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Grasshoppers

So I don't really know the difference between grasshoppers and locusts. Wikipedia tells me locusts are several types of grasshoppers that would swarm at times. Around here I haven't seen any swarms, so these must be grasshoppers. What confuses me more is that in Afrikaans we just say "Springkaan" which is grasshopper for all of them. Whatever! I'm not really one that likes to get too close to things like spiders, grasshoppers or anything with more that four legs, but…

6 Comments
06/11/2008
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Sought after

One of the odd things about having a cute house in a sought after historic area is the number of total strangers who will ring the doorbell to ask if you want to sell to them. This owner is clearly tired of the interruptions!

2 Comments
06/11/2008
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Southern Dwarf Chameleon

I couldn't remember when last I saw a chameleon when I saw this little guy. Taken a little while ago, I was on a drive through the Kragga Kamma Game Park just outside Port Elizabeth when my eye caught a slight movement on the road (well, more like a two track path). I stopped and there it was, slowly making his way across the road. I didn't want somebody to drive over him, so I made sure there were no…

6 Comments
05/11/2008
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Barnacles

One of PE's best kept secrets is Barnacles Restaurant in Beachview. Set high on the first dune overlooking the rocks and sea, Barnacles serves great steaks, breakfast, lunch and dinner, and especially wonderful seafood. (lousy cappuccino, but hey, you can't be PERFECT!!) But for us, apart from the excellent food, service and atmosphere, the best thing about it is the open deck that hangs out over the hillside, which leaves you with panoramic views of the coast. We have yet…

2 Comments
05/11/2008
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The Big Pineapple

During my series on The British Settlers is posted about the history of Bathurst here and here. The biggest attraction in Bathurst is not an historic one, but a bit of a gimmick. Bathurst is in the heart of one of the biggest pineapple growing areas in South Africa. The Bathurst Pineapple Growers Association is base on Summerhill Farm on the outskirts of town. Some years ago the farmers from the Association visited Australia on a fact finding mission and…

4 Comments
04/11/2008
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PE Tramways Building

Another shameful example of urban decay in Port Elizabeth. The old PE Tramways building was once a hive of activity, first as a tram and bus depot and then as an ice rink. It was then used for other businesses and now stands unused and derelict.It was announced with great fanfare that this historic landmark, was to be developed into an entertainment area, with the river in the foreground being turned into a small lake. Work was due to start…

1 Comment
04/11/2008
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Cave drawings

The Khoisan people were the original inhabitants of much of southern Africa. Having had a relatively lighter skin color than most black Africans, evidence shows that they lived in the area long before the Black people moving down the east and west coasts of Africa arrived in the south or European colonization. The Khoisan people are divided into two cultures. The hunter gatherer San (commonly known as Bushmen) and the pastoral Khoi (sometimes known as Hottentots). The San was found…

3 Comments
03/11/2008
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such a shame

We have taken you to the fascinating Red Location Museum before. It documents the movement against apartheid, and the red location was one of the significant places in the evolution of the ANC and the struggle for democracy in South Africa. We have written in more detail about this fascinating place on our personal blogs, and lamented the fact that the last few remaining historically significant shacks, built in 1903, are being vandalised and sold to unscrupulous scrap dealers. It…

3 Comments
03/11/2008
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Tsitsikamma

The area between Port Elizabeth and Cape Town is known as the Garden Route. It is one of the most popular tourist routes in South Africa. About 160km west of Port Elizabeth you enter the Tsitsikamma. The Tsitsikamma is the area wedged between the ocean and the Tsitsikamma Mountains and consist of indigenous forests, magnificent coastline, river gorges, streams and some of the most awesome scenery on the whole Garden Route. The indigenous forest consist of trees like the Yellowwood,…

5 Comments
02/11/2008
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more maitlands

Two more views of the wonderful pristine coastline at the Maitlands River mouth. This one looking West towards Blue Horizon Bay, with miles and miles of unspoilt white sandy beaches and dunes..... ..... And this one looking back along the rocky section of coastline to the East, towards Beachview, Sardinia Bay and Schoenmakerskop

2 Comments
02/11/2008