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Uitenhage Concentration Camp Memorial

Not a lot of people know that Uitenhage had a concentration camp right on their doorstep during the Anglo-Boer War between 1899 and 1902.  The concentration camp used to be situated on 10 hectares of land on the outskirts of town where the festival grounds can be found.  During the war a large number of women and children were dying in a Bloemfontein camp because of extreme temperatures.  It was decided to establish a new one which had to be somewhere near water and…

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15/05/2013
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Railroad switch

A railroad switch on the narrow gauge line west of Port Elizabeth.  So sad that there is no Apple Express running along this historic line at the moment, but from what I hear there are a lot of people working hard behind the scenes to get her back on the line.

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14/05/2013
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Oak leaf dam

I don't do a lot of HDR, but I couldn't help but to play around with it on this photo a bit.  The photo was taken at Spier Wine Estate outside Stellenbosch overlooking the dam by the wine tasting venue. 

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14/05/2013
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Lighthouse shadow

Some people are fascinated by shadows and shadow photography.  I like reflections better, but for those shadow people out there, here is a pic of the Donkin Lighthouse's shadow taken from the top of the lighthouse.

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13/05/2013
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Chacma Baboons

At Cape Point there stands a little statue of a mother chacma Baboon with a baby riding on her back.  Chacma Baboons (Papio ursinus) are intimately associated with the Cape Peninsula and the Cape of Good Hope.  Baboons inside the Cape Point section of the Table Mountain National Parkpark has become somewhat of a tourist attraction.  Round about six troops either live entirely within the Cape Point section or use the section as part of their range.  The baboons in this area has…

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13/05/2013
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Lining up for carrots

We popped into the East Cape Horse Care Unit last weekend and I just couldn't help snapping this pic of Drama Princess feeding the donks .  It looked like they were lining up to each get a turn for a carrot.

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12/05/2013
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Dolosse

Harbour walls and breakwaters all over the world make use of dolosse to create that barrier between the ocean and land.  A dolos (plural dolosse) is a concrete block in a complex geometric shape weighing up to 30 tons.  The new Coega Harbour in Port Elizabeth made use of 28 000 dolosse in the construction of its breakwater.  The dolos is named after the knucklebone of a sheep.Dolosse were developed in East London in 1963 by one-time East London Harbour Engineer Eric Mowbray…

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11/05/2013
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Breakwater view

One of the first views of the city that many visitors see as they approach is the one from the freeway with Port Elizabeth in the background.  Very few people realise that at that moment they are driving on what used to be the beach and the ocean is being kept back with the use of a breakwater consisting of dolosse and big rocks. 

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10/05/2013
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Orange-breasted Sunbird

I don't always get great photographs of birds with my super zoom camera as its not nearly as fast as a DSLR, but the other day I was extremely lucky on a trip to Cape Town that this sunbird sat still long enough for me to snap a pic before he flew off. The Orange-breasted Sunbird, Anthobaphes violacea, is the only member of the bird genus Anthobaphes and is endemic to the fynbos habitat of south-western South Africa.  Obviously due to its…

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10/05/2013
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Donkin flag

The giant South African flag on top of the 65m high flagpole on the Donkin Reserve has truly become one of Port Elizabeth's new iconic landmarks.  The flag is visible from just about all over the city (if you have some kind of vantage point) thanks to the fact that the flagpole is the second highest in Africa. Incidentally the highest one, which is in Angola, isn't used at the moment which makes our the highest by default.

3 Comments
09/05/2013