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Horse jumping

Horse lovers in Port Elizabeth is in for a treat this week when the Nissan World Cup Qualifier takes place at the Port Elizabeth Riding Club in Lorraine from Wednesday.  The event features some of the best show jumpers in South Africa and to see them will cost you... nothing.  Drama Princess would love to go and watch but unfortunately I'm working all weekend hosting 5 travel bloggers from around South Africa.  Hopefully the Damselfly would be able to take…

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11/11/2013
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Wilgewandel – something for the whole family

 In all the years working as a tourist guide I drove past Wilgewandel near the Cango Caves countless times and never stopped.  It wasn't that I didn't want to, but there was just never time on a busy itinerary.  I often just referred to it as the place with the camel rides.  That was until a visit to the Cango Caves with the family while on holiday.  Drama Princess really wanted to ride a camel and the nagging started when we…

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11/11/2013
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A quick hike on the Wildside

Port Elizabeth has a number of excellent hiking trails to get one out the city while only a couple of kilometers away from it.  I've been exploring the Fynbos Trail at Schoenmakerskop a bit more lately and got to walk most of it the other day.  Not a trail I'd like to do on a hot day as there isn't any shade along the way, but there are beautiful coastal views and lots of Fynbos and coastal flora to be…

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10/11/2013
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Bridge series #6 – N2 over Swartkops

This is the last of the posts in the bridges of Port Elizabeth series.  It shows the N2 where it crosses over the Swartkops River at Amsterdamhoek just before Bluewater Bay.  Very busy on top, nice and peaceful underneath.

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09/11/2013
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Kings Protea in Van Stadens Wildflower Reserve

The Van Stadens Wildflower Reserve west of Port Elizabeth is one of the best and easiest accessible areas around to see proteas and other species in the Cape Floral Kingdom.  Flowers like the King Protea, South Africa's national flower, and the Pin Cushion Protea is found in abundance and when in flower is a real treat to see along one of the reserve's two trails.  I try to visit the reserve at least once or twice a year, even if its…

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08/11/2013
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Bridge series #5 – Railway over Swartkops

This is post #5 in the series about bridges around Port Elizabeth.  There are several bridges across the Swartkops River with the oldest road bridge in use being the Wylde Bridge at Swartkops which was built in 1879.  The road bridge is a one lane bridge that is regulated with a traffic light.  This is the railway bridge right next to the road bridge.  Looks very similar to the Mackay Bridge in Colchester, doesn't it?

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08/11/2013
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Bridge series #4 – Brickmakerskloof bridge

Every couple of years Port Elizabeth tends to be hit by a flash flood which ends up causing more damage than the inhabitants of the city cares for.  In 2006 we had a biggy and in the process a couple of bridges on the Baakens River washed away, one of them being at the bottom of Brickmakerskloof.  The investigation on how best to replace the bridge along with a full on Environmental Impact Assessment took many many months.  Eventually construction started in 2009 with…

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07/11/2013
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Bridge series #3 – Van Stadens Bridge

This is post #3 in the Port Elizabeth bridge series.  The city's most imposing and best know bridge is the Van Stadens Bridge 35 km west of  the city and also situated on the western boundary of the Nelson Mandela Bay metro.  The 125 meter high, 340 meter long bridge was completed in 1971 and is the first of a serious of large arch bridges between Port Elizabeth and Plettenberg Bay.  The others are the Storms River Bridge, Bloukrans Bridge, Groot River Bridge and…

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06/11/2013
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Bridge series #2 – N2 over Sundays River

This is post #2 in the Port Elizabeth bridges series.  Cars approaching Port Elizabeth on the busy N2 from the east fly across the bridge over the Sundays River with only a quick glance towards the river.  I often wonder how many don't even see it while I'm sure most don't know of the historic Mackay Bridge only a couple of hundred meters upstream.  With the increase of traffic on the N2 the road from Port Elizabeth to Colchester has been turned into…

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05/11/2013
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Antelope skull

A game drive through a reserve with predators are all about watching live game but more often than not one would encounter the remains of not so live game.  During our sundowner stop on a game drive at Kuzuko Lodge I found this lone skull out in the open very interesting.  Probably a kudu skull as there was a kudu horn lying close by, I can only imagine how he came about his end.  Must have been quite a sight…

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05/11/2013