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Read more about the article A whistlestop visit to Orania
Firefly the Travel Guy

A whistlestop visit to Orania

I love exploring small towns. There's just something about them and the history you find there. But what if it's a small town that technically is new and without its own history yet still has a lot of history in it? Sounds confusing, doesn't it? There is one such place that has been on my bucket list radar for quite some time. The Afrikaner enclave of Orania. Partly to see what the town looks like for myself, partly to visit…

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02/06/2023
Read more about the article The Roodewal historic site outside Cookhouse
Firefly the Travel Guy

The Roodewal historic site outside Cookhouse

Big monuments and historic buildings are easy to spot and often stand out. It's the ones that are often a bit obscured that very few people actually know about or get to visit. One such site is the Roodewal historic site next to the N10 near Cookhouse in the Eastern Cape. This site doesn't just have one, but three separate heritage-related items all linked to the same place. Roodewal Farm. I knew about one of them because there is a…

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23/03/2023
Read more about the article Grahamstown’s Bible Monument
Firefly the Travel Guy

Grahamstown’s Bible Monument

Depicting an open bible, the monument faces the direction the Voortrekkers departed in Grahamstown has some very well known monuments and historic buildings. The 1820 Settlers Monument on the hill, the Cathedral of St Michael and St George, the Angel Statue, Observatory Museum with it's camera obscura and many more. One I didn't know about was the Bible Monument on the outskirts of town and I would never have known of it if it wasn't that I went in search…

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05/06/2020
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The Prester John cross figures

Following on the post about the Cross of Prester John and the Portuguese Explorers between City Hall and the old Post Office building, I decided to post a more closeup picture of the two figures sitting inside the cross.  The figures represent Prester John on the one side and a Portuguese explorer on the other side.  There is a whole lot more symbolism on the cross, but I'm going to have to do a little more research before posting about that.

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07/12/2017
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The cross of Prester John and the Portuguese Explorers

Wedged in between City Hall and the Old Post Office building with the Feather Market Centre on the other side of the right is the Cross of Prester John.  The monument has no significant link to Port Elizabeth other than the fact that it was a stop en route to the East for Portuguese explorers who, in addition to looking for a way around Africa to the East, were also hoping to make contact with Prester John as a Christian…

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04/12/2017
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Uitenhage Concentration Camp site

A few weeks ago we took part in an Amazing Race in and around Uitenhage, organised by one of the local churches as a fundraiser.  The race started at the old festival grounds on the outskirts of town.  While waiting for everybody to arrive I took a walk over to the Concentration Camp Memorial with my camera.Not a lot of people know that Uitenhage had a concentration camp right on their doorstep during the Anglo-Boer War between 1899 and 1902.…

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13/08/2017
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Port Elizabeth Concentration Camp Memorial

Today's post basically is a report of a post I did in 2014.  It's one of those little pieces of Port Elizabeth information that very few know about and is worth reposting.When you mention the word concentration camp most people would probably associate it with the Germans during the second World War.  Few know that concentration camps were first implemented in South Africa by the British to hold Boer women and children during the Anglo Boer War (1899 and 1902).There…

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20/07/2017
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Queen Victoria and the library

It's really sad that the magnificent historic Public Library in the city centre is still closed with no indication on when the necessary work will be done or at what stage budget will be available to do it.  The building was built in 1901 with the façade constructed in England and shipped to Port Elizabeth in numbered blocks to be reassembled in front of the building.  The statue of Queen Victoria was added in 1903 to celebrate the queen's Diamond Jubilee that took…

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19/07/2017