South African Trip, December 2003

I visited South Africa in December 2003, along with my wife Christine and younger daughter Genevieve. This was primarily a family visit, so Disa viewing wasn't a top priority. However, being in the heart of Disa country, I didn't have to go far to stumble over a few plants, either in the wild or in cultivation. Four outings in particular were Disa-related, and they are presented below, in no particular order. Just click on the thumbnails if you want to see bigger images.

Harold Porter Reserve

The Harold Porter Reserve is in the small seaside village of Betty's Bay (whence the Disa hybrid of the same name). Disa uniflora grows along two streams in this reserve, both within fairly easy walking distance from the car park. These unifloras were in flower in late December, earlier than those in other areas that I know of. We went on the more challenging Leopardskloof walk where we saw some beautiful waterfalls, with plenty of water following heavy rain a few days earlier. We also got some long distance views of many Disa uniflora blooms.

 OK, these aren't Disas, but they are attractive, indigenous plants: l to r, Agapanthus, a succulent and an Erica (heath).

 Below: Intrepid explorers in Leopardskloof. The vegetation is very thick. Are they on the lookout for leopards or Disas?

There are several waterfalls near the end of the path....  

Note the color of the water which can be clearly seen in some of the pictures. Something like weak black tea. The brown is due to humic acids, which also drop the pH of this very clean and pure water down to just over 4.

At last, the main waterfall, and you might just be able to see a few disas on the right hand side. We spotted well over a dozen blooms in and around this waterfall......

    Telephoto....     More tele...     

Below: Another Disa, with lots of telephoto. You can see a couple of sundews growing near the Disa plant. These plants were a loooooong way off, hence the poor picture quality ....  

The view back out of Leopardskloof. Note distant point of land, home to a thriving penguin colony 

The view back into Leopardskloof from near the penguins ....

And some of the penguins, not at all happy because they are moulting.....

Fernkloof

A mile or two to the east of downtown Hermanus is the Fernkloof nature reserve. Disa viewing is not quite as easy as at Betty's Bay - much more energy is needed. Fernkloof contains a stunning variety of attractive flowering plants and reedy grasses .....

The views are not bad either ....

Hermanus, from one of the many paths in Fernkloof .....   

And looking to the south-east, across Walker Bay to Gansbaai (If you want to dive with Great White Sharks, Gansbaai is your place!)

Fernkloof has some serious zig-zags, and you will have to climb some of them to get to the Disas.... 

A weary walker (my 86 year old mother!). She didn't quite make it to see the Disas ...

At last, a waterfall with some Disa uniflora plants growing to the right, behind my Kiwi sister, Sue.  .......

None of the unifloras was in in flower, but notice what they are growing in - live sphagnum moss! No wonder so many people try growing them in this stuff.

Cywes Greenhouse

Shortly before Christmas, I picked up Dr. Louis Vogelpoel at his house in the suburbs of Cape Town, and we headed over to visit with Professor Sid Cywes and his wife Marlene. They are the proprietors of Sidmar Disas, and they probably own more Disa awards than the rest of the world combined. In photographing some of the blooms on display, I didn't make any attempt to record the details of the names of the individual crosses. However, you can get a good idea of the range of colors, shapes, sizes, stem lengths etc. Note also the blue and yellow insect strips which can be seen hanging in amongst the blooms in some of the general views.

Disa Unidiorosa "Rosy Face", a wonderful clone for cut flowers:      

After the greenhouse, there was time for some rooibos tea, mangoes, granadillas just off the vine and other good stuff. 

Elgin/Grabouw

I went on this outing specifically to look for Disa tripetaloides. The Elgin/Grabouw area has good forms of this species, which is widespread along perennial streams in the Western Cape mountains. I visited the same area several years ago after a fire and some eradication of invading aliens had occurred. It was much easier then to get to the stream bank and there were many more tripets in bloom. Now the vegetation along the river bank is much thicker, and most of the Disas do not get enough light to initiate flowering. I had to literally fight my way to the water, losing much sweat, some blood and my trusty watch along the way. It was all worth it in the end. Notice the sundews (Drosera capensis) growing in amongst the Disas.

Odds and Ends

A Cape sugarbird on a pincushion (Leucospermum). These birds are beautiful to see in flight, with their long tails waving behind them.

The picturesque village of Greyton, nestled against the mountains. If you live in Greyton, every shop, restaurant and in fact every other house is within easy walking distance. A great place to retire to. We went on a Disa search in the nearby nature reserve, but came up empty handed. We didn't find the right stream and in any case the plants were not yet in flower!