Eastern Cape

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The town of Somerset East

The town of Somerset East lies in the southern Karoo Heartland at the foot of the Boschberg mountain.  Somerset East was established by Lord Charles Somerset in 1815 as an experimental farm to provide meat and fresh produce to the soldiers on the Eastern Frontier.  The site was chosen over sites in the Gamtoos Valley and Swartkops Valley.  The farm was named Somerset Farm.  Ten years after being established the project was cancelled and a new Drostdy was declared.  The…

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11/03/2016
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Somerset East’s beautiful Beaufort Street

I spent a day in Somerset East recently just driving around town and visiting some of the historic building and attractions.  At first I thought about just doing one post featuring it all, but because there wasn't really a story to my visit (other than the fact that I was actually there for a Karoo Heartland meeting but couldn't help but going sightseeing) I decided to rather do a series on Somerset East featuring a different place or view every…

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09/03/2016
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Paddling on the Sundays River

The Sundays River Valley and Addo is synonymous with the Addo Elephant National Park and have never really been a holiday destination unless you went to visit the Addo Park.  But this has all changed.  The Addo area is about so much more than just elephants these days.  It has actually developed into a holiday destination all on its own.  Addo and its elephants are still the big attraction, but the area around the park has also turned into an adventure and activity mecca.  Zip…

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05/02/2016
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A Boardwalk sunset

Last week I got to attend the opening of the Le Vino Wine and Tapas Bar at the Boardwalk complex in Port Elizabeth.  The restaurant has an upstairs area with a balcony overlooking the Boardwalk lake and it was here we were toasting the end of another beautiful day in the Bay while the sun was going down.  The sky was stunning and this is exactly why I always like to have my camera with me.

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15/12/2015
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A walk along the beach in Jeffrey’s Bay

What good is a morning meeting in Jeffrey's Bay with perfect early summer weather if one can't leave a little earlier and go for a walk on the beach? Yeh, says me too.  Early morning and not a breath of air in Port Elizabeth so I took a chance and left just after 7am to give myself a bit of time for a walk along the beach at Kabeljous.The tide was low and water was flowing out of the lagoon…

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09/12/2015
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The abandoned Carlisle Bridge cricket field

No exploration expedition has ever ended in failure.  Well perhaps some have.  One or two may have run out of water trying to find a way out the desert, the odd expedition may have lost boat and crew on uncharted seas and at least one was never seen again after getting lost in the Amazon.  Detouring from Port Elizabeth via Grahamstown onto the R350 to Bedford, I wasn't really expecting to see much en route other than passing over the…

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07/12/2015
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Carlisle Bridge and the Fish River

Road tripping means discovering new places, often places you will never see otherwise.  This was once again the case when I had to drive to Bedford for a meeting and decided to take the scenic route via Grahamstown.  About halfway between the two towns I passed over the mighty Fish River and pulled over to have a closer look.This spot really is in the middle of nowhere with not much to see yet beautiful in it's own way.The original bridge was built…

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01/12/2015
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The lonely house

I just loved this scene of a lonely house - close to being a ruin although at least it still has its roof - in the Gamtoos Valley.  It's located on a dirt track a few kilometers off the main road through the valley, so not something many people get to see but well worth the stop to photograph.

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25/11/2015
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The Kouga Dam overflowing in all it’s glory

This was my favorite photo from our visit to the Kouga Dam in the Gamtoos Valley to see it overflowing. I just slapped I with a bit of HDR to give it a bit of a more striking look. A dam like this overflowing is always a sight to behold.

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04/11/2015