Up until the end of May the rainfall figures for Betty’s Bay were low, but the rains in June have greatly improved the situation. The following table gives the rainfall figures for the past 11 years.
|
BETTY’S BAY RAINFALL January to May |
||||||||||
| 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | |
| Jan | 74 | 77 | 47 | 45 | 93 | 17 | 7 | 54 | 24 | 33 |
| Feb | 23 | 18 | 54 | 27 | 38 | 30 | 19 | 85 | 31 | 24 |
| Mar | 132 | 23 | 62 | 119 | 13 | 187 | 41 | 173 | 34 | 43 |
| Apr | 71 | 26 | 88 | 34 | 51 | 12 | 32 | 68 | 137 | 27 |
| May | 35 | 6 | 90 | 71 | 67 | 263 | 90 | 263 | 31 | 153 |
| To date | 335 | 150 | 341 | 296 | 262 | 509 | 189 | 643 | 57 | 280 |
| Year | 937 | 790 | 991 | 930 | 1138 | 1487 | 783 | 1494 | 1165 | ?? |
To date, 22 June, 96mm have fallen this month. May the good rains continue!
Access to our National Gardens:
The good news this month is that SANBI has slashed their loyalty card rates and the following is the new schedule of rates for Region 2 Membership for what they call a ‘year’s membership i.e. a year’s loyalty.
|
SANBI REGION TWO MEMBERSHIP UNLIMITED ACCESS TO: SELECTED SOUTH AFRICAN NATIONAL BOTANICAL AND ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS (Free State National Botanical Gardens; Hantam National Botanical Gardens, Harold Porter National Botanical Gardens, Karoo Desert National Botanical Gardens; KwaZulu Natal National Botanical Gardens; Kwelera National Botanical Gardens; Lowveld National Botanical Gardens, Thohoyandou National Botanical Gardens and Mokopane Biodiversity Conservation Centre).
Access to Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens and Pretoria National Zoo are included in the old loyalty rates under Region 1 namely R800 per adult etc.
|
|
| R1000 PER FAMILY | (Two Adults & 3 Children or One Adult & 4 children) |
| R800 PER COUPLE | |
| R500 PER ADULT | (18 Years and Older) |
| R375 PER PENSIONER | |
| R375 PER STUDENT | (18 Years and Older – Must produce a valid student card) |
| R250 PER CHILD | (6-17 Years) |
The good news is that most of the rates for our region have been halved and now pensioners can get a SANBI Loyalty Card for R375/annum, which gives you free access to all Botanical Gardens except Kirstenbosch and Pretoria Zoo.
As a pensioner, with for just over nine visits to Harold Porter Gardens, you will have paid for your card and will be able to make much greater use of the restaurant, the bookshop, plant sales etc.
May and June were busy months for Kogelberg Branch with a lot going on during this period and a great deal being achieved.
The Bookshop continues to provide a great service to the residents of Kogelberg and to visitors and there is always new exciting stock available. The shop also stocks Proteas, Leucadendrons, Leucospermums, Mimetes and other fynbos specialities. I am always amazed as to how quiet things are in the bookshop for June and July. This has given us time to rearrange the shop a bit, put up some interesting signage and organize the plant sales. We ask you to please support the shop as all the profits from the shop go into the conservation projects undertaken by the Kogelberg Branch of the Botanical Society.
The next book launch will hopefully be in July during the school holidays. The book is Kids Book of Spiders, a really exciting book in the Kids Book Range. The date is still to be finalized with the author, Rudi Steenkamp. Children will be welcome at the launch.
The book launch of Saturday 7 June 2025 proved to be very interesting. The books launched were The Field Guide to the Birds of Botswana and Sasol Birds of Southern Africa, 5th Edition, of which Dominic Rollinson is co-author. Dominic’s talk took us to some of the world’s best birding sites, and the best in Southern Africa, moving west from Mozambique through to Namibia.
On 21 June Sheraine van Wyk, Programmes Manager of Whale Coast Conservation, gave a talk titled Securing a future for Cape Dwarf Chameleons in the Overstrand. The Cape Dwarf Chameleon, Bradypodium pumilum, is listed as Vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature but it is particularly under threat where there is pressure from development, as there is in the Overstrand. We are losing increasing numbers of these charismatic creatures with every patch of vegetation that is cleared or felled. Whale Coast Conservation’s Chameleon Rescue Project is focused on safeguarding this species and creating sanctuary areas in which the chameleons might survive. Sheraine explained the history of the project, what has been learnt from it and what Whale Coast Conservation Trust is doing to secure the Cape Dwarf Chameleon’s future in Hermanus. (Photo: SANBI website)
The Kogelberg Crew Team continues to do wonderful work searching for endangered or near endangered fynbos species, recording their numbers and locations, thereby helping with the conservation of the fynbos in the Kogelberg Biosphere. To Adele Scheepers and the other Crewe Members, a heartfelt thanks for the most valuable work that you do.
Unfortunately, the June hack was cancelled because of the weather, but we look forward to a good turnout for the July hack on Saturday 5 July. Convenor: Rob Boyd 082 567 8858
Hangklip Hardcore Hack: Whenever I am looking for Chris Geldenhuys (082 900 8299), he is hacking somewhere. The effort he and his team of hardcore hackers have put into hacking is just unbelievable. They are still hacking twice a week on a Wednesday and a Monday and, although at times the task just seems so daunting, we outside observers can see what tremendous progress that they have been making. To Chris and his team, a big thank you.
Pringle Bay Hack: The last Saturday of each month. Convenor: Chris Geldenhuys.
Rooi Els Hack: Takes place on the second Saturday of every month, led by Mike Christelis.
The merry band of volunteers, the Friends of Harold Porter Gardens, continue to assist with flower bed maintenance in the Harold Porter Gardens, alternating between a Tuesday and a Thursday each week.
Chris Geldenhuys and Peter Dall had an ad hoc work session to weed kill, with a fynbos friendly herbicide, the Kikuyu grass which is rampant in the flower beds. Hopefully we will see the impact of their efforts shortly.
I have just been informed by the HPNG Staff that all propagation of plants has been suspended because Health and Safety have condemned the propagation house after storm damage of more than a year ago and they now have nowhere to raise seedlings or make cuttings. Let’s hope SANBI repairs the propagation hut as soon as possible, so that the very competent staff at the gardens can recommence with the invaluable propagation of plants. It would be sad to have no plant sales, but the bigger tragedy is that the fynbos beds will no longer have plants to replace dead and old plants, and no new beds will be developed.
For me a crisis!
The committee of the Kogelberg Branch of the Botanical Society is immensely proud of what the over 300 members involved in all the activities of the Kogelberg Branch achieve and contribute to the conservation of the richest floral kingdom in the world, the Kogelberg Biosphere. We have an important duty to look after this treasure that Nature has given us and to preserve it for many, many generations to come.
On the first Tuesday of every month entry to the Harold Porter Botanical Gardens is free for South African Citizens over the age of sixty.
Peter Dall
082 784 4326