Adriaan Jordaan (post MSc student from University of the Free State in Bloemfontein) was joined by herpetologists Dr Bryan Maritz & Robin Maritz from the University of the Western Cape, Professor Chris Parkinson and Erich Hofmann, a PhD student, both from Clemson University, South Carolina, USA to extract venom from some of Buffelskloof’s snakes for analysis. Adriaan took them on a field trip around the
Reserve and neighbouring farms to collect samples of Cape Wolf Snake, Herald Snake, Slug-eater and Centipede-eater for further venom study at the Parkinson Laboratory at Clemson.
Dr Alex Schoeman from the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg paid a fleeting visit to Buffelskloof with some colleagues and students. They had been
working in the Badfontein Valley and near Carolina and were on their way back to Gauteng. We took them to the Iron Age Trail area and, while a few of us walked down to view the terraces and ruins, the rest remained at the top discussing possible future projects. One of their number, Dr Christine Sievers is currently involved in an archaeological dig at Border Cave, northern KZN and is very keen to involve John and Sandie in identifying the flora around the site to help with research into the archaeobotany there.
