Oxbow

It's been awhile.

Pictures from Oxbow, Lesotho are below.
 

We drove from the New Oxbow Lodge to Two Gun Pass.  The spring  had been dry, so there weren't as many flowers as we hoped, we were limited to just a few million to choose from.  Although the spring had been dry, it was raining nearly every afternoon on the trip and flooding was a problem.  Here we are lightening the bus as it is guided through a wash.

Just ahead of the bus were massive Heliochrysums and a fantastic waterfall.

The bus took us to Two Gun pass, a little over 9000 feet altitude.  A scenic place with views for miles in all directions.  We were dropped off at 10 in the morning, while the bus went to be refueled, with the nearest gas station 60 km away.  It would only take two hours, so we left rain clothing and lunches on the bus.. 

Lots of pans with small succulents (Crassula setulosa above) and opportunistic bulbs.  With near daily rain, these do well in spite of the poor soil.

A nearby geranium, probably Geranium multisectum.

Even more interesting is Aster ericifolious, a nearly succulent member of the family

Romulea thodei was a small, sparsely distributed species.  Only a few were found, spaced fairly far apart.

Moraea alpina was also found at the top of Two Gun Pass, often just a few feet from Romuleas and Crassulas.  Heliochrysums were everywhere.

This is the enemy.  They are brought here for summer grazing and eat everything except Helichrysums and a few other shrubs..  All land is owned by the King, and used by everyone resulting in significant over grazing.

This photo was taken at 1:00.  A thunderstorm was coming, the bus hadn't arrived, we were at 9000 feet and were the tallest things for 30 miles.  We started a long walk back to the New Oxbow Lodge, hurrying to try and beat the rain, but stopping every hundred feet to photograph a new plant.

Nearer to Oxbow lodge, on a hill where sheep and goats could not comfortably graze was Delosperma nubigenum.

While looking for the Delospermas, we came upon two wonderful plants.

Eucomis nana

Eucomis schijffii

While on the hill, this fantastic Zantedeschia aethiopica.  The bus eventually made it back and we were on to central Lesotho the next day.