My favourite property in Cape Town is at the top of Red Hill. It was once a yoga centre, and apparently a vastu master had described the site’s alignment and energy flows as highly auspicious. When the yoga centre left a few years ago, I inquired about it, and it could have been mine for a measly R7 million.

Dorje and I went to visit a friend a few weeks ago. Until a few days before, she had been homeless, so I was a little surprised to find her staying on my dream property!

We got exploring the back garden, a wild expanse bordering the nature reserve.

We came across an enormous caterpillar. Quite a few of them, actually, all on the same species of plant.

It wasn’t just the caterpillar that was huge – the eggs were quite impressive too, almost a Dorje-sized portion of scrambled eggs on there.

I’m hoping some botanist friends can help identify the plant (what’s left of it) and the caterpillar.

We weren’t expecting to go bundu-bashing, and the beach sandals weren’t the best for the hike. Of course we got nicely scratched by the knee-high scrub. And moved through it a little more cautiously after seeing a rather large snake.

No, there really is a snake there. It’s body is in the shaded part between the two lower rocks, and it’s head is peering out the top.

In order to help spot the snakes and caterpillars from afar, a birds-eye-view was necessary. The best we could do was the top of a water cylinder.

We also discovered one of those strange rocks that make me wonder if it was not once a sacred site. Standing tall and seemingly artificially lifted while all around it were low and insignificant rocks, with an “eye” in it.

Dorje had to climb it:

After we got back, we tried to fly our kites again. The howling wind meant the kites spent more time trying to decapitate us than soaring peacefully with the currents.

A fun day, and worth the loss of (another) shoe, and a bit of sunburn.