Zeekoevlei #1: Cool Place!
The cache, a custom-made bottle tops cache, is hidden in the 256 ha Zeekoevlei section of the False Bay Nature Reserve on the Cape Flats. It is the largest natural freshwater lake in Cape Town.
To access Zeekoevlei, take the 15th avenue turn-off from west the M17 Strandfontein Road @ S34 03.195 E 18 31.767. At the traffic circle after 200m take the 2nd exit Zeekoevlei Road to the entrance gate.
The area is currently undergoing active development as a recreational facility with picnic and braai facilities, walking and cycling paths. See here for the detailed landscape development plan for the eastern shore where the cache is located.
There is no entry charge and it is open from 07h30-19h30 (summer) and 07h30-18h00 (winter).
The name Zeekoevlei means 'hippopotamus lake', with 'vlei' being Dutch for 'lake', and 'zeekoe' (ie. 'sea-cow') being Dutch for hippopotamus. Jan Van Riebeek described the vlei as 'full of hippopotami' in 1656 and (according to the man I chatted to at the entrance gate) around 9 of these beasts still live on the western side of the lake! However, they actually live - mainly - in the adjacent Rondevlei.
Zeekoevlei Nature Reserve (established in June 2000) is based on the lake. It is separated by a peninsula from the Rondevlei Nature Reserve and preserves endangered Cape Lowland Freshwater Wetland ecosystems - the low coastal dunes and Cape Flats thicket, both endangered and poorly protected, as well as Cape lowland freshwater wetlands. The Cape Flats Lowlands has the highest concentration of threatened (because of urbanisation) plants per area of remaining vegetation in the world.
Nearby (further along the access road to the cache) are the out of commission Strandfontein Sewage Works, now a system of pans connected by gravel roads where bird life during summer is rather incredible. Waders like cormorants, white pelicans, terns and lesser flamingos group here. Collectively Zeekoevlei, Rondevlei, Pelican park, and the coastline combine to form the False Bay Nature Reserve, now one of 17 sites identified by the City of Cape Town as having unique and critical biodiversity in need of further protection. False Bay Nature Reserve is now called a Contract Nature Reserve, under the Protected Areas Act, which should step up the level of protection of Zeekoevlei. It is the 5th most important wetland bird habitat in Southern Africa
The vlei is very shallow, with an average depth of around 2m. Despite over 100 years of having wastewater dumped in it, it was surprisingly healthy until the 1950s when, as a pander to the yachting fraternity, the City Council dosed the lake with sodium arsenite to kill the pond weed.
This 'dim-witted' move, originally proposed and actioned by Edith Stephens for Paardevlei, highlighted the lack of understanding of the benefits of rooted plants in shallow vleis – an ignorance that still persists.
Shallow lakes like Zeekoevlei exist in one of two states, either plant or algal dominated. The dosing of Zeekoevlei simply changed it from a crystal clear body of water, to what it is today. The report of the City Engineer of the time proudly reports (together with a photograph of their skills in action) that 'despite objections from riparian owners, bird lovers and others, a considerable portion of the vlei was treated without adverse effects (sic) on fish, bird life or the littoral vegetation! Since then Zeekoevlei has been dominated by algae.
In the past, Zeekoevlei was not always connected to the sea. Following the 1941 floods, interconnection of the vleis became important and the Zeekoevlei outlet was completed by 1948. Before then, whenever the vlei was full, it simply overflowed into the surrounding dunes. When Zeekoevlei was shallower and healthier, it supported large flocks of flamingoes. These beautiful birds can now only return for short periods when and if the vlei is allowed to empty.
Zeekoevlei was not always so easy to get to. In the early 1900s it took a serious walk along the beach from Muizenberg, and then a trek through the dunes. Keen sailors dragged their boats all the way, some using donkeys and horses. It must have been a wonderful place to spend the weekend. Imported, ready to sail yachts cost only 30 pounds!
See here for more information on Zeekoevlei and here for a local community conservation intiative - the Bottom Road Sanctuary - with many interesting links to other useful sites.
See here for more info on False Bay Nature Reserve and download a brochure here and a poster here (front) and here (back).