For interesting information on flowers, trees and plants please click on this link: http://natureswow2.blogspot.com/

For the identification of insects and other fauna and flora of South Africa: please click on the following links:
Insects and related species: Antlions - Ants - Bees - Beetles - Bugs - Butterflies, Moths and Caterpillars - Centipedes and Millipedes - Cockroaches - Crickets - Dragonflies and Damselflies - Grasshoppers and Katydids - Mantis - Stick Insects - Ticks and Mites - Wasps - Woodlice
Plants, Trees, Flowers: (Note: Unless plants fall into a specific species such as Cacti, they have been classified by their flower colour to make them easier to find) Bonsai - Cacti, Succulents, Aloes, Euplorbia - Ferns and Cycads - Flowers - Fungi, Lichen and Moss - Grass - Trees
Animals, Birds, Reptiles etc.: Animals, Birds, Fish and Crabs - Frogs - Lizards - Scorpions - Snails and Slugs - Snakes - Spiders - Tortoise, Turtles and Terrapins - Whipscorpions
Other photography: Aeroplanes - Cars and Bikes - Travel - Sunrise - Water drops/falls - Sudwala and Sterkfontein Caves etc.
Videos: YouTube

Thursday, May 22, 2014

SA Diversity Tour (1-2/03/2014) Day 45-46

Karoo NP – Part 1
It is amazing to find such diversity here
Not having been to Karoo National Park before, I was not sure what to expect. The Park is situated in a very arid region and the terrain varies between flat grasslands and high mountains.

The vegetation is very much the same as in most of the Karoo region, mostly hardy plants which can survive the low rainfall and almost all have thorns to prevent them being eaten.
Amongst the animals seen there were zebra
Gemsbok
and Mountain Rhebuck
 with evidence of Dassies (Rock Hyrax) everywhere.
During the year, flowers are seen throughout different season and they are really spectacular.

Most of all I was thrilled to find a Wild Pomegranete in bloom, a species I had been looking for for ages.
While setting up camp, we spotted this huge tortoise feeding on the grass. He is so used to people in there that I went to lay on the grass in front of him to take pictures and he just carried on eating.
One of the common beetles there is the Toktokkie or Tapping Beetle which taps with its rear end on the ground to advertise that he is near and waits to hear if a female will tap back.
They sure have huge Corn Crickets there and this one was determined to get away and not let me take his picture but I did anyway. J
I was happy to also find this beautiful Emperor Moth

1 comment:

Gaelyn said...

It was a nice park but too bad there weren't a few more roads to drive.