Where people and animal movement are restricted, plants do a little better, look a little better, sometimes a lot. In a Reserve like this one trampling is reduced or prevented, even better when people adhere to dedicated hiking trails and vehicle routes. People both conserve and destroy bits of nature. It’s a choice driven by education, the good example set by other people and simple rules.

Small plants like the yellow-flowering Cineraria geifolia in picture and even smaller ones like the reddish Crassula glomerata can hold their own, even where soil availability is meagre. The thorny Asparagus capensis in the background has natural defences making trespassers think twice. There is also a white-flowering mesemb doing its thing in this September collage of natural design.