Cape Town Observatory
Last week my neighbour, who happens to be the chairman of the Western Province Astronomical Society invited me to accompany him on a visit to the Cape Town Observatory where he was helping to supervise the repairs to the dome of one of the observatories in preparation of a visit by several astronomers from around the world.
The Mclear Telescope with the shutters removed
I can only remember going there many years ago and the visit came as a pleasant surprise.
The complex now serves as the headquarters for the astronomers working at SALT (Southern Africa Large Telescope) at Sutherland.
However the main aim of the Society was to repair the observatory with a view to bringing school children to visit the observatory hopefully encouraging them to take more of an interest in science and technology.
The first impression you get on entering the complex is the well laid out gardens and the many buildings dotted around the site.
The Maclear Observatory so named after the benefactor Frank Mclear of Rusthall Kent in England (the astronomer at the time being a Mr David Gill) is the main attention of our visit this time. Unfortunately the dome and the shutter to the telescope has been leaking for some time and the building has started to fall into disrepair.
Plaque on the side of the observatory
The main operation we wanted to watch was the dismantling of the huge steel shutters to take them to the steelworkers for repair and repainting. The two of them are so big that they had to be cut into smaller sections for transportation. The rust will be repaired and the steelwork repainted in cold galvanising.
A the building housing the telescope, which was originally called the Victory telescope and later changed to the the Mclear telescope was built in 1896. It is hardly surprising that the dome is in need of maintenance.
What was astonishing was the material for the main dome is a type of hardboard covered in a rubberised waterproof membrane presumably added at a later date.
Once inside the dome the telescope is indeed an impressive site as is the building itself unlike other observatories where astronomer has to climb a ladder to look through the telescope in this building the floor surrounding the telescope actually rises to enable the astronomer to comfortable work at the telescope, all this in the 1890s!
The inner workings of the observatory
The history of the site goes further, not only was it the first observatory in South Africa, but in a small building next to the Mclear Observatory.After observing a new meteor the first attempts at astronomical photography in the world were undertaken and proved that photography could indeed become an integral part of astronomy.
In the numerous buildings lots of different discoveries were to take place. In the grounds there is even a flowering plant found nowhere else. Also in the grounds set in one of the lawns there is a monument with a a brass plaque set in the side, this is the exact line of GMT ( Greenwich mean time meridian)
If you are in the area it would be a good idea to pay the observatory a visit.
Lifting one half of the telescope shutter
Set in the lawn the GMT plaque
The inner workings of the observatory
Filed under Astronomy, Cape Town, Cape Town Observatory, News, Wild Flowers
Southern California
I have just returned from a very nice trip from San Diego to Central Valley .
The Central Valley (also known as The Valley) is a large, flat valley that dominates the central portion of the U.S. state of California. It is home to California’s most productive agricultural efforts. The valley stretches approximately 450 miles (720 km) from northwest to southeast inland and parallel to the Pacific Ocean coast. Its northern half is referred to as the Sacramento Valley, and its southern half as the San Joaquin Valley. The Sacramento valley receives about 20 inches of rain annually, but the San Joaquin is very dry, often semi-arid desert in many places.
The two halves meet at the huge Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta of the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers, which along with their tributaries drain the majority of the valley. The Delta is a large expanse of interconnected canals, streambeds, sloughs, marshes and peat islands. The Central Valley covers an area of approximately 22,500 square miles (58,000 km2), making it slightly smaller than the state ofWest Virginia.
Rows upon rows of lavender
Specfically Lavender Farm is situated near the small town called Centre Valley. This farm is situated some 45 miles from San Diego along some very senic drives.
The farm is owned and run by Alicia Wolff . Alicia ,who originally hales from Cape Town which she left in 1989.
When she saw The Lavender Fields in 2008 she instantly felt a connection to the land. There is an energy on this property, located in the foothills of Palomar Mountain, that brings a deep feeling of serenity, coupled with the sweet fragrance of lavender.
“Come and walk our living labyrinth or sit in our meditation garden. We also have a peace garden where you can plant a lavender plant in memory of a loved one. The color “lavender” is for general cancer awareness. A portion of our profits will be donated to cancer research.” Alicia
I have never seen so many species of lavender including a rather rare white lavender.
The tea and general shop
Available on the farm is a small shop sell antiques and all sorts of lavender produce. There is also a small tea room serving delightful lavender scones accompanied with lavender jam. Also available is, of course lavender honey.
