Township kiddies

If you ever go on a proper Township Tour the guide will probably take you to one of the local schools or creches that their company supports. One of the tours I went on a little while ago took us to a community project that started as a feeding scheme for small children and developed into a day care and pre-school. Although the tour company gives the project a percentage of the fee that tourists pay for the tour, visitors…

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the end of an era

Two of the busiest art galleries in PE are currently holding their final exhibitions, before closing. The delightful Cuyler Street Gallery, owned by Tossie Theron, has been doing great things for PE artists for the past 13 years. Tossie is taking a well earned rest, and has sold the gallery to the owners of the Ron Belling Gallery, who apparently plan to keep it as a gallery, and open a coffee shop there too. On the other side of town,…

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Arium Lily

By far one of my favourite flowers is the Arium Lily. The grow very much wild in the Tsitsikamma forest because of the high rainfall and lot of water there. Some of the are huge compared to those you see in people's gardens. When I used to be a tourist guide I got to visit the Tsitsikamma very often, but alas I haven't been for a while. This pic I took on the Mouth Trail in the Tsitsikamma National Park…

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Boats and bad service

Fishing boats viewed from the deck at the Oyster Catcher Restaurant at the Port Elizabeth harbour. As far as restaurants go, the Oyster Catcher has a great ambience, which is unfortunately spoilt by poor service. As a customer one does not expect to be kept waiting for an interminable period before being served, then when your food finally arrives and the hunger pains are gnawing at your innards, having to wait for the cutlery, which the waitress painstakingly wraps in…

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“Relic” from the past

One of the few old buildings from "yesteryear" still standing in North End. It might not look like much, but judging from the security company signs it must contain something of value.

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Caves and Crocs

Today is the last day of our tour and we will make visits to the other two big tourist attractions in Oudtshoorn.Our first stop is the world famous Cango Caves. Situated about 20kilometres outside of town in the Swartberg (Black Mountains), the caves are the best known caves in South Africa and one of the most visited show caves in the world. The word Cango is a Khoisan word that means "water between hills". The Khoisan used to live in…

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World War II Bunker

One of the many bunkers built along the South African coast World during War II. This one was photographed at Schoenmakerskop. Others can be seen at Bluewater Bay and Cape Recife.

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City slickers

This family of dikkops were observed in Richmond Hill yesterday. Despite their natural habitat being systematically eroded by urbanization, these birds have managed to adapt well to city life. Normally they will be found in open fields, but these birds have somehow ended up in a very built up area, where there is a risk to the chick, from cats and dogs.Lets hope they have the sense to relocate to a more suitable area. For another picture of the mother…

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Ostrich Farms in Oudtshoorn district

Yesterday we got as far as Mossel Bay. From there to Cape Town you drive through the Overberg which is mainly farming country and not much else. If you cross the Outeniqua Mountains from Mossel Bay (on the Robertson Pass) and George (on the Outeniqua Pass) you get to the Klein Karoo. Klein comes from Afrikaans and means little while Karoo comes from the Khoisan language and means "Place of thirst". The Klein Karoo and in particular the area around…

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