a feast for the eyes. The road winds up and down and the landscape is dotted with huts and green vegetation. Some were made of earth and others of concrete blocks. A few were painted with colourful geometric designs. All around there are rolling hills and on this particular day a haze hung above them. It was also very warm and dry. We also saw zebra on the road side and lots of cattle. We collected samples at the Nagles dam and at a smaller stream.

Durban Harbor

We recently sampled the ocean outside Durban Harbor. It was a very busy place that had tanker traffic lined up as far the eye could see. We saw a variety of pleasure yachts, cargo ships, factory fishers, small fishing boats, dredging ships, oil tankers, and many small sailing ships. We also saw the infamous Natal shark nets up close and personal. We spent a little while searching for lobster and octopus on the reefs through the crystal clear water.

Animals spotted so far...

We've spotted some wildlife on our travels and these are some of the pictures taken,
Baboons drinking water from a river near Gordon's Bay in Cape Town. They can be quite mischevious and aggressive as we learnt at the Cape of Good Hope Nature reserve. Someone forgot to close the car window and a baboon let himself in. He opened one of the cooler boxes, no doubt looking for food. At the same place, a tourist opened a bag of chips and was eating from it when it was snatched from him by a baboons. Needless to say, the man was terrified.
Monkeys are less mischevious, this one was spotted at the Tswaing crater in Pretoria.

Goats do roam. These ones go up and down, round and round the tower at the Fairview Estate in Stellenbosch.



















When a peacock walks, its tail feathers look like a long evening gown sweeping the floor. One of the most beautiful and graceful birds.















Lizard on the rocks. Spotted at Cape Point

Durban

We arrived in Durban this afternoon from Pretoria. Despite the season being winter, it was quite warm. From the airport we checked into our accomodation, a bed and breakfast called the D'urban elephant. It is an old house on a hill overlooking the city. The decor in the house has an Oriental theme. There is a pretty garden in the front yard and a pool at the back. In the evening we went to the beach which was a beehive of activity due to the Durban beach festival. There is a large Indian population in Durban and we decided to sample the local fare by having dinner at an Indian restaurant. Bunny Chow was our starter at dinner. A bunny chow is a loaf of bread dug out to leave a cavity which is then filled with a curry, either meat or vegetable. There is a movie of the same title that Tristan, Terill and Rob watched.

The atmospheric sampler....almost there

Susan: Mercury emissions to the atmosphere are mainly from combustion of fossil fuels such as coal and waste incineration.It undergoes various reactions and is deposited to the earth e.g. by rainfall. Another set of steps in aquatic systems make it possible for the toxin to end up in fish and finally in the human population. This makes the measurement of levels of atmospheric mercury necessary.
A strike by workers in South Africa and maybe some bad luck meant that the atmospheric sampler was held in customs for longer than was expected. Fortunately, the instrument was released on Wednesday. Rob M. and I spent Friday setting it up. Part of the instrument has to be housed i.e. the analyzer part of the instrument while the sampling part has to be out in the open. We bought a large sheet metal box at a store called Kit Kat close to the CSIR in Pretoria. Finding a unit that can has enough room for all the different parts has been a challenge. Tristan helped us mount the sampling portion in an upright position on the roof of a building on the CSIR complex. Unfortunately, we couldnot immediately start running the instrument because the supply of a transformer required for power conversion has been delayed. Hopefully, it can be delivered soon

The Olifants

We set out early on our last sampling trip in Pretoria. The Olifants river is in Mpumalanga and we expected to drive for quite a while. It was especially dry and cold too and this made being outdoors a little more challenging. The first sampling site was under a bridge. It was relatively clean except for some floating plant matter in the water. Sampling site No. 2 was at the Loskop dam, a holiday spot owned by Forever resorts. It was a very scenic site. We were grateful for the early start since it started raining as we wound up at the Loskop dam.

A Visit to Wits

Wits is one of the oldest universities in South Africa. Its pronounced 'Vitsvatersrand ' since W ihas the sound of a V in Afrikaans. Our host was Prof. Ewa Krukowska of the Department of Chemistry. Dr. Mason gave a seminar on analytical methods used for mercury speciation. We also got to meet to meet Dr. Krukowska's students who were very lively and social. The group has done some interesting work on acid mine drainage, a real problem in the country due to the extensive mining activity. Afterwards we spent some time at the Origins Centre where there were exhibits on the evolution of the human race. There were exhibits of stone tools and replicas of various fossils found in southern africa and elsewhere on the continent. Another aspect of the exhibition was a section on the San/Bushmen of this region. The museum refers to them as the San since bushmen is a word with negative connotations in South Africa. However, in other parts of southern Africa, they are referred to as the San since Bushmen is a negative word.Therefore the correct word to use when one refers to them depends on where one is. They were a hunter-gatherer community. They painted beautiful rock art depicting their way of life and what was important to them. Their culture is endangered and most of the rock art has been destroyed and what remains is valuable and fragile. The eland, an antelope that one might see on the African savanna was an important animal for the San, and it features alot in their paintings. The pictures below show a replica of the fossil 'Lucy' and eland spotted at the Cape of Good Hope Nature reserve.

Sampling Crocodile River

Susan: I was a little apprehensive about us sampling the Crocodile river. With a name like that who would want to be near it. Luckily, it's just that- a name. Just like the Vaal river, the two sites we chose were as different as day and night. The first one was at a camping site where the land slopes very gently towards the water. We've had to wade through brush and mud to get to some of the other sites. It was a scenic spot with hills forming a backdrop to the river and there was a family of ducks swimming close by. The next site was a nightmare, it was also at a picnic site at the Hartbeespoort Dam. We spotted a few people having a picnic. Unfortunately a pungent smell hung in the air. There were lots of beer and soft drink cans and bottles along the shore line and Jr. collected some of the them. He actually filled a garbage bag and still there were more. The water was greenish with weeds flourishing. A few birds and ducks swam in the water and its amazing how they are alive amid the murk. Finding fish or any other aquatic life was difficult.

Sampling the Vaal River

In the winter Pretoria is dry and chilly, and that's what the weather was like when we left to go sampling. We drove through some of the industrial areas in the area. Along the way, we also saw huge piles of waste from the mines, there were grey ones and brown sandy looking ones. The first sampling point of the Vaal River was at a point called Kommandonek. The shore line was very rocky and the water clear and flowing. We collected different types of critters, and there seemed to be an abundance of them. The second sampling site was quite the opposite. We had already had difficulty in finding a site that allowed us comfortable access to the water. We found this at the River Dew Pub. The pub was next to the water and on the other side of the river there were what looked like residential houses. As we went about our business, Rob B. a.k.a Jr. on this trip found a dead cat floating under a jetty next to the pub. There were weeds in the water and it looked murky. Tristan was able to get some nice sediment cores though which was a little more difficult at the first site.