Author: fitravel

This author has written 4707 articles
Uncategorized

Bashoto War Memorial in Uitenhage

In Magennis Park just off Church Road (Graaff-Reinet Road) in Uitenhage is a monument that seems kinda out of place in this part of the province.  It's a memorial commemorating those who died in the  Morosi Mountain and Basuto Campaigns of 1879 and 1880-1882. Morosi's Mountain was the name given to a fortified mountain in the Drakensberg mountain range on the banks of the Orange River in southern Basutoland (modern day Lesotho).  This was the site of a siege during the Gun War, also known…

1 Comment
17/02/2015
Uncategorized

Angulate Tortoise

Its always nice to encounter different critters and interesting things while out on a walk.  Ok, not quite all critters.  Nobody is keen on stumbling on a snake.  A walk near Kini Bay a couple of weekend's ago delivered not a snake but a Angulate Tortoise.  The Angulate Tortoise (Chersina angulata) is quite common in South Africa and found in dry areas and scrub forests.  According to Wikipedia they are called a Rooipens Skilpad in Afrikaans, although I'm not sure that I've…

Comments Off on Angulate Tortoise
16/02/2015
Uncategorized

Holy Trinity Church fence

Port Elizabeth has some truly beautiful old historic stone churches around Central.  One of them is the Holy Trinity Church next to Havelock Square.  The Holy Trinity Church was established in 1854 when a group broke away from St Mary’s church and started having for services in a small room in Kemp Street.  They later moving to a church at the bottom of Military Road with the first church on the present site opening for worship in 1866.  The original church was gutted when a deranged woman set…

1 Comment
15/02/2015
Uncategorized

Caching up a tree…again

Geocachers seem to find themselves up trees quite often.  Just looking back at the last year I've been a good 8 meters up a huge old Pine Tree, out on a limb of a Coral Tree in near gale force winds and crawling along branches in Wild Fig Trees.  Heck, Wild Fig and Coral Trees are very popular cache locations and a little while ago I received a PAF (that's when one cacher Phones a Friend who has already found…

Comments Off on Caching up a tree…again
14/02/2015
Uncategorized

Shamwari Game Reserve promotional video

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZi08gPyuQ8&w=500&h=400]The Shamwari Private Game Reserve is world famous and everybody knows about it, but have you ever been there?  I used to go there quite often with guests when I was still a tourist guide and they still did day visits.  Perhaps by posting this and asking very nicely somebody will pop me an invite... *wink*  Anyhow, Shamwari is a stunning place and you can at least get a taste of it in this promotional video I picked up on YouTube.

Comments Off on Shamwari Game Reserve promotional video
13/02/2015
Uncategorized

Uitenhage has some seriously big ants

A little caching adventure in Uitenhage brought us to Cannon Hill overlooking the town.  Walking back down the path Drama Princess gave a bit of a scream and jumped onto the grass.  There on the path was a couple of seriously big ants making their way up the hill.  I tried to get a close up but wasn't going to mess with this guys.

2 Comments
12/02/2015
Uncategorized

Happy Valley – wish I was happy

Today was one of those days.  You know, those where you just want to disappear off the radar for a while so nobody can find you.  I feel tired and stressed and its all thanks to having my car stolen last week.  Not just my car but also my backpack that was in the boot with my whole life in it.  Except for the fact that we're going to have to make debt to buy a new car.  The car…

3 Comments
11/02/2015
Uncategorized

Fishing in the Baakens Mouth

A week or two ago we went for lunch at This is Eat at the Port Elizabeth harbor and I was watching a couple of fishermen fishing where the Baakens River (Mouth) and the harbor meets.  Going back to the pre-1960's this whole area around the harbor was where the residents of the old South End used to fish and feed their families from.  The guys didn't have any luck while we were there but I hope they pulled something out…

Comments Off on Fishing in the Baakens Mouth
10/02/2015
Uncategorized

My Kuzuko cheetah experience

Kuzuko Lodge in the Greater Addo Elephant National Park is one of my favorite lodges to visit.  Because its on the Karoo side of the Zuurberg mountains the animal sightings may be slightly less than on the coastal side, but I have had some magnificent encounters and combined with their lodge and service it has been a recommendable experience every time.  A Karoo Heartland Marketing Association meeting brought me back to Kuzuku and during my stay I got to do one…

3 Comments
10/02/2015