Chad Keates Archives
Recently Luke and I (Chad Keates) went on a herping adventure to the Western Cape. We stayed two night in Wilderness and one night in Oudtshoorn, and the function of the trip, as usual, was to find as many reptiles and frogs as we could. Whilst dwarf adders and ghost frogs remained high on our list, the main function of this trip was to find dwarf chameleons. South Africa is home to… Read More
Recently Luke Kemp and I ventured to the Northern Cape in search of some of South Africa’s most insane herps. Although we did not find everything we set out to find, we found a lot and had a great time doing it. The trip was filled with some memorable moments and some even more remarkable finds. Thanks Luke for making it such an adventure, and easily the best herping trip I have have done in… Read More
Once again I found myself in Hogsback, and this time I was determined to catch and photograph (properly) the Amatola Flat Gecko (Afroedura amatolica). This trip to Hogsback was however not intended for herping or adventure but rather as a farewell for the Rhodes Zoology Honours class of 2016 who were staying on a nearby Hogsback farm for the weekend. Unlike my classmates who sought to study in the spare time between… Read More
This weekend saw Luke and I on the road again. This time we traveled to a far more magical place – Hogsback, the home of fairies, hobbits and more importantly, Natal black Snakes. We had been to Hogback several months prior and in the grips of winter, we had found many species from a large range of taxa. Last weekend held much promise because unlike last time, it was summer. We were… Read More
Yesterday, Luke and I conquered tick bite fever and to celebrate, we ventured to Alicedale in search of the elusive berg adder, a species of dwarf adder which has not been seen in the region for over 75 years. To give context to the story, we had been in Alicedale one week prior and whilst we did not find the fabled berg adder, we did manage to find pepper ticks, lots… Read More
Recently I went to Hogsback. For those who do not know, it is a quaint little town in the middle of the Eastern Cape with little to no influence from the outside world. What this town lacks in modernity, it makes up for in biodiversity. Hogsback is home to the Cape Parrot Project and the critically endangered Amathole toad (Vandijkophrynus amatolicus). Hogsback is lucky enough to call this species home because of… Read More
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