|
The hunt for hippos in Rondevlei
Let’s go back to the year 1652 for a change. Jan
van Riebeeck has only been in Cape Town for twelve days
when he sees his first hippo. He shoots it, right in the
centre of Cape Town. That’s right, in the city bowl.
I might have felt the same way as Jan did when I first
heard about the Rondevlei Nature Reserve. Do they really
have hippos over there? But it’s practically in the
city… They sure have! So I jumped in my car on drove
on the M5 as fast as I could. So I could shoot those hippos
just like Jan did… but with a camera this time!
By Gert-Jaap Hoekman
If you take a look at the history of this city, it’s
actually no surprise that there’re hippos in Cape
Town. The place we know as Church Square today used to be
a dam, leftovers of those times can still be seen in the
Golden Acres shopping centre. I know it’s hard to
imagine, ‘cos the only thing you see marching through
town these days are cars and minibuses, but this place used
to be populated by hippos.
At Rondevlei Dalton Gibbs is the main man. He’s the
manager, ranger and deals with the press as well. Off course
he was willing to show us around, but before that, we must
know, Rondevlei is not just about hippos. Not at all, actually.
Rondevlei is a park with an extraordinary amount of birdlife.
And on top of that, it’s an education centre for most
for kids from the Cape Flats. That’s all good, but
we just want to see hippos!
It has to be said. Rondevlei is really stunning. The birds,
the water, the plants, it gives this place something special.
Even more because you see (don’t hear!) the M5 just
behind it. Still you keep the feeling of being in nature
at its purest. But, we’re drifting again, hippos is
what we want to see.
First a tour, by Mister Gibbs himself, through some of
the conference rooms, to the aquarium and the snakes. Gibbs
runs, mumbles a bit, and we’re just trying to keep
up with him. Ten minutes later the tour is already over.
“So, do you want to ask me some questions now?”
Gibbs takes us to the first look out, where we get a good
overview of the park. “Uhm… Yeah.. Well..”,
I stumble. “Hippos? Anywhere? Maybe?” Gibbs
gives me the look. “Didn’t I tell you? You can
also see the hippos when the sun has gone down. During the
day they stay under water.” What a disappointment…
The history of Rondevlei goes back to 1952. Locals used
the area as a place to graze horses and cattle, for woodcutting,
the picking of flowers, and recreation, before a big fence
was erected. In 1997 the reserve came part of the City of
Cape Town. Hippos were always a part of the park, but got
extended because of the hunt. The population was re-introduced
in 1982, and last year another couple came, bringing the
total population to five. “Once we had thirteen baby
hippos”, Gibbs says. “But the male killed them
all, ‘cos otherwise he thinks he can’t make
out with the females anymore. We really need to get him
more females.” If you stay a night at the Rondevlei
Island, you may even have a chance of seeing the mammals.
So there we stood, on top of the look out, in a beautiful
surrounding, but no hippos to look at. But hey, what’s
that in the distance? “Schoolchildren!”, Gibbs
shouts. “We’ve got plenty of them.” Every
year about twelve thousand kids come to the park for education.
“I think you’re not a complete person if you’re
not exposed to nature”, Gibbs says. “A lot of
the children that come here have never camped before, or
even been in nature. To see the looks on their faces is
really something special.”
The fact that Rondevlei has an education centre in the
park gives this nature reserve really something special.
It plays an important role in the lives of townships children,
who sometimes never have gone out camping or so wildlife
at all. Gibbs: “It’s nice to see the enthusiasm
on their faces; it gives you a good feeling. But I don’t
think seeing animals is just important for children from
the townships, it’s important for everybody!”
|
