April 7, 2014

Monday Geology Picture(s): A Few More Pictures from Rondevlei

Posted by Evelyn Mervine

A view of some of Cape Town's mountains, with Rondevlei in the foreground.

A view of some of Cape Town’s mountains, with Rondevlei in the foreground.

For this week’s “Monday Geology Picture” post I thought I would share a few more pictures from my recent visit to Rondevlei Nature Reserve here in the Western Cape of South Africa. I shared one picture last week. As a quick reminder, Rondevlei is a vlei or marsh that is home to the Western Cape’s only population of hippos. When I visited the vlei a little over a week ago, the water level was low, and I saw some very impressive mudcracks and salt accumulations. I didn’t see any hippos, unfortunately– I’ll have to go back to the vlei one evening since the hippos are not active during the day.

Another view of Rondevlei. This picture was taken from one of the observation towers on the nature reserve.

Another view of Rondevlei. This picture was taken from one of the observation towers on the nature reserve.

A picture of the Rondevlei sign... with hippo theme!

A picture of the Rondevlei sign… with hippo theme!

More mudcracks at Rondevlei.

Low water levels at Rondevlei.

Another view of the low water levels at Rondevlei.

Another view of the low water levels at Rondevlei.

A close-up view of some mudcracks and salt accumulations.

A close-up view of some mudcracks and salt accumulations.