Author: fitravel

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The Drakensberg Amphitheatre

The Amphitheatre must surely be the most recognised and best know feature of the Drakensberg and looked down over us while we were camping in the Royal Natal National Park in December.  The Amphitheatre is over 5 kilometers in length and the cliffs along its entire face is about 1 220 meters high at average.  The source of the Tugela River is up in this section of the Drakensberg and the Tugela Falls, the second highest waterfall in the world…

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08/02/2017
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Port Elizabeth’s Mandela figure

The Mandela figure at the head of The Voting Line piece on the Donkin Reserve has become a very popular photographic subject since it's installation as part of Route 67 either on it's own or with people posing next to it.  It is sad though that this is the only Mandela figure that visitors get to see with the only two others ones I know of being a life-size figure standing inside City Hall and the Madiba Shirt piece on…

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07/02/2017
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Vygies in the veld outside Matatiele

Vygies come in all shapes, sizes and colours.  These little ones I found on the mountain above Matatiele on a visit to the Matatiele Mountain Lake.  I have two types of vygies in my garden, both creeper type plants with tin green leaves.  This specific one has ticker and rounder leaves and look a more like a typical succulent.  A little search on the internet gave me the following: Stone plants - Aizoaceae or Ficoidaceae is a family of dicotyledonous flowering…

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06/02/2017
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Donkin Reserve intersection

Even though I've been to the Donkin Reserve so many times (I don't want to say hundreds of times but probably can), I still enjoy walking around the reserve and look at the Route 67 art pieces.  It really is one of Port Elizabeth's ultimate iconic sites.

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06/02/2017
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A pigeon pair

There are so many pictures being taken of The Voting Line on the Donkin Reserve but often it is of the sculpture as a whole and the little details are missed.  Like this pair of pigeons sitting on the wall.

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05/02/2017
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Donkin Lighthouse and Memorial

The Donkin Reserve is one of Port Elizabeth's iconic tourism sites and combines history and public art.  The pyramid, called the Donkin Memorial, was commissioned by Sir Rufane Donkin in 1820 as a memorial to his wife Lady Elizabeth Donkin after whom he also named the town.  The lighthouse, actually called the Hill Lighthouse, was built in 1861 as a warning signal to approaching ships.  Although not in use anymore it offers one of the best views anywhere in the…

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04/02/2017
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Aerial Impressions of Port Elizabeth

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1Xe1HtbjlY&w=500&h=400]Today's Video Friday post is a video by toasted2010 showing some nice aerial footage of the Donkin Reserve and Summerstrand area filmed in December 2013.

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03/02/2017
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Kings Beach market

Last Sunday we went for a walk along the Kings Beach Flea-market.  Something we haven't had time for on a Sunday for quite a while.  Although you can still pick up a few very nice things for gifts and souvenirs (and there were a few tourists and locals doing just that), it really isn't what it used to be a few years ago.  Such a pity really as it's always been a very popular family pastime to go for a…

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31/01/2017