It's been a while since my last picture posting, but hey, it's been a while since I was back in Africa. In December my family and I flew out to Cape Town to go to a family friend's wedding. We made a 10 day vacation out of it and went around the Western Cape. Although it was far from a herping vacation, I still saw some cool stuff and figured I would share. Please let me know if I got any of the IDs wrong.
I'll keep it to herps since the rest of the stuff is probably pretty commonplace for you folks, but I've got some bird and mammal pictures as well if you're interested.
Let me start by saying, wow, the Cape is BEAUTIFUL. This was the view from the my hotel, right behind Table Mountain in Constantia Nek.
Saw two of these guys crossing the road in Table Mountain NP. I figure the long road going towards to the Cape of Good Hope would be great for road cruising if it were open after dark.
I was hesitant to call these Cordylus niger, but they fit the description. According to Branch's field guide they're rarely in groups, but almost all the ones that I saw in Table Mountain NP were in groups.
Again.
Found this guy climbing on a wall at my hotel in Cape Town. Any idea? It looks similar to the Hemidactylus turcicus that were released where I live in the USA.
Here's the pads.
The only puffie seen was this dead one on the road near Inverdoorn.
Mountain fynbos near Monte Rochelle outside of Franschhoek.
Pachydactylus sp. Any idea on the species? This was also found right outside of Franschhoek.
Size comparison.
Finally, on the last night, I decided to go road cruising near Nature's Valley. Jeez do I wish I thought of that earlier. We found 9 snakes of four species that night.
First Lamprophis inornatus.
Another.
Another larger and much angrier Lamprophis inornatus.
So I think this is a rhombic night adder and not a skaapsteker, but I'm willing to hear arguments. If it is that would mean I've seen at least one member from 3 of the 4 sub-families of vipers. All I need is to see an Azeimops feae and I'll have seen them all I was very excited about this find.
Full body shot.
DOR red lipped herald
Any idea on this guy? It was very small, less than 30cm and obviously DOR. Although it's very faint there was a small line of vertebral dots.
Here's a ventral shot.
Saw some amphibians too...
Bufo rangeri??
Again?
And my proudest amphibian find (ever since I saw the little guy in the corner of this forum!):
Hyperolius marmoratus. Such a cool tree frog! I would've loved to see some more variations!
Again.
Well that short foray, mostly from Nature's Valley, is about it. South Africa is a wonderful country, but I only began to scratch the surface herp-wise. I'll definitely be back -- and next time it will be only to herp! Thanks again for help with the ID's that I got wrong. Keep on herpin!
-Alex