At the Eastern edge of Port Elizabeth runs the Swartkops River, and there is a delightful little village on the bank of the river, overlooking the city. This part of it has changed little over the years, as you can see from this photo of our French friend, Gaston, fishing there back in 1959. But over the hill, it has grown a lot, and stretches out towards the East, with shops and garages etc.
Albany road seems to be an interesting road, recently we featured floods there, from a burst pipe... Yesterday, as I often do when I am wandering around the house, I looked up to check the view through the front window, and there wasn't one! I checked the side window to see if a mist was coming in but it was bright and clear... so I realised I was looking at a fire in the valley.Luckily the fire department were already…
One of the things we were determined to find on this trip to Addo were the lions. We checked in regularly at the reception to see where they were being spotted, and drove those roads, scanning carefully. All in vain. But then, travelling along a section of road we were not really supposed to be on, because our car is not a high clearance vehicle, we got to see a cousin of theirs, and were absolutley ecstatic.... You can spend…
These busy little creatures are dung beetles, and are synonymous with Addo Park. It is cute to see road signs all over the place warning motorists not to drive through elephant dung, and stating that dung beetles have right of way on all roads!
Addo Elephant Nationl Park is only 40 minutes from home, so it is the ideal spot for a short weekend getaway.
Yay Yippee Yay!! It is appropriate to feature a photo from Central today, because last night saw the inaugural meeting of the Central Sector Crime Forum. It was well organised and a strong and committed committee was chosen, with the aim of eradicating crime and grime in the area. The Chairperson is Ken Denton, who owns the majority of the buildings in the area. We are really optimistic about this initiative, and wish them all the best in their endeavours…
The ubiquitous MacDonald's golden arches create an abstract pattern with the colourful lights reflecting on the railings of the Dolphins Leap Centre at the beachfront. This shot was taken by our son, from the balcony of The Mediterranean, one of our favourite seafood/sushi hangouts!
While we are hanging around the beachfront at night, here is a view of the promenade at Humewood, taken by our son on one of his visits home.
Is the sun setting on PE's dolphin shows? There is much debate at the moment... our two remaining Indian Ocean Bottlenose dolphins, Domino and Dumisa, are terribly inbred, and HAVE to be separated before young Dumisa (Domino's daughter and sister!) reaches breeding age, which is due soon. There have been debates raging about the viability/ethics of capturing a wild dolphin to add to the gene pool, but as yet nothing has been decided... so the future hangs in the balance…
People from overseas, who visit South Africa for the first time, are often surprised at how Westernised and 1st world our main cities are. But don't despair, around the next corner, you may come across a sight like this and be reminded that you are indeed in Africa! You feel like you have entered a time warp, the pace of life for these guys ambling down the street is so different to that of the motorists behind them, huffing and…