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In the December 2022 issue of Firefly the Travel Guy’s Encounter our Eastern Cape Travel Mailer Discover fossils at the Kitching Fossil Center in Nieu-Bethesda Experience the marine wonders of Algoa Bay Hiking the Assegaai Trails near Grahamstown Take a sneaky drive through the Bloukrans Pass in the Tsitsikamma Watch the Adventure Racing World Champs 2023 promo for the Kouga region
If there is something that you would like to see featured in our monthly travel mailer or have any suggestions, please drop us a mail at jonker@fireflyafrica.co.za |
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Fossils in Nieu-Bethesda –
The Kitching Fossil Centre |
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Situated in the picturesque town of Nieu-Bethesda, the Kitching Fossil Exploration Centre tells the story of life in South Africa 253 million years ago during the Permian Period. Spend an hour or so at the centre and learn to read the rocks that tell stories about life that lived millions of years before the dinosaurs. See real fossils, accurate reconstructions of pre-historic animals and beautiful posters which show what life was like in Nieu-Bethesda 255 million years ago. Also, take your time and learn about the legendary paleontologist James Kitching, drifting continents, how fossils are formed, climate change over millions of years and catastrophes when more than 90% of life on Earth simply disappeared. Not far from the fossil centre is the Gats River which only flows once or twice a year. Sometimes, when it floods new fossils are uncovered. The guides will take you on a half an hour safari of the riverbed to search for fossils. They will show you how to tell a fossil from an ordinary rock and how the rocks themselves are fossilised beaches, river bottoms, and ancient soil surfaces. You are guaranteed to find a fossil and maybe even learn how to identify it and its body parts! Sorry that you can’t take your fossil home, it will probably be embedded in the rock, and in South Africa, our fossils are protected by law. |
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Not far from the fossil centre is the Gats River which only flows once or twice a year. Sometimes, when it floods new fossils are uncovered. The guides will take you on a half an hour safari of the riverbed to search for fossils. They will show you how to tell a fossil from an ordinary rock and how the rocks themselves are fossilised beaches, river bottoms, and ancient soil surfaces. You are guaranteed to find a fossil and maybe even learn how to identify it and its body parts! Sorry that you can’t take your fossil home, it will probably be embedded in the rock, and in South Africa, our fossils are protected by law. |
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The marine wonders of Algoa Bay |
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Algoa Bay truly is a unique marine wilderness area of note with big areas of the bay now included in the Marine Protected Area that forms part of the Greater Addo Elephant National Park.
The St Croix Island group, including Brenton and Jahleel, is utilised by huge numbers of bird species, including the largest breeding colony of African penguins in the world. Bird Island also has a population of breeding African penguins but the main species found on this island is the Cape gannet. Numbering 250,000 birds, this island is known as the largest gannetry on the planet. The Bird Island group has a small islet named Black Rocks which has 6,000 Cape fur seals breeding on it with the surrounding ocean home Great White Sharks.
The bay has migratory humpback and Southern right whales visiting in the winter months and is also home to many dolphin species all year round. Bottlenose dolphins are often spotted along the coast while there are also common and Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins. Other visitors to the bay include killer whales. |
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The best way to explore Algoa Bay is on a While, Dolphin and Penguin Island Cruise with the team from Raggy Charters. Raggy Charters has been operating for 25 years and is the oldest marine eco tour company in South Africa. They hold a whale watching permit for Algoa Bay as well as a shark cage diving permit and has won the SA Tourism Lilizela Award for best Marine Experience in South Africa four times. Not just will they give you the best eco experience around, they also take the most amazing photos and the crew will always make sure the boat is positioned best for optimal photography. |
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Hiking the Assegaai Trails near Grahamstown |
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Assegaai Trails is a multi-faceted nature reserve situated in the heart of the Eastern Cape near Salem on the R343 between Grahamstown and Kenton-on-Sea. The reserve boasts a diverse flora and fauna, interesting rock formations and game species like giraffe, zebra and different types of antelope.
There are 4 hiking trails on the reserve, each marked in the appropriate colour, and visitors can plot their day walks of varying distances (from 3½km to 14km), with beautiful picnic spots and areas to braai. |
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The Bloukrans Pass in the Tsitsikamma |
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In the late 1870s, master pass builder Thomas Bain arrived in the Tsitsikamma to look at the possibility of building passes through the three gorges standing in the way of a road linking the Plettenberg Bay area to Port Elizabeth in the east. Bain plotted the best and easiest way through the Groot River, Bloukrans River and Storms River gorges by following the elephant footpaths and construction started in 1879. The Bloukrans Pass was completed in 1880 with the Storms River Pass, the last to be completed, in 1885.
Sadly the pass was damaged by heavy rains that led to flooding and heavy rockfalls in 2007. Rather than repairing the pass, it was allowed to degenerate into such a state of disrepair that it was declared closed to traffic. Even though officially closed, it is possible to get past the heap of soil placed on the road on the Eastern Cape side to stop vehicles from entering. |
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As you descend the road narrows to a single lane in many places. The Bloukrans is a proper pass with sharp bends, sheer cliffs on one side of the road in many places and in some areas the tree canopy covers the whole road. Because the road is so narrow you have to drive very carefully and approach turns slowly in case there is somebody coming from the other side.
The pass is currently being repaired on the Western Cape side, but the Eastern Cape Government doesn’t seem to have any plans to do the eastern side. If you have time and are feeling a little rebellious then I would really encourage you to take a drive through the pass and enjoy its natural beauty now, because it may still be a very long wait for it to be fixed and officially open again. |
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Adventure Racing World Champs 2023 Promo Film – Kouga, South Africa |
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A few years ago the Kouga region hosted Expedition Africa, the South African leg of the Adventure Racing World Series, and they dared to dream. That dream is coming true and they have been given the hosting rights for the Adventure Racing World Champs in October 2023.
The event will bring together the world’s best endurance athletes in mixed teams of four to take on a unique expedition length course of over a 700 km course and 4-9 days of non-stop racing in the disciplines of trekking, mountain biking, kayaking, navigation and more.
Check out this awesome promotional video showing off the Kouga and surrounding region to the world in the runup to the event. |
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