Vermont derives its name from the French words ‘mont vert’ – meaning green mountain, as Vermont rests against the backdrop of the Onrust Mountains and borders on a number of green belts created in an effort to maintain the inherent tranquillity and endemic fynbos and birdlife in the area.
The Vermont Salt Pan, an ecologically sensitive seasonal body of water nestled within the Vermont Green Belt, is a wetland habitat, not only vital to fynbos, but also home to a large variety of birdlife.
The pan is especially important to flamingos as they use this habitat during their migration. Large populations can regularly be observed along its shore and tourists are often treated to beautiful pink, feathery canvasses.
Interestingly, flamingo comes from flamengo - Spanish for 'with the colour of flame'. Similarly, its scientific name Phoenicopterus means 'blood red-feathered' in Greek.
Other wetland birds often seen around the pan include cormorants, herons, Egyptian geese, red-knobbed coots, African snipes, waterhens, blacksmith plowers, black-winged stilts, black crakes and many more.
Suikerbossies are a South African geocaching team.
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