Cafe Recife - Part One - The first kilometre

DS #1 went on a field trip with his class to a lighthouse.  He thought it was the coolest thing ever to go to the top and see the whole city.  He liked the story behind it too.  Though, most people think PE was named for the Queen, me included, it turns out it was named by the founder, Sir Rufane Shaw Donkin, after his late wife Elizabeth.  DS #1 wanted us to all go and see the light house and bugged us for days.  So, I Googled light- house PE, found a map and we were set for a day trip on Saturday morning. 

Off we went and DH kept asking DS #1 does this look familiar.  DS #1 kept saying "no, we took the highway".  Long story short, wrong lighthouse.  Who knew a coastal city would have more than one :) The lighthouse we went to was at the Cape Racife Nature Reserve.  We couldn't go up, but the day was an absolutely glorious one and we got there at low tide so we could walk for km's along the beach and rocks.  This was also the day I found out I had dust on my camera sensor.  So until I get Photoshop I apologize for the dark spot on some of these pictures.

Here is the lighthouse at Cape Racife.

With our take only pictures, leave only footprints philosophy firmly in mind we set off down the beach to explore.


The first find was a number of blue bottle's.  Apparently there is some dissension in the scientific community about the blue bottle, Portuguese man-of-war or Physalia Physalis.  Those that are found in the Indo-Pacific and Southern African coasts are much smaller with a single tentacle than those found in other locations causing some scientists to call it Physalia Utriculus. 

Actually, blue bottles tend to occur in swarms and get stranded all over the beach when the tide goes out.  The toxicity in their tentacles can remain potent for weeks to months in moist environments.  Just one more reason why my kids will be wearing shoes all the time.   This is one of the larger ones we've seen and sometimes you hear a "pop" and realize that you're glad you had shoes on because you just stepped on a blue bottle.  It sounds just like popping a bubble gum bubble.

The next find we saw, dh called at tongue. I thought it looked more like a heart.  When we asked the volunteer guide at the South African Marine Rehabilitation and Education Centre he said it was some kind of plant, but didn't have a name for it.

Now, I am one of these people that does not like questions without answers, so after asking someone and not getting an answer I turned to the Internet.  Hours of search provided nothing.  DH and I had already been talking about getting some reference books about animal, avian and marine life in Southern Africa, so off to the bookstore I went.  With Two Oceans - A Guide to the Marine Life of Southern Africa in hand, I searched for our mysterious tongue/heart thing. 

My best guess is that it the picture is of 2 entangled elephant ears.  Yup, they call them elephant ears.  The scientific name is Gynandrocarpa placenta.  It is described as a large colonial form of sea squirts with a short peduncle.  Now, the only time I'd ever heard the term peduncle was from a farmer in a pumpkin patch back home.  I thought it was a pumpkin specific term, not so, evidently.  According to the book colonies can be ripped off and cast ashore in large numbers after a storm.  Given that there had been a storm the night prior to our visit, it makes sense that this is in fact the creature in the photo.

I find nature to be a fascinating thing.  Take these next 2 pictures.

When we arrived, in the morning, the sand was damp and dark and our sandals left footprints.  I wasn't able to identify this in my reference book, it could be a sponge, a coral or a false coral, regardless this is what  it looked like in the morning when we arrived at the beach.  It had the briefest hint of pink colour to it and it glistened with moisture.

Many hours later, when we were leaving, the sand was dry and powdery.  Our shoes left no footprints.  The afternoon sun was leaving shadows in different places.

Here is, what I am quite sure is, the same specimen after hours of sun and wind exposure.  I loved that the colour intensified, it was a little bit smaller and drier and curled in a little bit.  That's why I had to take another picture.  Isn't nature awesome?  Now I wonder what happened to it after the tide came back in.

The next find belongs to DS #1.  He took the lead climbing over the rocks,  DS #2 and I weren't far behind when he shouted excitedly for us to come quickly.  He had found a small crevice protected by the rocks, and home to several cape sea urchins. 

When a sea urchin dies the spines fall off and you are left with the calcium carbonate shell or test.  This is what it looks like.  They call it a pumpkin shell.  DD thought it was sooooooo pretty.

Not everything we found on the beach was natural. Both DS's imaginations were running on overtime after finding this washed up on the shoreline.

Was it a hatch from a pirate ship or a door from an old Spanish galleon?  I love their active imaginations.  Anyway, I was told very politely that I should take a photo of it, so I did.

Next Post - Cape Racife - Part Two - The next kilometre