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In the wake …

Everybody (well I hope everybody) knows that South Africa will be hosting the FIFA Soccer World Cup in 2010. In the 4 years preceding the World Cup, the host country hosts SoccerEx. It is an exhibition covering every aspect of soccer. SoccerEx is being hosted in Sandton, Johannesburg from Monday 24 November 2008 - Wednesday 26 November. The organisation I work for is an sharing exhibitor at this year's SoccerEx and our CEO was supposed to go. Late on Friday…

7 Comments
23/11/2008
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another neighbour…….

Another of the wonderful wild animals to be found at the Kragga Kamma Game Park is this cheetah. To be honest, he is not as wild as he looks, and cheetahs from this Park have appeared in a number of movies, including the brilliant Duma, one of our favourites.

3 Comments
23/11/2008
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VW AutoPavilion

I think I have said so before, but in case not here it is again. Port Elizabeth is part of the metropolitan area of Nelson Mandela Bay along with the towns of Uitenhage, Despatch and Colchester as well as all the surrounding country side. In the 1980's the area was known as the Detroit of South Africa due to all the motor industries in the city. Today we still have quite a lot of motor related industries in the metro.…

4 Comments
22/11/2008
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Look who lives on our doorstep….

One of the cool things about Port Elizabeth is that we have a number of Game Parks and Lodges within the city limits, where you can experience the wonders of African wildlife, without travelling too far. This mommy rhino and her baby live at the Kragga Kamma Game Park.

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22/11/2008
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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…

7 Comments
21/11/2008
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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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21/11/2008
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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…

4 Comments
20/11/2008
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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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20/11/2008
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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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19/11/2008
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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…

4 Comments
18/11/2008