The roads in the Great Fish River Reserve in the Eastern Cape are generally not in good shape and so a high clearance vehicle is recommended. The vegetation here is typical of the thickets one encounters in natural areas here.
The reserve is close enough for us to visit it for a day. This time we were intent on visiting the rapidly disappearing ruins of Fort Willshire – a brief history of which you can see on this plaque.
Each time we come here the walls are more difficult to find as the whole area has become very overgrown as the veld has had two centuries in which to reclaim its own.
Weathering has taken its toll of the lettering on the few gravestones seen in the area. These are now enclosed with a wire fence to protect them from the animals – but not the rampant growth of grass and bushes. One that is still readable is a stone erected in memory of eighteen year-old Matthew Stanworth, “Late Private Soldier who was unhumanely murdered by […] February 24th 1825 …”
The pictures in WordPress Reader are usually larger, so you may wish to have a closer look at this one there. Apart from some of the pretty flowers which I featured earlier, I also spotted a harvester ant carrying away a leaf.
Several dung beetles were busy taking advantage of a fresh pile of dung. This is one of many rolling a ball of dung through grass and over rocks.
Something Over Tea 