My three favorite flowers in the wild are aloes, proteas and arum lilies. The aloes are in full bloom at the moment and gives colour to the winter landscape. A hike along the Aloe Trail at Bluewater Bay took as to this spot from where we could see Amsterdamhoek and the Swartkops River mouth with flowering aloes in the foreground.
A view of the Swartkops River and Amsterdamhoek from the Aloe Trail
In 16 December 1817 the Dutch troop carrier Amsterdam was on its way to the Netherlands on a return journey from the Dutch East Indies when it hit a fierce storm off Algoa Bay. The wind snapped the masts and ripped the sails apart and after an eleven hour fight the captain decided to run the ship aground close to the mouth of the Zwartkops River to try and save the lives of his crew. Only three of the 223 men…
In 1942 during the Second World War a set of harbour defences was put up around Port Elizabeth to keep a constant lookout for approaching ships, submarines and planes. The defences consisted of Algoa Battery in Humewood, the Battery Observation Post on Brookes Hill and three Fortress Observation Posts at Amsterdam Hoek (Bluewater Bay), Seahill (Cape Recife) and Schoenmakerskop. I've been to the FOP's at Cape Recife and Schoemakerskop before and have decided that I want to check them all out even if its only to…
Something every photography enthusiast wants to see. Their child taking an interest in the hobby. I wanted to snap a couple of pictures of the Swartkops River and Amsterdamhoek's houses and rested my camera on the little wall next to the river. When I got up I noticed Drama Princess doing the same. Warms a father's heart.