South Africa » Caledon Blue Crane Route

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Caledon Blue Crane Route

Overberg:

Lying at the southernmost tip of the African continent, where the Indian and Atlantic Oceans meet, is the Overberg, a fertile area surrounded by mountains and sea starting from a point 100km east of the city of Cape Town. Overberg literally means “over the mountains”. It is the traveller’s reward for breaching the mountain barriers that divide it from the rest of the country.  Before the 19th Century, when engineers blasted a route through the Hottentots Holland range, the Overberg developed in comparative isolation and is characterised today by rolling, contoured barley fields that in recent times have become a man-made habitat for the blue crane – South Africa’s national bird.

Accessing this route is via the N2 highway, the same road that leads to and from the famous Garden Route. You know instantly that you have entered the Overberg from Cape Town as you round the first corner in descending the Houw Hoek Pass, for a vista of gently curved and cultivated lands opens up across a vast expanse before you. The road divides these wide sweeps with the farms on either side that have become the adopted home of blue cranes. Their arrival in recent years has galvanised the farmers in the area into a unique alliance aimed at saving this graceful creature from extinction.

There are 15 species of crane throughout the world with three of those found in South Africa, namely: the blue crane, the grey crowned crane and the wattled crane.

The blue crane is displayed on South Africa’s 5-cent coin and has been part of the country’s heritage for many decades. In the early days, only the king of a tribe could wear the long blue crane feathers in his headdress.

The blue crane is pale blue in colour with a white cap and soft brown eyes.  It is one of only two species of crane that lack red facial coloration and when threatened, they are able to puff up their feathers on their heads to appear larger, much like the hood of a spitting cobra.

Blue cranes are omnivorous and eat plant, grain and insect material, which is why the wheat and barley land and pasture system suits them ideally. Nevertheless even here they face threats. Collisions with power lines and fences, misuse of agrochemicals, getting caught in baling twine, chicks drowning in water troughs and chicks being stolen for the pet trade, are issues their protectors are constantly concerned about.

When out crane watching it is imperative to adhere to the following:

  • Assume all property is private and obtain the owner’s permission before entering;
  • Never climb through a fence or open a cattle gate without the owner’s permission;
  • Stay on country roads. Do not drive on farm roads without permission;
  • Do not disturb farm animals, drive across cultivated fields or touch farm equipment; and
  • Respect the rights of the people who live in the area.

As far as blue cranes are concerned:

  • Stay in your car and do not approach cranes on foot;
  • Under no circumstances disturb or interfere with the cranes, especially breeding cranes. You will know if they are being disturbed if they leave the nest or start calling the alarm. Crane eggs are extremely sensitive to temperature changes and when left exposed chicks have a high chance of dying in the egg.  When the cranes are off the nest, eggs are also exposed to predators;
  • Under no circumstances may any crane, chick or egg be caught or taken out of the wild. Should you come across a crane problem, contact the local Cape Nature Conservation authority, the Overberg Crane Group or nearest landowner immediately. Anyone without a permit found in possession of a blue crane will face a high fine or jail sentence. Please also help prevent eggs, chicks or cranes being illegally taken out of the wild by reporting this to the conservation authority or crane group.

These points are not meant to put visitors off crane viewing, but to ensure that this unique experience is preserved for the next group of visitors and ultimately for future generations.

The Overberg Explorer:

The purpose of this guide is to:

  • Enhance the environmental experience of the traveller by revealing some of the secrets of the Overberg while stimulating further exciting discoveries; and
  • Promote responsible and sustainable environment-based travel in the region, to the benefit of the local community.

Along with this guide, we invite you to arm yourself with a good road map, bird and other guide books, pack a picnic lunch and explore the many interesting corners of our region.

What To See and Do:

January:

Sheep:
Balanced mixed feed and huge bales of hay silage (made in September, plastic-wrapped and stored on the fields) are carted out and fed to sheep as supplementary fodder to maintain their condition during this dry period, when grazing is poor.

Wheat, oats, barley, lupins, canola:
Stones are plentiful in the area and seem to grow with the crops! They are carried from the fields at this time – a tedious job – to prepare the lands for cultivation later in the year.

Onions:
Onions are harvested by groups of brightly clad, skilled hired help brought in daily from nearby settlements, especially Genadendal.

Pears, plums and soft citrus:
The fruit is picked, sorted and transported to packing sheds, where strict rules and regulations are followed to make sure it looks its best on the SA and overseas markets.

February:

Sheep:
There are many twins and triplets to be seen during lambing time, when lambing percentages can go up to as high as 140%. Shepherds are very busy at this time, keeping a constant eye out for predators and assisting ewes with difficult births.

Shearing is done by skilled groups of itinerant shearers (usually from Lesotho) who live on the farm for the duration. A good shearer shears up to 80 sheep daily, which is very interesting to watch.

Onions:
A highly prized, long-life onion was named the Caledon Globe as this area’s climate is perfect for its cultivation. Onions are planted by skilled women and stored by hanging on trellises for rain circulation and coolness until farmers feel the price is right.  Some are packed in bags and shipped to Europe.

