A quick report back on the field trips offered by Friends of Verloren Valei.
These field trips remain by far the best way for members of the general public and Friends of Verloren Valei to visit and appreciate what this astonishing reserve has to offer. This is particularly true now that access is now being more strictly monitored in line with the reserve’s “closed” status—self-drives along the so-called “tourist route” are now a thing of the past.
Our field trips are only made possible by the generosity of experts who give up their weekends to lead them. Our debt to them is immense—so a big round of thanks to Susan Abell, Geoff Lockwood, Frans Krige, Jeremy Dobson, Hannes Marais and Steve Vincent who led field trips on our behalf this year (more than one, in Steve’s case!).
The summer kicked off on 11 October 2025 with another Off the Beaten Track walk with Frans Krige, the former manager of Verloren Valei and the recently retired regional ecologist. I unfortunately had to miss the trip owing to a family emergency, but by all accounts it was hugely enjoyable, with participants benefitting from Frans’s deep knowledge of the reserve and enduring interest in the Boer War history of the region.
One of the highlights was seeing one of the new species described by Andrew Hankey, Ledebouria steenkampsbergensis. Andrew is the Principal Horticulturist at the SA National Biodiversity Institute, responsible for developing and maintaining the Walter Sisulu National Botanical Garden and its associated nature reserve.
Ledebouria steenkampsbergensis (Photograph: Frans Krige)
We hosted Susan Abell and Geoff Lockwood for what has become one of their annual events exploring the botanical and avian treasures of Verloren Valei on 10 January 2026. What was meant to be a two-day excursion had to be compressed into one day owing to extremely inclement weather conditions—this has been a rainy summer.
A selection of photos courtesy of Stuart McIntyre gives a flavour of the day:
Nonetheless, we had a great time and saw some interesting plants and birds. Some examples recorded by the indefatigable Steve Vincent follow:
Berkheya seminivea (L) and Aspidoglossum ovalifolium (R) (Photographs: Steve Vincent)
Getting back to our respective firesides was greatly appreciated.
Jeremy Dobson, a leading light of the Lepidopterists Society of Southern Africa (LepSoc) and its past president, hosted a butterfly field trip on 17 January. It was similarly challenging from a climatic point of view, but again persistence paid off. Read a full report of this field trip.
A very busy January concluded on the 31st with a large group led by Steve Vincent focusing on orchids and wildflowers. This group included people from as far afield as Johannesburg, but also several locals. The first port of was the waterfall just south of the Verloren Valei office—the trip took longer than usual because the Zig Zag Mombretias (Crocosmia paniculata) were in full flower. The prolific stands of burnt orange flowers stretching down the valley were a truly spectacular sight.
Crocosmia in full flower (Photograph: Steve Vincent)
The waterfall was a gem on this day. We spotted Miniflower Orchids (Brownlee parviflora), the Aloe Modestas were starting to flower, and the strangest of all, a stand of Grassveld Splitlip Orchids (Shizochilis cesilii var.calveri) were discovered growing in-between the rocks, almost at the summit of the hill. We did have an avid orchid hunter with us with young keen eyes and she found us another two orchids on the hill, a Yawning Harlequin Orchid (Eulophia hians) and the Death Orchid (Habenaria dives).
Grassveld Splitlip Orchids (Shizochilis cesilii var.calveri) (Photograph: Steve Vincent)
By the time we had traversed the waterfall and then driven up to what I call the orchid fields, there was a pending storm over the quartzite watershed ridge. It was decided to explore the lower Orchid triangle rather than risk a deluge or even worse a lightning strike on the ridge. The Orchid Triangle, as usual, did not disappoint with a host of orchids, including the Pink Grassland Satyr (Satyrium hallackii ssp. Ocellatum) and Disa rodantha in flower, as well as the last of the Watsonia bella.
Pink Grassland Satyr (Satyrium hallackii ssp ocellatum) (Photograph: Steve Vincent)
All in all, a very successful outing, with 19 species of orchids identified.
February was also a busy month, with a Valentine’s Day exploration of wetlands with Hannes Marais, Wetland Ecologist at MTPA.
Wetlandscape (Photograph: Hannes Marais)
This was a small group which really allowed us to delve into the nature of wetlands, and also to see some prize flowers. A highlight was the tentative identification of Disa zuluensis, which if confirmed would be the first sighting within the boundaries of the reserve. Two members of the group are PhD students at the University of Pretoria, and they later confirmed that the consensus is that the flower is a hybrid between D. zuluensis and D. rhodantha.
The suspected D. zuluensis and D. rhodantha hybrid (Photograph: James van den Heever)
We saw several stands of these beautiful Nerines (Photograph: Hannes Marais)
The summer of 2026 also saw the first of what we hope will be many excursions to the De Berg Nature Reserve, our near neighbour and fellow Ramsar site. A full write-up of the the two trips in February 2026 will be posted in the next few weeks.
The drifts of Crocosmias is splendid, what a happy thought that they exist.