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Don’t be a doos.A beach isn’t a braai spot.And it isn’t a bar.Yet this is what was left behind after someone decided it ...
07/09/2026

Don’t be a doos.

A beach isn’t a braai spot.
And it isn’t a bar.

Yet this is what was left behind after someone decided it was both.

A fire in the sand. Empty bottles everywhere. And a beach that someone else now has to clean up.

Surely whoever did this knew it wasn’t okay. But incase this is what you do in your own home, and that’s why you thought it was acceptable, we’re here to be clear - it’s not.

It’s not about spoiling anyone’s fun - it’s about respecting what each space is for. You wouldn’t dig up your garden to build a sandcastle, or use your lounge as a campsite. Let the beach be a beach.

The beach belongs to the kid digging in the sand tomorrow morning.
The birds living and feeding along the shore.
The person walking barefoot.
The families swimming in the shallows.
The fish and seals and dolphins and whales, who don’t want to deal with rubbish in their homes.

Leave the beach for what it’s meant to be - a place to enjoy, not a place to leave your mess.

07/09/2026

☀️

Wind, wind, go away,Come again another day.You’ve blown the clouds, you’ve moved the trees,You’ve sent our washing on a ...
04/09/2026

Wind, wind, go away,
Come again another day.
You’ve blown the clouds, you’ve moved the trees,
You’ve sent our washing on a breeze.

But wind is more than what we feel.
It helps the natural world to heal.
It carries seeds from here to there,
And spreads pollen through the air.

It shapes the dunes along the shore,
Moves the sand from door to door,
And stirs the ocean, wave by wave,
Giving our coastline room to change.

It helps to move the clouds along,
And keeps our weather moving on.
For birds and insects on the wing,
The wind can change just everything.

So yes, we know you have a job,
But today you’re quite a lot.
You’ve rattled roofs and slammed the doors,
But you’re important and we’ll hold on a little more.

03/09/2026

Can you tell where these cormorants were for lunch?

You don’t have to go to the Kruger to see a bird of prey.You’ve probably seen photos of magnificent eagles and thought, ...
02/09/2026

You don’t have to go to the Kruger to see a bird of prey.

You’ve probably seen photos of magnificent eagles and thought, “One day, I’d love to see one of those.”

Well, look up.

That day could be today.

We photographed this Long-crested Eagle on Airport Road. Birds of prey are often much closer to us than we realise, sitting quietly on telephone poles, fence posts or the highest branches of trees, watching the world below.

And while they’re an impressive sight, they’re doing something much more important than simply looking good.

Raptors are predators, helping to keep populations of rodents and other small animals in balance. They’re a quiet but essential part of a healthy ecosystem.

So how can we help them thrive?

One of the biggest things we can do is keep poison out of the food chain. Rodent poison doesn’t only affect the animal that eats it. Raptors and other predators can be poisoned when they eat contaminated prey. Choosing poison-free rodent control is a simple way to protect them.

And if you ever find an injured, grounded or otherwise distressed bird of prey, there is help.

Raptor Rescue is a local rehabilitation centre dedicated to rescuing, rehabilitating and releasing birds of prey. Their work goes far beyond individual rescues: they care for injured wildlife, educate the community and help people find wildlife-friendly ways to deal with challenges such as rodents.
You can also get up close, responsibly, with flight demonstrations and educational experiences at the rescue centre.

So next time you’re out and about, look up at the poles and treetops.

You might be closer to a magnificent bird of prey than you think.

Spring has sprung 🌸🐞🌼🐛🪻🐝🌻And if you live in the Western Cape, you don’t need a calendar to tell you.The fynbos starts pu...
01/09/2026

Spring has sprung 🌸🐞🌼🐛🪻🐝🌻

And if you live in the Western Cape, you don’t need a calendar to tell you.

The fynbos starts putting on a show, flowers begin appearing everywhere, insects become more active and suddenly there seems to be a lot more life moving around us.

But spring isn’t just about warmer days and pretty flowers. For nature, it’s a busy season. Plants are flowering and producing food, pollinators are getting to work, birds are taking advantage of the abundance of insects and nectar, and countless small interactions are happening that we might barely notice.

So when the bugs start appearing around your home, garden or outside your window, try not to reach for the spray straight away. That bee, beetle, moth, butterfly or other little creature is part of something much bigger happening around you.

Spring is a good reminder that not everything that crawls, buzzes or flies needs to be killed. Sometimes it just needs to be left alone.

Take a little more time to look around.

What have you noticed changing where you live?

And what are you most looking forward to about the season?

A Caterpillar Invasion?Have you noticed them everywhere lately?All over the garden. Covering branches. Crawling across p...
30/08/2026

A Caterpillar Invasion?

Have you noticed them everywhere lately?

All over the garden. Covering branches. Crawling across paths. Maybe you’ve even squealed when you saw one moving across the floor in front of you — or perhaps you’ve squished one without thinking twice.

But before we declare a caterpillar invasion, there’s a little more to the story.

These are Barred Eggarlet, also known as Taaibos Lappet caterpillars — the caterpillar stage of a moth. And yes, when there are lots of them, they can make a tree look pretty alarming.

They’re stripping the leaves because they’re eating and storing the energy they need to grow before they pupate and eventually emerge as moths.

A tree suddenly covered in caterpillars can look like it’s being destroyed, but healthy, established trees can generally cope with losing a lot of their leaves and will produce new growth.

In fact, there’s a bit of natural pruning happening here. Trees regularly lose leaves, branches and other growth as part of their natural cycles, and being heavily browsed can stimulate new growth. One species feeding on another isn’t automatically a problem — it’s part of how these ecosystems work.

And those caterpillars aren’t just eating. They’re also food for birds, reptiles, bats and other wildlife.

So if you’ve got a branch looking like this at the moment, you don’t need to reach for insecticide.

Sometimes nature just looks a little messy while it’s getting on with itself.

And that caterpillar you nearly stepped on? It might simply have been on its way to the next stage of its life.

*Check comments for what the next stage moth looks like

Pufferfish have washed up along our coast again - and they’re not something to let your dog or child investigate.Locally...
19/08/2026

Pufferfish have washed up along our coast again - and they’re not something to let your dog or child investigate.

Locally called blaasoppies, these little fish contain tetrodotoxin, a powerful neurotoxin.

A curious dog doesn’t need to eat one for it to become a problem. Chewing or swallowing parts of a pufferfish can cause poisoning.

And this isn’t just a theoretical risk. Dogs along the Garden Route have died in the past from exposure.

Why are they so dangerous?

Pufferfish use their toxins as a defence against predators. The toxin can affect the nervous system, causing weakness, loss of coordination, paralysis and potentially respiratory failure.

And a washed-up fish doesn’t suddenly become safe because it’s dead, the toxin is still very much “alive”.

So, what do you do if you see one?

If you find a pufferfish on the beach:

✋Leave it where it is.

🐶🧒 Keep dogs on a lead and children away from it.

📲 Report the sighting (‪+27 79 463 4837‬ Plett & surrounds)

Don’t pick it up.
Don’t kick it.
Don’t let your dog sniff, lick or chew it.

If your dog has mouthed or eaten one, contact a vet immediately - don’t wait for symptoms to appear.

There’s a lot happening on the beach that we don’t always notice, but it’s important that we do.

14/08/2026

Always a treat 😍

13/08/2026

Seal rabies is nothing to panic about. It just means that we need to be extra vigilant and listen to instructions from those who are helping keep us safe.

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