Eastern Cape

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The magnificence that is Addo Elephant National Park

I've been in the tourism industry for 16 years and first started out working as a tourist guide back in 1998.  Back then I used to go to Addo Elephant National Park sometimes as often as 5 or 6 times a week and people used to ask if I didn't get tired of going there.  I did get tired of the drive to and from the park but I would never get tired of the park itself.  It quickly became one…

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10/02/2014
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Driving on the dunes at Brakkeduine

Boys will be boys and when it comes to boys and their 4x4 toys there is no stopping them.  When the South African government banned driving on beaches both the angling and 4x4 fraternities took a big knock.  The anglers couldn't go as far along the beaches as they used to or had to find overland shortcuts while the 4x4 okes had to stick to mountain trails and off road paths.  There is one place I know of where the boys can test their…

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06/02/2014
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Karoo scene at the foothills of the Zuurberg

The Karoo is a hauntingly beautiful place.  A lot of people may find it boring but most see a beauty that is often described differently by every person.  Wide open spaces with blue skies above, a couple of sheep grazing on the sparse green grass around a wind pump filled cement dam, late winter aloes in bloom with a Karoo koppie in the background, farm workers' children playing in the dust close to a flat roof worker's house, somebody walking down…

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04/02/2014
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Mohair yarn strands

The Hinterveld Mohair Mill Tour in Uitenhage is not your normal run of the mill (excuse the pun) tour, but visitors go there expecting one thing and leaving with a whole different impression.  The factory is also heaven for photographers with so many interesting objects and angles like this one of all the colourful mohair yarn strands going into the weaving machine, turning it into exquisite blankets.

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31/01/2014
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No 7 Castle Hill historical museum

Sailing into Algoa Bay as one of the 1820 British Settlers, Reverend Francis McCleland would have been standing on deck looking out over the bay towards the beach, little knowing what awaited him in the Cape Colony and how he would influence what would become Port Elizabeth.  Rev McCleland became the colonial chaplain in Port Elizabeth and oversaw the building of St Mary’s Anglican Church (later declared a cathedral) which was completed in 1834. Only a couple of years before,…

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29/01/2014
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Jurassic Park at Bayworld

Did I stumble on a long lost valley filled with dinosaurs?  Did somebody finally invent a time machine that allows one to go back to the time of the dinosaurs?  Did I get invited to the set of Jurassic Park 4? No, no and... no.  I visited Bayworld in Port Elizabeth.  Bayworld has an very interesting section by the Snake Park that has life size moving dinosaurs.  Every kid's dream.

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27/01/2014
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Baby elephant at Addo Elephant National Park

International visitors to South Africa all has Kruger Park on their lists of places to see in the country but what many of them don't realise is that you can get just as good an experience in the Eastern Cape.  Addo Elephant National Park is probably one of the most under rated game parks in the country with perceptions changing as soon as people get there.  You may not be able to spend 4 or 5 days there like in Kruger, but…

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23/01/2014
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Irrigating the Gamtoos Valley

How often do you wonder where exactly the water in your tap and fruit and vegetables in your kitchen comes from?  We'll, if you live in Port Elizabeth its possible to answer both these questions for yourself by visiting the Gamtoos Valley.  The Gamtoos Valley is often referred to as the food basket of the Eastern Cape as it is one of South Africa's biggest citrus and vegetable producing areas.  The farms get their irrigation water from exactly the same…

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20/01/2014
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Port Elizabeth Whale skeleton

The Port Elizabeth Museum, which forms part of the Bayworld complex, has a very unique exhibit hanging in the Marine Hall.  It's the skeleton of the last Southern Right Whale to be harpooned in Algoa Bay.  Its the focus piece of a exhibit that covers whales and sharks along with everything associated with them.

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17/01/2014
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Going nowhere slowly

Just west of Patensie, travellers through the Gamtoos Valley will find the Padlangs farm stall.  It's a favourite with both visitors and the locals and I really have to do a post on it one day, but that day is not today.  Outside the farm stall visitors would find the remnants of transport methods used in the valley in the past.  Parts of an ox wagon and an old bakkie (a Chev perhaps?) I placed a couple of Geocaches in the…

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15/01/2014