Eastern Cape

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So it is Christmas…..

To quote John Lennon "So this is Christmas, And what have you done, Another year over..."  It really feels like Christmas has creeped up on me and shouted "WHA!!!"  Last year I was in the Christmas spirit from late November already, but this year the working year seemed to have been so busy towards the end that it was halfway through December before I really started to hum Christmas songs. "Tra la la la laaaa, la la la la...."  Merry Christmas…

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25/12/2011
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Flightless Dung Beetle

One of the smallest but best known inhabitants of the Addo Elephant National Park is the Flightless Dung Beetle (Circellium bacchus).  The Flightless Dung Beetle is endemic to the Addo Elephant Park and surrounds and very unique in the fact that they can't fly and hence the name.  This fact also makes the beetle a vulnerable species as they only use elephant and buffalo dung to feed off and lay their eggs in and at the time when these animals…

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19/12/2011
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Zebras

Donkeys in pajamas must be one of the animals that visitors to game reserves love seeing most.  The Burchell's Zebra is the most common zebra that you will find in the game reserves of the Eastern Cape.  They are identifiable by the fact that the stripes go all the way underneath their stomachs and by the brownish phantom stripes visible on their wide white stripes.The endangered Cape Mountain Zebra are found only on a few game reserves in the province. …

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17/12/2011
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Lower Guinea Fowl Trail

I'm always in awe when I read Helen's blog, Walking the Cape, to see how many trails and walks there are around Cape Town.  But living in Port Elizabeth doesn't mean that we don't have trails around the city.  It just seems that the locals over here either tend to rather walk on the beach or use a safety excuse not to head onto the trails.  A bunch of us from work decided to celebrate World Tourism Day on 27 September…

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12/10/2011
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Karoo sky

I know its not Skywatch Friday, but I wanted to show you a typical flat Karoo landscape with a typical BIG Karoo SKY.  No wonder some people refer to the Karoo as Big Sky Country.

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11/10/2011
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Opening of the Season fireworks

Last night the annual Opening of the Season fireworks took place at Hobie Beach after it was postponed due to rainy weather the previous night.  I really didn't feel like taking on the crowds and traffic jams on the beachfront for a couple of pictures, so I decided to head up to Lovemore Heights to see if I can get a glimpse from there.  It wasn't the best vantage point as you could only see the high fireworks from there,…

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18/12/2010
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Port Elizabeth City Hall

The Port Elizabeth City Hall is one of my favorite historic buildings in the city.  What makes it even better is that it is surrounded by a number of other historic buildings.  The City Hall stands in the Port Elizabeth city centre on Market Square.  In the photo the Old Post Office is visible on the left while the two buildings on the right are the Feathermarket Centre and Plein Huis.  In the foreground is a replica of the cross planted…

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15/12/2010
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Penguin release

The main objective of the South African Rehabilitation and Education Centre (SAMREC) based at Cape Recife in Port Elizabeth is to save and rehabilitate the endangered African Penguins which is found on the islands in Algoa Bay.  Once the whole rehabilitation process is completed, the penguins are released back into the bay to return to their colonies.  I was very fortunate to be at such an event the other day where ten penguins were released.After the crates that they were transported in to the…

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08/12/2010
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Carols by candlelight

Saturday afternoon we bundled the family into the car, packed a picnic basket, grabbed the camping chairs and headed down to Settlers Park for the second annual Carols by Candlelight in Settlers Park.  The day was a bit of a windy one, but the location for the event was down in the valley and very well sheltered.The event was organised by the Wildlife and Environment Society of SA (WESSA) and Nelson Mandela Bay Tourism and forms part of the Baakens…

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07/12/2010
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Rough sees

The other day during spring high tide we also had a strong easterly wind blowing here in Port Elizabeth and that normally means a very rough sea.  I popped down to Hobie Beach to have a look and got a couple of pics around Shark Rock Pier.  

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30/11/2010