When we visited Oudtshoorn in December I got to go to the museum in the home of the former Afrikaans writer CJ Langenhoven for the first time since I was in primary school. His house, Arbeidsgenot ("the pleasure of work") was left to "all people with a love for Afrikaans" by his widow after her death in 1950 and was opened as a museum in 1955. Cornelis Jakobus Langenhoven was born on 12 August 1873. He started out working as…
Driving down Brickmakers Kloof (and over the new bridge), the historic St Mary's Cemetery is situated on the right hand side across the road from the old bus sheds. Very few people notice that between the road and the St Mary's Cemetery there is a number of graves. They seem to be Muslim graves, so I popped into the South End Museum to see if they had more information. Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be a lot of info available…
I found these petite little mushrooms in my back yard the other day and I realised. Fairies and pixies also need umbrellas to hide under when it rains.
This must be one of my favorite photos. I was on a game drive at Pumba Game Reserve and sitting in the front seat next to the game ranger. We found this male lion (seemingly) sleeping at sunset. We pulled up to him about 6 meters away and the ranger switched the engine off. As he did that the lion opened his one eye to let us know that he knows we were there. Sitting in the front seat meant…
The Gamtoos River Valley is a beautiful area just west of Port Elizabeth. It is a farming area producing mainly citrus and potatoes and an awesome option for a weekend or day getaway out of the city and into the scenic countryside. At the heart of the Gamtoos Valley is the town of Patensie and right at the entrance of the town is Tolbos Country and Coffee Shop.Tolbos is a real country shop and you will find everything from home…
There are a couple of old and historic post boxes around the country that is still in use. I found this old post box dating from the Victorian era just outside the Somerset East Museum in the Eastern Cape town with the same name.
The magnificent Victorian Gothic style old Main Library building is situated next to Market Square in Port Elizabeth's city centre. Constructed in 1902, the building's terracotta facade was manufactured in England, shipped to Port Elizabeth in numbered blocks and rebuilt piece by piece on the present site. The statue of Queen Victoria standing in front of the library building is made of Sicilian marble and was erected and unveiled in 1903 to celebrate the queen's Diamond Jubilee which took place…
On our visit to Addo Elephant National Park the other day we found a couple of Burchell's Zebra browsing on an open field just past the Marion Brie waterhole. The Burchell's Zebra is the most common zebra in South Africa and are normally found in short grassland areas within savanna woodlands and grassland plains. The body stripes (each individual have a unique set of stripes, very much like fingerprints) of the Burchell's Zebra is less numerous and broader than that…
The Bayworld Complex on the Port Elizabeth beachfront consist of the Port Elizabeth Museum, Snake Park and Oceanarium. I have done several posts about Bayworld on my blogs, most recently a series of 10 photos early in April on Port Elizabeth Daily Photo. I visited it quite often as a child and it lightens my heart that the Rugrats also enjoy going there. Unfortunately the complex is having financial problems and any exposure and assistance helps, hence this post.My interest…