|
The Cederberg mountains and nature reserve are located near Clanwilliam, approximately 300 km north of Cape Town, South Africa at about 32°30′S 19°0′E. The mountain range is named after the endangered Clanwilliam Cedar (Widdringtonia cedarbergensis), which is a tree endemic to the area. The mountains are noted for dramatic rock formations and San rock art. The Cederberg Wilderness Area is administered by Cape Nature Conservation. A mountain is a landform that extends above the surrounding terrain in a limited area. ...
A nature reserve (natural reserve, nature preserve, natural preserve) is an area of importance for wildlife, flora, fauna or features of geological or other special interest, which is reserved and managed for conservation and to provide special opportunities for study or research. ...
Clanwilliam is a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. ...
City motto: Spes Bona (Latin: Good Hope) Location of the City of Cape Town in Western Cape Province Province Western Cape Mayor Helen Zille Area - % water 2,499 km² N/A Population - Total (2004) - Density Not ranked 2,893,251 1,158/km² Established 1652 Time zone SAST (UTC+2...
Species Widdringtonia cedarbergensis Widdringtonia nodiflora Widdringtonia schwarzii Widdringtonia whytei Widdringtonia is a genus of coniferous trees in the Cupressaceae (cypress family). ...
In biology and ecology endemic means exclusively native to a place or biota, in contrast to cosmopolitan or introduced. ...
See Formation of rocks for processes by which rocks are formed. ...
The Bushmen (also known as Basarwa in Tswana, or San in Nama) are an indigenous population of the Kalahari Desert, which spans South Africa and neighbouring Botswana and Namibia. ...
Cave or rock paintings are paintings painted on cave or rock walls and ceilings, usually dating to prehistoric times. ...
Cederberg is now the generally accepted spelling for the area, which combines the English (Cedarberg) and Afrikaans (Sederberg) variants. The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ...
Look up Wiktionary:Swadesh lists for Afrikaans and Dutch in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...
Geography
 The Maltese Cross rock formation The Cederberg mountains extend about 50 km north-south by 20 km east-west. They are bordered on the west by the Sandveld, the north by the Pakhuis Mountains, the East by the Springbok flats and the south by the Kouebokkeveld mountains and the Skurweberge. The main access road, the N7, runs to the west of the range. The nearest towns are Citrusdal to the southwest and Clanwilliam to the north. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1280x960, 618 KB) For a gallery of these images, see the main article about Maltese Cross Cedarberg Oct 2005. ...
Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1280x960, 618 KB) For a gallery of these images, see the main article about Maltese Cross Cedarberg Oct 2005. ...
The N7 is a freeway connecting Cape Town, South Africa to Vioolsdrif, the border post to Namibia. ...
Clanwilliam is a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. ...
The area is sparsely populated. There are several notable mountain peaks in the range, including Sneeuberg (2025 m) and Tafelberg (1969 m). Tafelberg (Afrikaans for "Table Mountain") should not be confused with the Table Mountain in Cape Town. Notable landmarks include the Maltese Cross, Wolfberg Arch and Wolfberg Cracks. Look up Wiktionary:Swadesh lists for Afrikaans and Dutch in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...
Table Mountain is a mountain in the Western Cape, South Africa, overlooking the greater Cape Town area. ...
City motto: Spes Bona (Latin: Good Hope) Location of the City of Cape Town in Western Cape Province Province Western Cape Mayor Helen Zille Area - % water 2,499 km² N/A Population - Total (2004) - Density Not ranked 2,893,251 1,158/km² Established 1652 Time zone SAST (UTC+2...
The dominating characteristic of the area is sharply defined sandstone rock formations (Table Mountain group), often reddish in colour. This group of rocks contains bands of shale and in recent years a few important fossils have been discovered in these argillaceous layers. Red sandstone interior of Lower Antelope Canyon, Arizona, worn smooth due to erosion by flash flooding over millions of years Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-size mineral or rock grains. ...
Shale Shale is a fine-grained sedimentary rock whose original constituents were clays or muds. ...
An ammonite fossil Eocene fossil fish of the genus Knightia Petrified wood fossil formed through permineralization. ...
