Travel Blog - Firefly

Methods of punishment at Cape Town’s Breakwater Lodge

The Breakwater Prison (or Breakwater Goal) within the V&A Waterfront precinct, was one of the prominent features along the early Cape Town coastline. In the 1840s, a need arose for a breakwater to be built, and it was suggested to make use of convict labour to do so. Construction of the first Breakwater Lodge (by convict labour) was completed in 1859 and work on the harbour breakwater itself started in 1860. During the later part of the 19th century other…

Comments Off

02/10/2026

Firefly Travel Blog

Tsitsikamma Dutch Reformed Church

The Dutch Reformed presence in the Tsitsikamma region goes back considerably further than the present Dutch Reformed Church building in Sanddrift. The Uitenhage Dutch Reformed congregation was established 1817, and the western part of the Uitenhage Division stretched from the Gamtoos River westwards as far as the Bloukrans River. This large rural area was served spiritually from Uitenhage, with Rev. Alexander Smith ministering to the district for about 40 years from 1821. This is important because it shows that Dutch…

Comments Off

08/09/2026

Port Elizabeth Daily Photo

A war memorial surrounded by greens and fairways

Port Elizabeth has several well-known war memorials commemorating the lives lost during the two World Wars. The Cenotaph at St George's Park and the Walmer War Memorial are probably the two main ones. One that very few people know about is the war memorial located on the Walmer Golf Course. When the township of Walmer was laid out in 1852, it was surrounded by a “green belt” referred to as the commonage. It was on this commonage, where the locals…

Comments Off

04/08/2026

Firefly Travel Blog

Camps Bay War memorial

With the cost of petrol and business being tough, I haven't had much chance to travel lately. It means I'm very quickly running out of new stuff to post. While going through photo folders tonight, I came across something I haven't shared with you yet. Being Port Elizabeth-based means that the majority of my posts feature the Eastern Cape. It's nice though to show off something from a little further away every now and then. On our last visit to…

Comments Off

08/07/2026

Firefly Travel Blog

Remembering Jeffreys Bay’s fishing heritage

Fishermen and the fishing industry make up a large part of Jeffreys Bay's early history. Long before it became a holiday town or world-famous surf destination. JBay's main beachfront boasts two heritage sites linked to the fishing industry of old. Standing proudly near the shoreline in front of the building housing the famous Jbay Shell Museum are the remains of a yellow fishing boat. The Geelstert is more than just a weathered fishing boat—it’s a symbol of the town’s rich…

Comments Off

02/07/2026

Firefly Travel Blog

Cheetah tracking in the Mountain Zebra National Park

I found myself in the Mountain Zebra National Park outside Cradock on a crisp autumn morning. The previous afternoon, I spent some time with Lisa Kerr of Die Tuishuise and Victoria Manor, and when she heard I had never done cheetah tracking in the park, she was on the phone in a jiffy making arrangements. I joined a group made up of both South African and international visitors on the back of the game cruiser and off we went in…

Comments Off

25/04/2026

Firefly Travel Blog

The cannon of Cannonville… in Cape St Francis

This little cannon stands in the Shipwreck Garden in Cape St Francis, but has a close affiliation to the Sundays River Valley. This 18-pound smooth-bore cannon once stood, with another almost identical gun, at the drift over the Sundays River near Colchester, close to where the present road bridge crosses the river. This area became known as Cannonville, due to the presence of the two guns. The second gun is preserved at the Pearson farm on the Eastern heights overlooking…

Comments Off

31/03/2026

Firefly Travel Blog

Sir Frederic Bridge in Nieu-Bethesda

The Sir Frederic Bridge (also called Jubileum Bridge) creates a quick shortcut over the Gats River between the two sides of the village. The bridge is accessible via Parsonage Street and Pienaar Street and are a great lookout spot. The footbridge was proposed in 1897 and finally approved by the Administrator of the Cape, Sir Frederic de Waal, nearly 20 years later, in 1914. The local blacksmith, Fredrick Lehman, constructed it. In the late 1990s, the two bridges were redesigned…

Comments Off

05/03/2026

Firefly Travel Blog

The Middelburg Cultural History Museum in the Karoo

If you want to learn more about the history of a small town, then the best thing to do is to look up the town museum. They're usually a virtual cyclopaedia containing everything you want to know about the town and the region. I've been reading a little about some of the exhibits in the Middelburg Cultural History Museum, so when I had a chance to visit the town, I headed straight over to the museum The town's Museum Association…

Comments Off

17/02/2026

Firefly Travel Blog

The monuments in Middelburg Karoo’s Mayoral Garden

I was really surprised at how many monuments and historic buildings Middelburg Karoo has. The town was founded in 1852 as a midway point between Graaff-Reinet and Colesberg. A site for Middelburg was chosen, as its name implies, in the very centre of a circle of other platteland towns – thus providing a hub for the secular and spiritual life of a pioneer farming community that was, till then, very far from anywhere. After doing my rounds visiting all the…

Comments Off

31/01/2026