What a delightful farm in a wonderful setting and certainly betters the lavender farms in Franschhoek!
https://www.keyscreeklavenderfarm.com/
The farm is also a lovely setting for a wedding or that special event.
Filed under California, News, San Diego
Hiking Table Mountain 2
Yesterday proved to be a perfect Western Cape autumn day, plenty of sunshine and absolutely no wind. It was not surprising, that in the afternoon I grabbed my backpack and some orange juice and headed to the mountain.
To save time I went to the top via the cable car, I didn’t want to go completely mad and walk up via Platterklip Gorge.
Disembarking from, the cable car I tried to avoid the crowds and headed straight for the path that takes on to Mclears Beacon. As you cross the ravine at the top of Platterklip Gorge the crowds thin out.
Towards Kommetjie from the top of TMNP
It is a rare privilege to be blessed with a day when there is no wind on top of the Mountain. But I always maintain that April is one of the best months to visit Cape Town.
Towards Hout Bay
Walking past the dams Woodhead, Hely-Hutchinson (Wynberg’s answer to the lack of water supplies, )De Villiers (another effort by Wynberg Municipality) Victoria and Alexandra making up the five main dams on the top of the mountain. As is normal after a long dry summer Woodhead was completely dry Hely-Hutchinson very low and the others also dry.
The part of the route I was walking on now forms part of the Hoerikwaggo Hiking trail, a two night hike that crosses the length of the Table Mountain chain. My aim was not to go to Mclears Beacon but to strop off just before at a laklet which has no name, that I often visit in the spring when it is full of water. The laklet is well hidden from all the main paths laying behind thickets of Restios .
When I arrived there I was greeted by a bed of brown moss some 150 mm thick, what a place to camp if camping was allowed on the mountain. Laying on the moss relaxing it is probably more comfortable than the average mattress.
The lakelet at the end of winter full of water
The dry lake after summer
After some well earned refreshments I headed back the way I came, but as it was getting on for 5 o’clock there were no other walkers around, and hardly a sound other than a helicopter droning in the distance, high angle rescue teams out practising on the face of the Central Table.
As soon as i crossed Platterklip Gorge I was back in amongst the crowds and tourists. However a very pleasant and worth while afternoon hike of approximately 2 hours and 8 kms.
Green Moss when the lake is full
The moss in the dry lake the most comfortable bed you can find!
Filed under Afrrican Health, Football, Price List
Spectacular Augrabies Falls
The Augrabies Falls in
the Northern Cape
Province of South
Africa
A closed bridge from Upington towards the Augrabies Falls National Park should not prevent you from visiting. “The water levels are very impressive. Water flow is at 5000 cubic meters per second – double the figure of last year’s floods,” says Communication Manager Henriette Engelbrecht.
Augrabis Falls all photographs by Park manager Steven Smith
As an alternative route, Henriette recommends that visitors, take the Groblershoop road from Upington and turn off at Louisvale towards Kakamas. Those coming from Kimberley should also turn at Louisvale.
“The main road is likely to open again during the middle of the week but we cannot say for sure as conditions may change.” If you are planning to see the falls it is best to take a high clearance vehicle or 4×4.
Some viewpoints have been closed for safety purposes but many are still open for the public to enjoy. On Saturday the park had 1800 visitors and on Sunday 1000 people made their way to marvel at the parks thundering waters.
“The smaller waterfalls (some 25 falls) are probably the most spectacular to see. The main falls, see photographs below, are covered in mist from the water’s spray.”
The park is quiter during the week. On weekends, If parking does becomes a problem, shuttles are arranged to transport visitors to the park and later back to their vechiles.
To find out more contact the park on +27 (0) 54 452 9200 or visit http://www.sanparks.org/parks/augrabies/ for more information.
Filed under 4x4, African continent, Cape Town, Little Karoo, Tours
Eco-bulbs ‘a health hazard’
Energy-saving light bulbs were at the centre of a fresh health scare after researchers claimed they can release potentially harmful amounts of mercury if broken.
Levels of toxic vapour around smashed eco-bulbs were up to 20 times higher than the safe guideline limit for an indoor area, the study said.
It added that broken bulbs posed a potential health risk to pregnant women, babies and small children.
Eco Bulbs
The European Union is phasing out the traditional “incandescent bulbs” used for more than 120 years and is forcing people to switch to low-energy alternatives to meet its climate change targets.
A CFL uses a fifth of the energy of a conventional bulb and can save £7 a year in bills. However, critics complain that CFLs’ light is harsh and flickery. Medical charities say they can trigger epileptic fits, migraines and skin rashes and have called for an “opt out” for vulnerable people.
