August 19th, and full blue moon day. I enjoyed watching both the rising of the huge moon over the treetops last night and the setting moon at dawn this morning. Setting moon over Sean's house The full moon often brings weather changes. We had the warmest night after many months at minus 1 [...]
Biosphere reserves are designated areas that aim to conserve and manage ecosystems, promote sustainable development, and support research and education. They are recognized by UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere (MAB) program, which was established in 1971. The Marico Biosphere Reserve was designated by UNESCO in July 2018 at the 30th International Man and the Biosphere [...]
Have you ever wanted to learn about identifying trees and shrubs? Join Eckhard Druschke for a relaxing getaway in the beautiful Groot Marico Bushveld for a weekend of walks & talks on tree and shrub identification. Trees are poems that the earth writes upon the sky. Kahlil Gibran Bring your walking shoes and binoculars, field [...]
Autumn is approaching with cooler nights and days. I love this time of year, which isn’t as spectacular as Autumn in Europe, but leaves fall from trees, and the long grass turns brownish yellow, thereby creating a fire risk until the summer rains appear in October. The recent bright autumn full moon heralded the increased [...]
It is just past mid-summer and is a day with gentle rain, which is unusual in summer but most welcome. My entertainment for many hours of late has been sitting on my veranda watching birds. There is a tree full of nesting black-headed weavers just beyond my pond. They have built 25 nests so far, [...]
The “middle veld” South African autumn is here. Last night the temperature was zero and in the middle of the day 35. So it's once again a time for putting on and taking off layers of clothing. At this time of year, nature's clever seed dispersal is in full swing, the grass seed-eating birds busily [...]
I am beginning to think that we are going through a quiet Irish invasion at the Tara Rokpa Centre. It kicked off with a month-long retreat with Dónal Creedon in November and December, then we followed up with Brion Sweeney in April for a bit of mindfulness. In my ignorance (before coming to TRC) I [...]
Join Eckhard Druschke, a birding, hiking, star-gazing, and nature enthusiast for a relaxing getaway in the beautiful Groot Marico Bushveld for a weekend of walks & talks on bird and tree identification. In the evening Eckhard will talk about our amazing Southern African sky, identifying various constellations, planets, and stars, while also providing a little [...]
I can’t believe it’s nearly November! The year seems to be flying by at great speed. We have had 2 nights with dramatic thunderstorms bringing much-needed rain to the parched land. It has been a high alert for fires for some time with all the dry grass and strong winds. There have been some devastating [...]
Update June 2023: The gravel road from the Rietvaly turnoff 9 km after Groot Marico has been fixed and graded and is passable once more in a normal sedan car. A reminder to drive slowly and you will arrive with all 4 tyres intact! As you may have seen, we have started recommending that [...]
