Zandvlei Nature Reserve #1: Intro, History & Flora
This 3-cache mini-series highlights an extensive yet unique wetland area on the urban edge, which provides an easily accessible and fascinating ecological and recreational resource for local residents, visitors, and geocachers.
It was created after the archiving of GC5VYVT Zandvlei Park (located approximately 600m south of here), which was hidden on 15/5/15 and archived (following repeated disappearance) on 16/10/24, after 153 finds. I stumbled across this area whilst searching for an alternative location for a replacement cache.
To Access the Area: convenient free parking is available outside the entrance to the 1st Muizenberg Sea Scouts base @ S 34 5.296 E 18 27.956.
The cache, a small flip-topped dispensing pot, is hidden on a small promontory facing north with fine views across the vlei.
To Find the Cache: head for the published coordinates and look at the memorial plaques on the two benches in the shady rest area. You will note that they are both dedicated to one special person. Identify the following info:
- The number of vowels in his full name = A
- Calculate how old he would have been at his next birthday = BC years
- Each plaque is attached to its bench at D points
- He was born in the Eth month of the year.
- He was the first Honorary Life Member of an academic institution whose full name (ie. including the words after the hyphen) has F words in it.
The cache is hidden at:
S 34 5.C(D-2)(F-A) E 18 27.(B+1)(E+2)(B-A)
Nestled in the southern suburbs of Cape Town, Zandvlei Nature Reserve, covering around 200 hectares (500 acres), offers a unique blend of natural beauty, ecological importance and recreational opportunity. The water body is an estuarine lake or coastal lagoon. With its extensive reed beds, water bodies, dunes and fynbos, the reserve serves as both a biodiversity hotspot and an accessible outdoor destination for locals and visitors.
While urban surroundings impose pressure, the reserve continues to play a vital role in preserving ecosystems that are rare on the Cape Flats/
Zandvlei lies in the south-western part of the Cape Flats, close to Muizenberg and is bordered by suburban areas including Marina da Gama, Lakeside and Steenberg. The estuary’s catchment area is about 92 sq.km, entirely within the boundaries of the City of Cape Town.
It is the largest of eight estuaries on the False Bay coastline and receives the bulk of its fresh water from 3 river systems draining the eastern slopes of the south Peninsula mountain chain. These are the Westlake, Keysers and Sand Rivers.
Originally, the reserve began modestly: in 1978, a 22-hectare tract on the northern shore was proclaimed the Zandvlei Bird Sanctuary. Years later, on 26 October 2006, the boundary was significantly expanded to approximately 204 ha under the proclamation of the Greater Zandvlei Estuary Nature Reserve. More recent proclamations have strengthened its status under the Protected Areas Act.
The name ‘vlei’ (Afrikaans) refers to a shallow lake or estuary, and Zandvlei is the only fully functioning estuary system along the False Bay coastline which is remarkable considering the level of urban development around it. Historically, the area suffered from farming, dredging, urban expansion and invasive species, so the current statement of the reserve is the result of significant restoration and protection efforts.
The vlei, under natural conditions, would dry out completely at certain times of the year. However, it is a semi-estuarine system as a result of changes to its catchment and the mouth. The water level in the estuary is controlled by a rubble weir and a sand bar, which is opened periodically.
The reserve protects three major vegetation types, all of which are considered endangered by the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) assessment: Cape Flats Dune Strandveld, Cape Peninsula Granite Fynbos and Cape Flats Sand Fynbos.
These ecosystems once covered much of the lowland Cape region but are now fragmented due to urbanisation.
About 440 plant species have been identified within the reserve. However, of these, over 150 are recorded as alien invasive species, highlighting a significant threat to the native vegetation.
Among the indigenous plants of special interest are ground orchids and endemic shrubs such as Cape Flats conebush Leucadendron levisanus (critically endangered) and Fountain Bush Psoralea glaucina.
Cape Flats cone bush
Fountain bush