One of my favorite spots in Cape Town is the Rhodes Memorial on the slopes of Table Mountain. The monument was erected in memory of Cecil John Rhodes (1853 - 1902). Rhodes was an English born South African businessman, mining magnate and politician. He was Prime Minister of the Cape Colony from 1890 and Rhodesia (today Zimbabwe and Zambia) was named after him. The memorial was built in the shape of a Greek temple. There are 49 steps (one for…
Another familiar sight along Marine Drive is the Cape Recife Rifle Range. Anyone who was forced to endure National Service in the Apartheid years will remember doing target practice here. Again, due to clearing, it is now more visible from the road than it used to be.
Continuing our little jaunt down Marine Drive, we pass the grounds of the University. Previously known as UPE, it recently amalgamated with the nearby Technikon, and the two are now together known as Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, or NMMU for short.The buildings are a classic example of what is now called "brutal architecture", the raw concrete edifices that were considered the height of modernity in the 70s. They are very spread out, the original intention was to have a built…
While we are in the area, we might as well take you along Marine Drive between Summerstrand and Schoenmakerskop. We featured the beacon the other day. If you travel away from town from there, you enter a Marine reserve, which, until recently, was covered with alien vegetation. However a concerted effort has been made to clear the Port Jackson Willows and now there are views across the dunes to the sea where you could previously only see scraggly bushes. The…
Last night we went to the wedding of our friends Janine and Rudi. For the first time in ages we were at a wedding where our whole table was good friends which meant that we had an absolute ball.I didn't specifically go to take "wedding pictures", but had my camera on hand and snapped a few along the way. Here the happy couple was having their last dance before going off to... their honeymoon of cause. Part of the table…
We received this old photo of the Willows Resort, taken in 1959, from our friend Gaston. .. and here it is now, not so different, if you look at hese old chalets......... but there are also new chalets and a conference hall, seen here at sunrise,and as a bonus, as we stopped a bit further to photograph some of the new chalets through the fence, we had the delightful experience of watching a family of mongooses (mom, dad and 2…
It is utterly crazy that in a city the size of Port Elizabeth, no municipal structures exist for the recycling of waste. Luckily, for those of us who care more about the planet than our town fathers (and mothers!) do, these enterprising ladies have set up a company called Greencycle, to help with recycling in PE. For a nominal monthly fee, they will collect your plastic, metal, glass and paper waste, and make sure it is distributed to the correct…
This pic was taken at the Seaview Game and Lion Park just outside Port Elizabeth. It was taken with my old compact digital camera which means that I was really that close... Ok, so there was a fence between us, but it was still close.
Another picture from guest photographer Bongi Magongo, taken in New Brighton. This was the venue for an open air fashion show that took place there recently (cool fashions can be seen on Bongi's facebook album). And by the way, note the pavement decorations, what is it about architects and balls? hehe