Yesterday morning I was slightly earlier on my way to work than I have been because of levels 5 (work from home); 4 (still working from home); 3 (back at the office but in no rush to get up in the morning) and 3.86 (ii) section G, subsection purple with a tint of green, paragraph the doorbell is ringing but there is nobody there, line do they even know what's going on, I think I'm hungry now, I don't smoke…
A drive up Kragga Kamma Road towards Colleen Glen may just give you a colourful surprise this time of year. I saw a photo of the stunning aloe fence on Kragga Kamma Road in full bloom on Facebook and just had to go and see it myself. The whole aloe fence is probably a good hundred meters in length and all of it is in flower at the moment, making for a stunning site and beautiful photo opportunity. I'm not…
The name Sacramento is synonymous with Schoenmakerskop. There is the Sacramento Trail, the Sacramento cannon and the Sacramento Restaurant. But what is the Sacramento. She was a Portuguese galleon that aground just off Schoenmakerskop outside Port Elizabeth on 30 June 1647 in foul weather. By the time she hit the rocky coastline, she had a badly damaged rudder and her sails were in tatters. 72 of the crew made it ashore and set off towards Lourenco Marques (now Maputo), 1400km…
Marine Drive along the Port Elizabeth beachfront and the Wildside all the way out to Schoenmakerskop probably has some of the best scenery in PE. Sea views, a rugged coastline, gullies to enjoy with kids, fishing spots, coastal fynbos, shipwrecks, whales and dolphins, hiking trails, nature reserves, picnic spots, camp sites, tons of photo opportunities and so much more.
The Van Stadens River is about 35km west of Port Elizabeth and you can either go over or through it to get to the other side. The river and original pass was named after one of the area’s pioneer farmers, Marthinus van Staden, who was the first person to plot a basic route through the Van Stadens River Gorge in the 1850’s. In 1867 Thomas Bain was brought in by the Cape Government to rebuild the pass so that ox wagon traffic could…
Flowers along the Sacramento Trail between Schoenmakerskop and Sardinia Bay It seems that it doesn't matter where and what time of year you go for a hike along one of the trails around Port Elizabeth, there is always plants flowering. It's one of the great things of especially fynbos which is found along a lot of the coastal trails around here. Something is always blooming, doesn't matter the season. With level 3 lock down allowing hiking, there's really no excuse…
There is nothing more fun for a kid, and I say kid liberally as some of us adults are still kids at heart as well, than to go and climb the Maitland sand dune on a Sunday morning. Even better, take an old boogie board or carton box along and go and slide down the dune. And if you don't have one of those, just run full tilt and jump.
Maitland Beach stretching off toward Blue Horizon Bay One of the things I missed most under lock down is going for a walk, and with that I don't mean taking the dogs for a walk around the block. With restrictions lifting a bit and being allowed to go for a hike again, I'm keen to get into one of the nature reserves around PE and to hit a trail. What I miss most though is a long walk on the…
Van Stadens Wildflower Reserve's bird hide The 600 ha Van Stadens Wildflower Reserve is located about 35km west of Port Elizabeth. The reserve stretches from the Van Stadens mountain to the coast and its main purpose is to protect the area's unique indigenous Fynbos vegetation. It's always worth popping into the reserve because there's always some type of protea in bloom. But Van Stadens isn't just about vegetation and views of the Van Stadens gorge, it also boasts a birding…
There is an Afrikaans folk song that goes, Dis heerlike Lente, die Winter's verby... (It's time for Spring now that Winter has passed - doesn't quite roll off the tongue the same in English though) which means Summer is fast approaching. Longer days, better weather and spending more time outdoors over weekends. Plus the holiday season is coming up quicker than my sausage dogs when I open the fridge. With an eye on said better weather and upcoming holiday season, I…