Incandescent bulbs do not contain mercury, along with other variants of energy-saving lights, such as LEDs and halogen bulbs. The study, for Germany’s Federal Environment Agency, tested a “worst case” scenario using two CFLs, one containing 2 milligrams of mercury and the other 5 milligrams. Neither lamp had a protective casing and both were broken when hot.
Scientists at the Fraunhofer Wilhelm Klauditz Institute found that they released around 7 micrograms (there are 1 000 micrograms in a milligram) per cubic metre of air.The official guideline limit is 0.35 micrograms per cubic metre.
Federal Environment Agency president Jochen Flasbarth said: “The presence of mercury is the downside to energy-saving lamps. We need a lamp technology that can prevent mercury pollution soon.
“The positive and necessary energy savings of up to 80 percent as compared with light bulbs must go hand in hand with a safe product that poses no risks to health.”
During tests the German government agency’s researchers were alarmed to discover that some bulbs had no protective cover and broke when hot.
High levels of mercury were measured at floor level up to five hours after the bulbs failed.
A spokesman for the agency said: “Children and expectant mothers should keep away from burst energy-saving lamps.
“For children’’s rooms and other areas at higher risk of lamp breakage, we recommend the use of energy-saving lamps that are protected against breakage.”
However, the UK Government insisted the CFL bulbs were safe – and that the risk from a one-off exposure was minimal.
The Health Protection Agency says a broken CFL is unlikely to cause health problems.
However, it advises people to ventilate a room where a light has smashed and evacuate it for 15 minutes.
Householders are also advised to wear protective gloves while wiping the area of the break with a damp cloth and picking up fragments of glass. The cloth and glass should be placed in a plastic bag and sealed.
CFLs are not supposed to be put in the dustbin, whether broken or intact, but taken as hazardous waste to a recycling centre.
A spokesman for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said: “The mercury contained in low-energy bulbs does not pose a health risk to anyone immediately exposed, should one be broken.”
Friends of the Earth said the switch to low-energy bulbs would reduce exposure to mercury from coal-fired power stations.
Filed under African continent, Commentary, News
Poisoned Rhino Horns to Stop Poaching?
People who ingest the horn, a common practice among some Asians who believe it to have medicinal properties, could fall ill, as a result of the horn being treated with the toxic ectoparasitacide, used to control parasites. But the Rhino and Lion Nature Reserve says the horns will also be treated with an indelible dye to discourage ingestion.
Rhino Horn
Several months ago, Hern’s father, Ed Hern, the reserve’s founder, drew fierce criticism when he announced he was experimenting with cyanide to inject into rhino horns, after poachers struck his reserve. “We wanted to inflict the same kind of suffering our animals had to endure on anyone involved in the vile activity of poaching,” the reserve explained in a statement. “We began researching the possibility of poisoning our rhinos’ horns, so any individual who knowingly handled or consumed the horn would either become seriously ill, or even face the risk of death.”
The idea was motivated by the need to treat the horn, and thus the animal, against parasites such as ticks, instead using conventional pesticides. “Such substances are not intended for human consumption and although not lethal in small quantities, remain extremely toxic,” the reserve states.
Hern says her father’s initial response was driven by emotion. “Once we reconsidered and got the necessary legal advice, we decided we weren’t going to right a wrong by doing another wrong,” she told the Saturday Star. “We have found a way to still get our point across, but without doing anything illegal or maliciously trying to hurt someone.”
In the past two months, all the reserve’s rhino have been treated with the ectoparasitacides and are in “excellent health” and carefully monitored.
Unlike parasite treatment, which typically involves the rhino being dipped, the rhino are darted and a hole is drilled into their horn to inject the pesticide, which also contains the indelible red dye.
“We have reason to believe that, if other rhino owners followed sui, the perception that rhino horn is no longer beneficial to humans, but potentially dangerous instead, could very well be the impetus needed to eradicate poaching entirely,” says the statement. Conventional methods to fight poaching, including dehorning, microchips and tracking devices have failed and a rhino has been slaughtered roughly every 30 hours in South Africa this year.
Faan Coetzee, of the Rhino Security Project of the Endangered Wildlife Trust, questions the ethics motivating the reserve. “It’s still a poison. The problem is these guys (poachers) are going to kill the rhino anyway and hopefully someone gets sick. But is that a way to think? Let’s not dabble in these things,” he said, pointing out that tranquilising carried a risk to the rhino’s health and was expensive.
