Eastern Cape

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The JBay Shell Museum

Jeffreys Bay has always been know for two things.  Surfing and shells.  These days surfing in the town is bigger than ever but unfortunately shells aren't.  I remember when I was small we always visited my grandparents at Paradise Beach close by over school holidays.  You could go out early morning just after high tide and pic up the most beautiful shells.  These days there are very few left.  Lots of small ones but no more big and beautiful ones…

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15/10/2014
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Sunset in Eersterivier

I have never been disappointed with sunsets at Eersterivier.  We recently spent a weekend in this part of the Tsitsikamma courtesy of Tsitsikamma Seaside Accommodation and even though most of the weekend was a bit on the grey side, the cloud did open enough on our first evening to get this beautiful sunset enhanced with a couple of gulls strolling around on the wet sand.

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14/10/2014
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The Gariep Dam – South Africa’s biggest dam

Returning from Gauteng on a recent road trip I decided to make a little detour via the Gariep Dam and take the Steynsburg and Hofmeyr road through the Karoo to Cradock.  I made a lunch and leg stretch stop at the lookout overlooking the Gariep Dam wall.  The Gariep Dam was opened in 1071 and initially called the Hendrik Verwoerd Dam after the first prime minister of the Republic of South Africa.  After the end of Apartheid it was decided to change the…

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06/10/2014
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The 2014 Gamtoos Tourism Adventure Drive – undignified fun

On Saturday we headed into the Gamtoos Valley for the annual Gamtoos Tourism Adventure Drive.  This year the event took place around the towns of Loerie and Hankey and it was a heck of a lot of fun, to say the least.  The Adventure Drive takes the form of a 60km round trip which gets completed by following directions given at the start of the race.  Along the way there are 9 stops with challenges that need to be completed. …

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05/10/2014
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Spending a weekend at the 150 year old Ann’s Villa

Its a hot day in the southern Karoo just north of the Zuurberg in the Eastern Cape.  Not a breath of air moving.  Cicadas are chirping away in the surrounding veld.  Its been four days since you left the small port town of Port Elizabeth and after struggling up the rough Zuurberg Pass the previous day and camping out near the Zuurberg Inn, the day is spent making your way down the pass and into the dry and flat area beyond. …

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03/10/2014
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Waterfall reflection

The Tsitsikamma is a world of indigenous forests bordered by mountains and a rugged coastline.  One of the most beautiful places there is.  At the heart of it lies the Tsitsikamma National Park.  The Mouth Trail takes visitors from the park's restaurant area to the Storms River Mouth with its three suspension bridges.  Just after you start off on the trail there is a little waterfall on the left hand side flowing into a pool.  A tranquil spot even with tourists…

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01/10/2014
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Ziplining in Addo on the longest double zipline in Africa

The first thing people think of when they hear the name Addo is elephants.  On that front the Addo Elephant National Park is doing an awesome job attracting people to the Sundays River Valley.  But the Addo area is so much more than elephants and the rest of the big 5.  More than just animals for that matter.  The whole Sundays River Valley is a beautiful area with scenic drives and views, history, great eateries and a wide variety of accommodation…

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30/09/2014
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World Tourism Day – Nothing more fun than a Sho’t Left.

September is Tourism Month and on 27 September every year we celebrate World Tourism Day.  Tourism is one of South Africa's biggest export products and with that I mean its something that brings foreign tourists and thus also foreign money into the country.  Tourism is an important player in our economy as it creates a job for every 12 tourists visiting the country.  But I'm not here to talk about the economy.  Over the last couple of years SA Tourism has…

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27/09/2014
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Tsitsikamma Lily

My three favorite flowers are aloes, proteas and arum lilies.  All flowers you can see in gardens and parks but at their most beautiful when you see them out in the wild.  Aloe flowering in the Karoo, proteas in the Fynbos on a mountain side and lilies growing wild in the forest.  This lily I found next to the path on the way to Kerneels se Klip in the Tsitsikamma National Park.  I was hoping to find one in the sun…

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26/09/2014
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Hiking the Bushbuck Trail in The Island Nature Reserve

Port Elizabeth has some excellent short hiking trails that are perfect for a morning or day out in nature yet still within a stone's throw of the city.  As an outdoor enthusiast and avid Geocacher I've had the opportunity to do most of the trails around the city with one of the exceptions being the Bushbuck Trail through the Island Nature Reserve.  For this reason I was very excited when I got a call from Erenei Louw of Nelson Mandela Bay…

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25/09/2014