Travelling from Cape Town north through to Namaqualand, you will notice that, from a distance, the hill-slopes’ natural vegetation often seems to be covered by a curious spotted pattern (see pp.88 and 104). Once a source of great mystery, the dots were later identified as the underground nests of the Harvester Termite (Microhodotermes viator). Measuring one metre high and 30 m across, many of these ‘heuweltjies’ or ‘little hills’ are thousands of years old. The reason that they appear as a pattern on the landscape is that, over the years, the activities of the termites have changed the nutrient composition of the soil, resulting in a change in the type of vegetation. This soil difference is most striking during spring, when the termite mounds are often clad with flowers of different colours to those of the surrounding areas (below).