Last weekend a couple of us went for a late afternoon walk along the Aloe Trail at Bluewater Bay to find the Geocaches placed on the trail. I make sure I always have my camera at hand and I snapped Drama Princess enjoying the view towards the Swartkops River without her knowing.
A Sunday afternoon walk along the Aloe Trail from Bluewater Bay had the sun dipping towards the horizon as we headed back to the car.
The Flamingo Trail in the Zwartkops Nature Reserve is ideal to get a little bit closer to birds after which the trail was name. I don't know why but I am always amazed to see the flamingos on the estuary. Not sure why cause its not like I've never seen them there before. On a walk along the trail these flamingos decided to take off as we passed and I got a couple of shots of them "walking on water".
Its about aloe time and I can't wait to see all the aloes in flower around Port Elizabeth again. In anticipation I'm posting this picture of two aloes with dry flowers next to the Swartkops River on the Flamingo Trail I took a little while ago.
Walking along the upper section of the Flamingo Trail gives you stunning views of the Swartkops River Estuary
On 22 April (today if you read this post on the day it got posted) we celebrate Earth Day. Earth Day is an annual event held worldwide to demonstrate support for environmental protection. The day was first celebrated in 1970 with 192 countries now taking part each year. In celebration of Earth Day 2014 I'm posting a picture of the Swartkops River taken by fellow Geocacher Emile Hallaby, or Speedbird315 as he is known in Geocaching circles, just after sunset from Bluewater Bay. I'm posting…
The Swartkops River and surrounding estuary is a wonderful place, even with it's pollution problems. It's an amazing birding wetland and a major salt producing area. Looking at the picture the actual river is in the background on the left while the big channel through the middle of the picture is part of the salt pan system used by salt producers. The vegetated area to the right of the river is part of the Zwartkops Nature Reserve.
I wonder how many people driving the Swartkops road on a regular basis don't even notice the flamingos anymore. I think its awesome to have so many flamingos on the Swartkoms estuary right here close to the city. I walked the Flamingo Trail recently and snapped this pic of the flamingos taking off as we started to get too close.
This is the view of the Swartkops River from the Flamingo Trail in the Zwartkops Nature Reserve. Just beyond the river is the village of Redhouse with the Northern Areas visible in the background.
The Swartkops Nature Reserve along with the Aloe Reserve protects the northern escarpment of the Swartkops Estuary. It plays an important part in the protection of Valley Thicket, also known as Valley Bushveld, along the estuary and is quite a good birding spot. The reserve is one of the lesser know reserves in the Nelson Mandela Bay metro with not many people visiting it, but the good folk of the Zwartkops Conservancy does do guided hikes along the Flamingo Trail through the…