Climate The summers are very hot and dry, while the winters are wetter and cold with typical annual rainfall in the low lying areas of less than 700 mm. The higher peaks receive a dusting of snow in winter. Summer days are typically clear and cloudless. Due to the clear skies most of the year, it makes an excellent site for skywatching and has its own amateur observatory. MolÄ—tai Astronomical Observatory An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial and/or celestial events. ...
Vegetation The predominant vegetation is Mediterranean Fynbos in the wetter south and west, changing to semi desert scrub in the north and east. The endangered Clanwilliam Cedar (Widdringtonia cedarbergensis — more correctly classified as a cypress [1] — and the snow protea (Protea cryophila) are endemic to the area, found only in more remote areas high up in the mountains. Fynbos (Afrikaans for fine bush) is the natural vegetation occurring in a small belt of South Africa, mainly in the South-western Cape. ...
Species Widdringtonia cedarbergensis Widdringtonia nodiflora Widdringtonia schwarzii Widdringtonia whytei Widdringtonia is a genus of coniferous trees in the Cupressaceae (cypress family). ...
Animals The area's apex predators are leopards and caracals (the African Lynx). Other mammals include the rock hyrax ("dassie"), larger antelopes including bontebok and oryx and the rare mountain zebra, meerkats and mongooses. There are also many birds, small mammals, reptiles and insects. Binomial name Panthera pardus (Linnaeus, 1758) Synonyms Felis pardus Linnaeus, 1758 The leopard (Panthera pardus) is one of the four big cats of the genus Panthera. ...
Binomial name Caracal caracal (Schreber, 1776) The Caracal, also called Persian lynx or African lynx (Caracal caracal, sometimes Felis caracal), is a fiercely territorial medium-sized cat. ...
Genera Procavia Heterohyrax Dendrohyrax A hyrax (in South African English: klipdassie) is any of four species of fairly small, thickset, herbivorous mammals in the order Hyracoidea. ...
Genera Aepyceros Alcelaphus Antidorcas Antilope Cephalophus Connochaetes Damaliscus Gazella Hippotragus Kobus Madoqua Neotragus Oreotragus Oryx Ourebia Pantholops Procapra Sylvicapra Taurotragus Tragelaphus and others Antelopes are a polyphyletic group of herbivorous African and Asian animals of the family Bovidae, distinguished by a pair of hollow horns on their heads. ...
Binomial name Damaliscus pygargus Pallas, 1767 The Bontebok (Damaliscus pygargus also the Blesbok) is an antelope found in South Africa and Lesotho. ...
Species Oryx beisa Oryx dammah Oryx gazella Oryx leucoryx An Oryx is one of three or four large antelope species of the genus Oryx, typically having long straight nearly upright horns. ...
Binomial name Equus zebra Linnaeus, 1758 Equus hartmannae Matschie, 1898 Mountain Zebra consist of two species, namely the Cape Mountain Zebra (Equus zebra) and the Hartmanns Mountain Zebra (Equus hartmannae). ...
Binomial name Suricata suricatta (Schreber, 1776) The meerkat or suricate is a small mammal and a member of the mongoose family. ...
Subfamiles Herpestinae A mongoose is a family of small cat-like carnivores. ...
Orders Many - see section below. ...
Orders Procolophonia (extinct) Testudines Araeoscelidia (extinct) Avicephala (extinct) Younginiformes (extinct) Sauropterygia Ichthyosauria (extinct) Placodontia (extinct) Nothosauria (extinct) Plesiosauria (extinct) Sphenodontia Squamata Prolacertiformes (extinct) Archosauria Crurotarsi Order Aetosauria (extinct) Order Phytosauria(extinct) Order Rauisuchia (extinct) Order Crocodilia Ornithodira Pterosauria (extinct) Marasuchus (extinct) Dinosauria Order Saurischia Order Ornithischia(extinct) Reptiles are tetrapods...
Orders See taxonomy Insects are invertebrates that are taxonomically referred to as the class Insecta. ...
