Other creatures

Hi All

My Grandad pointed out  that I didn't mention any of the insects or plants I saw on my trip to the Eastern Cape so here are a few I saw plus a few others we have around these ere parts!

The Golden Orb spider - I saw lots of these in the Eastern Cape, lots of them were nearly the size of my hand. We had to avoid walking straight (face first) into them or their webs. Their thread of their webs shines a golden colour in the sunlight hence the name and although a little creepy they are beautiful (just not on your face!)

This is called a Shepherd Tree as it is one of the few trees here without thorns so shepherds would sit under it for shade. I don't think this photo really does this tree justice as they can be a beautiful flat umbrella shape and stand out in a particularly barren landscape.

This is some sort of grasshopper that I saw (by the way these are just photos from google not my own i am afraid) while climbing the mountain in the Eastern Cape. They would jump (to head height) across our path and you would see a flash of their beautiful colours.

These little lizards are all over the place in Pretoria and we have several living in our garden.

This is a beautiful tree that is in bloom at the moment all over Pretoria. Although I have heard various names I found it under 'Coral Tree' although I think another name 'flame tree' is more appropriate. I love the vivid bright red of the flowers against the start grey/brown of the branches.

Close up of coral tree.

This is a Hoepoo (prenounced hoopoo) and I saw them in the Eastern cape but also around Pretoria. They are stunning birds especially with their wings spread. 

This is a hadeda (prenounced har-dee-da) and they happily wander around our compound looking rediculour as they are the size of a cat. They also make  the load noise that gives them their name and annoys residents when they are woken by it in the morning.