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Groendal – Upper Swartkops River

The Groendal Wilderness Area just outside Uitenhage is the ideal spot to go and loose yourself in a natural area for the weekend while actually still being fairly close to the city.  Groendal is typically characterised by rugged terrain, streams and vast ravines and is surrounded by the Groot Winterhoek Mountain range.  The reserve is 30 000 hectare in size and is the catchment area of the Swartkops River with the Groendal Dam being one of the water supply dams for…

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22/08/2012
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Bushmans River reflection

I little while ago I joined a couple of tourist guides from Port Elizabeth on a visit to Amakhala Game Reserve about 75 km east of the city.  Although we got to do a game drive we were actually there to see their new boat and to go for a short cruise on the Bushmans River which flows through the reserve.  As we were cruising upstream this reflection presented itself for a photograph and I just couldn't say no.

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22/08/2012
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Bloukransbrug Bungee

Teen 216 meter hoog is die Bloukransrivierbrug op die grens tussen die Ooskaap en Weskaap die hoogste brug in Afrika.  Die brug is een van vyf enkelboogbetonbrûe op die N2 tussen Port Elizabeth en Plettenbergbaai en is 415meter lank.  Maar dis nie regtig hoekom ons hier is nie, is dit?Die eintlike rede hoekom die Bloukransrivierbrug bekendheid verwerf het is die feit dat dit ook is waar die hoogste brugrekspronge (bungee) in die wêreld plaasvind.  Alhoewel honderde adrenalienverslaafdes elke jaar van die brug afspring…

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21/08/2012
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Can’t wait for summer

Is it just me or is it starting to get slightly warmer?  I know winter isn't over just yet but its good to be able to get up in the morning without immediately grabbing a jacket.  Can't wait for those lazy sunny summer days and long walks on the beach over weekends.

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21/08/2012
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Sunrays

Last week the skies above Port Elizabeth gave a stunning display of Crepuscular rays.  Yes, that's the proper name for it.  Usually you only get to see it for a couple of seconds or maybe even minutes, but on this day if just continued to be visible for large parts of the day.  I found that there are many different names for it so doesn't matter if you call it Sunbeams, Sunburst, Sun rays, Ropes of Maui, Jacob's Ladder, Stairways to Heaven,…

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20/08/2012
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Township lunch – Beef stew and liver

"Are you joining us for lunch of liver and stew in the township ?"  That was the question one of my colleagues asked me the other day.  Now I can be a bit of a picky eater and there are a couple of things I won't touch.  So I thought about it... for about two seconds... and agreed.  And to be very honest, I haven't been sorry I did.  There we were, a Xhosa, two Afrikaners and a Coloured, four South Africans…

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20/08/2012
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Arriving at the fort

One of the stops we did with the St Dominic's Priory kids on their city tour last week was at Fort Frederick, the oldest building in Port Elizabeth.  It was great to see that the fort seemed to have been cleaned up recently.  Lets hope it stays that way.

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19/08/2012
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Avalon Springs

When we went to Montagu at the end of last year the first thing people asked was if we were going to go to the hot water springs.  The hot water springs at Avalon Springs is probably the best known attraction in Montagu and it gets thousands of visitors every year.  We weren't particularly planning to but decided to check it out.  The pools at complex are fed by a 43ºC thermal spring originating roughly 2km's under ground and pumped to the…

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18/08/2012
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St Dominic Priory tour

In my line of work I have taken tourists, tour operators, photographers and media from all over the world around this beautiful city I call home.  This past week I got to do a different kind of group.  A group of grade 6 schoolkids from St Dominic Priory in the city.  At first I didn't really know what to expect and was slightly hesitant but as I was asked by a very good friend I decided to give it a…

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18/08/2012