Human Activity
Historical In caves and overhangs throughout the area, San rock art can be found, evidence of the earliest human inhabitants. European settlement brought forestry and some agriculture, and led to massive destruction of the local cedar trees, with thousands felled for telephone poles, furniture and housing. The European arrival also led to the elimination of the San population. In the north, the old Moravian mission station of Wupperthal still remains, the heart of a small subsistence farming community, and home to a local industry producing velskoene, traditional soft leather shoes. The Bushmen (also known as Basarwa in Tswana, or San in Nama) are an indigenous population of the Kalahari Desert, which spans South Africa and neighbouring Botswana and Namibia. ...
Cave or rock paintings are paintings painted on cave or rock walls and ceilings, usually dating to prehistoric times. ...
A telegraph post, telegraph pole or telephone pole is a post or pole upon which telephone network equipment is situated. ...
A Shaker rocker, or rocking chair. ...
Houses in Fishpool Street, St Albans, England For other meanings of the word house, see House (disambiguation). ...
The Cedarberg was possibly the southernmost battleground of the Second Boer War. A small band of Boer guerrillas penetrated into this area from the Boer republics, hundreds of kilometres to the north, hoping to stir up popular support amongst the local farmers of Dutch descent. In this they failed; the farmers may have had little sympathy for the British but they had a fair notion of who was going to win the war. It is said that the Boer Commandos were confronted in the Cedarberg by a lone Englishman, who ordered them to surrender. They laughed at him, because he was one and they were many and tried to reason with him, pointing out the hopelessness of his position. He refused to back down and was in the end shot dead. The place where he fell is today called Engelsmanskloof ("Englishman's ravine"). Combatants United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand Orange Free State, South African Republic Commanders Frederick Roberts, Lord Kitchener Christiaan Rudolf de Wet, Paul Kruger Casualties 22,000 6,500 Civilians killed [mainly Boers]: 24,000+ The Second Boer War also known as the South African War (outside of South Africa...
Boer is the Afrikaans (and Dutch) word for farmer which came to denote the descendants of the Afrikaans-speaking migrating farmers of the expanding eastern Cape frontier. ...
Guerilla may refer to Guerrilla warfare. ...
Afrikaners are white South Africans of predominantly Calvinist Dutch, German, French Huguenot, Friesian and Walloon descent who speak Afrikaans. ...
Agriculture Arable land is limited by the altitude, the dry climate, and the rocky terrain, and few farms exist. Rooibos tea is the area's most famous export, though fruit and tobacco are also harvested on some farms. The Cederberg area includes one winery, the highest in South Africa. Around the Wupperthal area are a number of subsistence farms. Some commercial pine plantations remain around the Algeria forest station. Proteas and other fynbos plants are also grown. A number of farms have become predominantly guest farms catering for the local and international tourist market. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...
Binomial name Aspalathus linearis (N.L.Burm. ...
Wine Barrels A winery is a facility where fruit, usually grapes, is processed into wine. ...
Species About 115 species Pines are coniferous trees of the genus Pinus, in the family Pinaceae. ...
species see text Protea is both the botanical name and the English common name of a genus of flowering plants. ...
Fynbos (Afrikaans for fine bush) is the natural vegetation occurring in a small belt of South Africa, mainly in the South-western Cape. ...
There are no mining activities.
Tourism As a wilderness area, the primary activity is eco-tourism, including camping, rock climbing and hiking. The main campsite, Algeria, is operated by Cape Nature Conservation, while others such as Sanddrif, Driehoek, Jamaka and Krom River are privately operated. Ecotourism essentially means ecological tourism, where ecological has both environmental and social connotations. ...
Car camping is camping in a tent, but nearby the car for easier access and for supply storage Camping is an outdoor recreational activity, in which the campers get away from civilization and enjoy nature by spending one or more nights at a campsite. ...
Climbers on Valkyrie at the Roaches. ...
Two hikers in the Mount Hood National Forest Eagle Creek hiking Hiking is a form of walking, undertaken with the specific purpose of exploring and enjoying the scenery. ...
The Cederberg is renowned for its quality of rock climbing routes particularly around the Krakadouw and Tafelberg peaks. The Table Mountain Sandstone creates ideal conditions for spectacular routes. There are numerous day and overnight hikes including the popular and spectacular Wolfberg Arch, Wolfberg Cracks and the Maltese Cross.
The area is also home to an amateur astronomical observatory, which regularly hosts open evenings for the public.
There are various 4x4 routes.
External links |
Feeds |
Contact