A day in the field with Ernst

Last week Ernst, my botanist friend from Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens invited me to join him and 4 others on a day long field trip south east of Cape Town. Ernst is currently working on 3 books, one of which is about the aloes of South Africa and Namibia. Just in case you were wondering, there have been 26 newly named aloes since the last book which was written about 40 years ago. Today’s expedition was to get cuttings of one of those recently identified aloes and to document a few others in the field for the book. I confess, I’ve been an aloe groupie since the 80’s and I was thrilled to tag along!

Our first destination was a private fynbos nature reserve simply named Farm 215. This property of about 2000 acres was purchased 10 years ago by a passionate conservationist who is working hard to eliminate the invasive “alien” plants from the farming days of long ago while encouraging the native fynbos to reclaim the area. It’s a slow process, but he is making progress, and amidst the transition, he’s finding some real jewels. Ernst has recently confirmed that one of these finds on Farm 215 is indeed a “new” aloe species. Ernst has named it Aloe juddii after a well known botanical illustrator from South Africa. As we climbed up a rocky hillside, we were all a little giddy to find this inconspicuous plant thriving in its small but protected habitat. And as if on cue, we began photographing the newest star on the block! The plant paparazzis had arrived!

Only a few days prior to our little excursion, a freak spring storm had ravaged this area of the Western Cape, flooding towns and thousands of acres of farm land. The damage has been estimated to be nearly 10 billion dollars! As we drove through the countryside, we saw firsthand the devastation. No sooner had we realized the severity of the flooding, we were literally stopped in our tracks by submerged roads. At each flooded point, and there must have been about six on our route, we would stop the van, try to get a sense of how much water was covering the section of road, we’d all take a deep breath, and then Ernst would put the car in first gear and off we’d drive… into the water!

During this day of driving through rivers and photographing aloes in the wild, we took a little side trip and headed to Cape Agulhas, the true southernmost tip in Africa! It’s also the official point where the Atlantic and Indian Oceans “meet”. Aside from an impressive 160 year old light house and a few worn interpretive signs, there’s nothing much to distract your thoughts as you look out to sea from the edge of this great continent. The rocky shores are treacherous, the rogue waves can reach 90 feet, the wind blows with a mighty force, and if you look hard enough, you might just see Vasco De Gama out there in the distant!

The Alarm

Like many homes in South Africa, we have an alarm. We set the alarm when we leave the house and every night before we go to bed (as instructed by landlord and friends). The night time setting allows us to move freely in the bedroom and kitchen areas.

The multi-step setting of the alarm is nearly second nature by now. There is a control panel by the back door as well as in the master bedroom. I often wake in the middle of the night, reassured by the panel’s red lights across the room. I used to have nightmares about the alarm going off while we were home, but I don’t anymore. Maybe I’m somehow adjusting to this part of life here or maybe I’ve shoved it so far back in my consciousness that it barely registers anymore.

In any case, as the test of time would have it, the alarm went off the other morning at 4:45!

When I realized what was happening, I shook Seth. He jumped out of bed and scrambled for his glasses. I grabbed mine and we ran to the panel and stood there trying to focus on what zones that had been breached. After what seemed like too long, Seth turned off the alarm.

In the broken silence of the early morning, we looked at each other. What the hell do we do next?? We knew the alarm company would be calling any minute to see if everything was o.k. We had to answer the phone, but the phone was down the hall, in the kitchen. sh**! We turned on lights and no sooner had we entered the kitchen, the phone rang. We gave the alarm company our secret password and then they asked us if everything was alright.

”We’re not sure!”

Did we want the guard to come and check things out?

I hesitated for a mere second, “Yes! Please!” trying not to sound too desperate.

While we waited for the guard, we poked around the house…cautiously checking doors and windows. No unusual signs. The guard arrived; he walked the perimeter with a flashlight and calmly reported back that the coast was clear. False alarm.

“Guess so” we agreed.

He drove away. We walked back inside the house, not sure of what to think or feel. We checked on the girls – they were still sleeping - quite peacefully. It was 5:30 – only half an hour until we had to get up and start the day. Without discussion, we walked back into the bedroom, reset the alarm and crawled back in bed for another 30 minutes of sleep! The journey continues…