Pears, plums and soft citrus as in January.

March:

Sheep:
Lambing and shearing as in February.

Wheat, oats, barley, canola, lupins:
At this time of year clouds of smoke hang over the Overberg as the old stubble fields are burnt in preparation for filling.  This is done to prevent clogging of the implements and to kill carry-over fungal diseases.  The smoke produces magnificent sunsets.

Onions:  As in February.

Apples:
Apples are picked, sorted and packed.

Pears: As in February.

April:

Wheat, barley, canola, oats:
Farmers watch the sky and weather conditions in anticipation of rain. After the first rains cultivation of the fields starts in earnest.

Lupins:
Cultivation and planting

Apples: As in March.

May:

Wheat, barley, oats, canola:
During planting the drone of tractors at work can be heard by day and night, and at night their lights can be seen flickering on the hills.

Onions: Onion seeds are planted.

June:

Sheep:  Lambing as in February.

Wheat, barley, oats, canola

Lupins:
Crop spraying for aphids and weeds is done by crop sprayers (light aircraft) or by tractor.  Farmers are on full alert for these undesirables, but conscious of the need to use environmentally friendly insecticides.

Onions:
Onion seeds are planted.

July:

Sheep:
Lambing and shearing as in February.

Wheat, barley, oats, canola, lupins – As in June.

Onions: As in June.

August:

Sheep: Shearing.

Barley:
Crop spraying for fungal diseases.

Canola:
The flowering canola is the herald of spring in the Overberg, when bright yellow fields can be seen, patch-worked with the greens of oats barley.

September:

Sheep:
Lambing and shearing as in February.

Oats:
Hay is cut and made into bales or plastic-wrapped for fodder in the dry season.

Canola: Flowering as in August.

Lupins:
Flowering fields of white and blue flowers interspersed with the greens of the wheat and barley fields.

Onions:
The seedlings are planted out and correctly spaced. Groups of hired helpers, mostly skilled women from nearby settlements, are employed to do this. Amazingly, the straight rows of seedlings are planted so quickly that it beats doing it by machine!

Pears:
Trees are now in blossom and a visit to the orchards is an amazing experience of colour and fragrance.

Plums: Blossom time.

October:

Sheep:
Lambing and shearing as in February.

Wheat, oats, barley, canola, lupins:
Swathing occurs now to prevent wind damage.  Combine harvesters cut down the rows of nearly ripe grain so that the seeds can dry out completely and not be blown out of the ears and scattered.

Apples:  The lovely fragrance of apple blossoms permeates the orchards.

November:

Sheep: Lambing.

Wheat, barley, oats, canola, lupins:
Harvesting is the busiest time on a grain farm. Combine harvesters pick up the dried windrows and separate kernels from the shafts. The grain is then taken in bulk to be weighed, tested, graded and stored in silos.

December:

Wheat, barley, oats and straw:
Bales are made and carted into storage.

The Overberg – A Kaleidoscope of Colour and Light:

An artist once remarked that in nature light creates colour, whereas artists use colour to create light. Never is this truer than in the Overberg region of the Western Cape.

Each season’s activities play an important part in the ever-changing colours of the Overberg, as does the light falling on the landscape at different times of the day. Throughout the year it offers anything from a riot of purple and canary yellow to sapphire, gold and emerald green – to the delight of both amateur and professional photographers.

January:

A feast for the eyes – light straw tones and creamy browns fringed with white grasses and patches of green.

February:

An oasis for the senses – soft desert hues abound at this romantic time of the year.

March:

The beauty of the brown fields is enhanced by shades of mink and taupe in the mountain backdrop, which takes on a silky lustre at dusk and dawn.

April:

Stirring the senses – the extravagance of autumn rusts, early morning mists and strawberry sunsets.

May:

A great sense of drama – the perfectly ploughed fields of hot chocolate against the deep purple backdrop of the Swartberg Mountains.

June:

Jewel tones of emerald and gold celebrate the riches of rebirth as the virgin wheat starts pushing up.

July:

The fields explode in every imaginable shade of green as the wheatlands reach adolescence.

“Lo, all my heart’s field red and torn,
And thou wilt bring the young green corn,
The young green corn divinely springing,
The young green corn forever singing.
And we will walk in the weeded field
And tell the golden harvest’s yield.”

From: The Everlasting Mercy – John Masefield

August:

Nature makes magic with its lush palette of greens and yellows.

September:

With the fields in full flower, spring lights up the landscape in all the colours of the rainbow.

October:

Driving through the Overberg at this time of the year is like driving into a Van Gogh landscape with the juxtaposition of azure skies, golden wheatfields and clumps of white chincherinchees (indigenous flowers).

November:

The vibrant patterns of the patchwork-quilted hills are a celebration of constant visual and textural treats.DECEMBER: Colours have a last fling before the dryness starts setting in.

 

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Comments and Reviews

i would like my pub called rambling rose in genadendal to be advertise on your web please

jonathan holmes on 27th of January, 2009 at 08:07.

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