But the reserve stands firm. “We’re not interested in causing anyone’s death; we merely want the killing of these gentle, majestic creatures to stop. If we have to cause a few individuals some discomfort to accomplish this, we’re willing to take our chances. Although we in no way intend to enforce vigilante justice on innocent people, we want to send the message that poaching has dire consequences.”
Wildlife vet Dr Charles van Niekerk, who is involved in the research, says this is one “arrow in the quiver” in the fight against rhino poaching. Other private rhino owners are on board, he says but won’t divulge more. The research is still in the initial stages. “People have asked how we can treat all the rhino in South Africa. We’re not deterred by number. And people must not be blinded by the cost – all the money in the world won’t bring the rhino back once it is gone.”
Filed under 4x4, African Wildlife, Commentary, News
Canned Lion Hunting Blow
This means that 24-month re-wilding period stipulated in the Threatened and Protected Species Regulations to prevent canned hunting cannot be enforced. Nearly all of the lions hunted in South Africa are raised in captivity. The NSPCA is opposed to the breeding of predators for hunting and has repeatedly made its position known in this regard.
Lions
“The NSPCA is concerned about the welfare of more than 4, 000 lions currently kept in captivity,” said Brenda Santon, Manager of the NSPCA Wildlife Unit. “It has become the job of the NSPCA, a non-profit organisation, to police the welfare of these captive animals, as well as the spin offs from this trade which includes lion cub petting and walks with lions.”
In a similar vein, the Department of Environmental Affairs featured leg-hold traps and hunting with dogs in the Norms and Standards for Damage-Causing Animals, which were published for comment on Friday, the 3rd December 2010.
Filed under 4x4, African continent, African Wildlife, News
Green Point Urban Park Cape Town
I have just completed my second walk around Green Point Park, which is situated right next to the new Cape Town Stadium.
One of the many types of simple exercise apparatus available for all to use
Natural grassland at the entrance to the park
This place is well worth a visit. Not only are there 3 well laid out paths to follow but there are also some well thought out themes.
As you enter the west gate near the light house, (entrance is free!) the area on the right is left as natural grass land with the grass at this time starting to go to seed. This area is home to small rodents and birds, who obviously enjoy feeding off the grass seed. On the left of this is an area with many simply exercise machine suitable for the whole family.
Travel further along the path and you arrive at a building housing really spacious public conveniences at one side, and a future restaurant or shop at the other.
Two children’s play areas are currently being completed, one for the younger folk and one for the older children, resplendent with very natural looking play equipment. The ground around the swings and climbing apparatus has been paved with a kind of cork silicone mixture in the interests of safety.
Older children's play ground
Soon to be completed children's play centre
In the centre of the park adjoining the golf course is wonderful stretch of water that brings back a bit of Cape Town history. In the 1800s, there was a large lake covering a wide area which was eventually filled in for health and sanitary reasons. Around the rim of which are areas subdivided into: a biodiversity area, a natural food area, and a natural plant medicine area. Also on show is a area illustrating how nature is being destroyed by farming, housing and fires.
All the plants are very well marked and details of their uses are giving, very educational in a friendly and informative way.
I particularly liked the metal statues depicting various animals to be found naturally.
Metal tortoise
In the lake were Canada Geese and Coots both with very young chicks, they obviously feel safe in these surroundings as there are plenty of reeds for them to nest in.
Canada Goose and family in the very large pond
Walking further towards the City, one crosses the Stepping Stone Bridge. On the left hand side is a big metal water wheel which works when a pump is switched on by an electronic timer.
An auditorium with grass seating is situated at the top end of the park, complete with stage lighting. Presumably concerts will be arranged there, in a similar way to those held at Kirstenbosch.
The whole park has been very well planned and laid out and should become a valuable asset to the residents of Green Point and Cape Town.
An ideal place to come and relax in the sun or to jog around the many paths.
Security appears to be good, the park closes at 7pm and all the gates are locked so no vagrants will make their home there!
I hope the folk in Cape Town treasure their park and avoid any vandalism or littering.
Well done to Cape Town City Council making good use of some of the revenue they received from the Football World Cup.
More images from the park
Colour in the park
Colour In the park
Destruction of natural lands by farming
Waterlilies
Well laid out signage
Beaded fish
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Filed under Cape Town, Commentary, Places to visit, Wild Flowers
Tagged as biodiversity, canada Geese, Cape Town, children's play areas, Conservation, Coots, Flowers, Green Point Urban Park, lake, medicinal plants, outdoor auditorium, restaurant, South Africa, waterwheel, West Gate Park, Western Cape.