Kouga

Read more about the article Water over the multi arches of the Churchill Dam
Firefly the Travel Guy / Port Elizabeth Daily Photo

Water over the multi arches of the Churchill Dam

After the big rains in October (2023) both the Kouga and Churchill Dams overflowed. Following a visit to Storms River Village I decided to detour via Kareedouw to the Churchill Dam, somewhere I've never actually been to. I wasn't disappointed that I did. What a sight, especially with the water flowing over the multiple arches. The Churchill Dam is located on the Krom River at the bottom end of the Langkloof between Kareedouw and Humansdorp. The dam has a capacity…

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22/12/2023
Read more about the article Chokka boats in Port St Francis
Firefly the Travel Guy

Chokka boats in Port St Francis

Ahhhhh, St Francis Bay. Beaches, canals, luxury homes, a Jack Nicholas designed golf course, laid-back holiday atmosphere, girls in bikinis (I just wanted to put that in), surfer boys, sundowner cruises and lekker seafood. Like any good infomercial and destination, there's always a, "But wait, that's not all..." Located between St Francis Bay and Cape St Francis is one of the only private harbours in South Africa called Port St Francis. The chokka, or squid, industry in the area started…

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24/02/2022
Read more about the article The canals at St Francis
Firefly the Travel Guy

The canals at St Francis

Manuel de Perestrelo, a Portuguese explorer weighed anchor in a sheltered bay in 1575. He was struck with the natural beauty of what he saw and named it Bahia de Sao Francisca after the Patron Saint of Sailors, St Francis of Assissi. As legend has it, the landward side reminded him of the beautiful cloisters of the 14th Century Gothic monastery of St Francisca, at his hometown of Santareme. Little did he know that over 400 years later a unique village…

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14/10/2021
Read more about the article The Cape St Francis Lighthouse
Firefly the Travel Guy

The Cape St Francis Lighthouse

There are 49 lighthouses (according to Wikipedia) along South Africa's 2800 km long coastline. The oldest is the Green Point Lighthouse built in 1824 while the newest one was built at Groenrivier Mouth in the Northern Cape in 1988. I have a thing for lighthouses and wouldn't mind traveling from lighthouse to lighthouse one day when I'm big to be able to tick them all off as visited. The lighthouse at Seal Point in Cape St Francis was complete in…

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21/09/2021
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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 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
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A quick stop at Supertubes in Jbay

A week or so ago I attended the Kouga Baviaans Surf and Safari Marketing Association's AGM in Jeffreys Bay.  It was a perfect winters day and I decided to make a stop at Supertubes before heading back to Port Elizabeth.A deserted beach that was packed during the Jbay Open just a few weeks agoEnjoying one of the best right hand point breaks in the worldAloes on the coastline at Lower Point

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23/08/2015
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J Bay Wind Farm from a dirt road

Love them or hate them, the wind farms around Jeffrey's Bay, Humansdorp and St Francis has become part of the Kouga region's landscape.  After a meeting in Humansdorp recently I did a detour to Paradise Beach along the road that leads through Lombardini Game Farm and stopped to snap this pic back on the road.   What's your feeling about the wind farms becoming such prominent landmarks on the landscape?

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24/06/2015
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Dune Ridge – a country jewel in the St Francis Bay crown

When you think St Francis Bay in the Eastern Cape you tend to think beautiful coastline and black and white houses on the canals.  If you had to spend a weekend in St Francis you would probably expect your guesthouse to have stunning sea views or be situated right on the canals.  Yes, but not always.  We spend a fabulous weekend at Dune Ridge Country House just outside (and with this I mean literally only a stone's throw away) St…

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14/05/2015
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A St Francis Bay canal cruise

When you think of St Francis Bay in the Eastern Cape, the first thing that comes to mind are the beautiful canal system with its upmarket black and white homes lining the waterways.  You can drive through the area to admire its beauty but the best way to really take it in is on a canal cruise.Our recent weekend in St Francis saw us join Brian Cunningham of Brisan on the Canals and a bunch of ladies on their last leg of the…

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22/04/2015