The Port Elizabeth City Hall on Market Square in the city centre must be one of the most beautiful buildings in Port Elizabeth. Constructed between 1858 and 1862 with the clock tower being added on in 1883, the building just received a paint job and is looking stunning.
Quite a few of the succulents and cacti in my garden has been flowering lately being that time of the year. This one doesn't have what I would call regulation thorns, but rather long spiny ones. The little pink flower looked soft to the touch although I wasn't willing to venture a finger in between the spines to find out what it feels like.
The South End Wild Fig Tree stands about 100 meters from the South End Museum. The tree stands next to the then Chase Street. In the days of the old South End before the Groups Areas Act meant the removal of the people from the area the kids used to climb the tree while the older people sat in it's shade. When the people were removed and the buildings in the area demolished, the fear was that the tree would…
The Baakens River flowing through Settlers Park. The picture was taken from the park's How Avenue parking area.
Full house at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium for the EP Kings' last game of the season a couple of weeks ago. It was the second leg promotion / relegation game against the Pumas and unfortunately the Kings didn't win which means another year in the first division. On the up side. Most of the teams in the premier division can't garner this type of support for key matches, so its a feather in the supporters' hats. EP Rugby is on…
One of the 52 species of Watsonia (Bugle Lily) that we find in southern Africa. The Watsonia is a type of iris native to South Africa. The genus is named after Sir William Watson, an 18th century British botanist. They are perennial herbs growing from corms and producing erect spikes of showy flowers, and are adapted to a Mediterranean-type climate.Firefly's note: Thanks for the help Geoff. I have changed the info. Shows my lack of knowledge as far as flowers go.
One of my favorite parts of being a tourist guide used to be sitting in Addo Elephant National Park and watching the elephants do whatever... Coming down to the water, eating, walking along, standing around, ripping a bush apart, little ones playing, big ones stamping out there authority, whatever... At one stage I used to go to Addo up to 5 or 6 times a week and I never got tired of seeing these huge animals. Pity I didn't have…
Every now and then I find a couple of photos on the archives that I haven't posted and today is no different. The Observatory museum in Grahamstown is a fascinating place and contains the only Victorian Camera Obscura in the Southern Hemisphere. The building was bought by Henry Galpin in 1859 and extensive changes were made to it, including the addition of the camera obscura. Galpin operated his watchmaker and jeweller's shop from the building and usually used to camera…
The South End Museum has struggled with parking space at the museum since they opened. They recently secured funding to have a parking area developed on the corner between the museum and the busy Beach Road / Walmer Boulevard intersection. The centre piece of the parking area is a granite "soccer ball" which was one of the legacy projects that was part of the 2010 FIFA World Cup.