In yesterday's post I wrote about the Bulk River and Sand River that flows into the Elands River west of Port Elizabeth. The Sand River Dam is fairly close to the Elands River Road while the Bulk River Dam can just be glimpsed from the road. In the picture is the Bulk River with the dam barely visible higher up the valley.
Port Elizabeth's earliest water supply came from the Shark River at Happy Valley and the Donkin Stream next to the Donkin Reserve. As the city started to grow in its early days of development the demand for water far exceeded this meager supply. After a competition held by the Port Elizabeth city council in 1862 to find proposals to supply the city with water, a weir and small dam was built in the Van Stadens River. This was later followed by…
The Groendal Wilderness Area just outside Uitenhage is the ideal spot to go and loose yourself in a natural area for the weekend while actually still being fairly close to the city. Groendal is typically characterised by rugged terrain, streams and vast ravines and is surrounded by the Groot Winterhoek Mountain range. The reserve is 30 000 hectare in size and is the catchment area of the Swartkops River with the Groendal Dam being one of the water supply dams for…
Returning to Port Elizabeth on the same flight I snapped yesterday's Colchester dunefield on, I got this picture of the Sundays River estuary as one looks up towards Uitenhage from Algoa Bay.
The residents of Nelson Mandela Bay is very fortunate to have a place like the Groendal Wilderness Area right outside our "back door". (Hopefully I don't insult any of Uitenhage's residents by saying it that way) The 30 000 hectare Groendal Wilderness Area protects the water catchment area of the Swartkops River with the Groendal Dam in its centre. All of this falls within the Groot Winterhoek Mountain range and these days form part of the Greater Baviaanskloof Wilderness area. Groendal's rugged terrain…
The mouth of the Swartkops River seen from the Bluewater Bay side. The factory on the right is the Algorex carbon black plant while the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium is visible on the left.
Greater Flamingoes (Phoenicopterus roseus) on the saltpans at Swartkops near the old Swartkops Power Station and the Marina Saltworks.
There are several salt pans on the eastern side of Port Elizabeth around the Swartkops and Chatty Rivers. It is thought that during prehistoric times the sea pushed up to the these salt pans via the Swartkops and Chatty Rivers at high tide and left the seawater behind at low tide. This water evaporated and left behind salt crystals on the bottom of the pan. The local Khoisan inhabitants of this area used to gather the salt in these pans during the period 1799…
The old Swartkops Power Station makes for a very unusual landmark where it stands next to the Swartkops River. The power station came into operation in 1954 and was used by the Port Elizabeth Municipality to generate power until 1996 when ESKOM (South Africa's power utility) offered them electricity at a rate that couldn't be matched by themselves. Today the power station with its six 76 meter high chimneys stand empty and nobody really knows what the plans are with…
Driving along the N2 one passes over the Swartkops River just before getting to the suburb of Bluewater Bay. Swartkops is a very popular fishing area with loads of boats out on the river over weekends. The area on the banks of the river is called Amsterdamhoek and was named after a Dutch ship (Amsterdam) that sank off the river mouth in 1817. Its a very upmarket area and is only seperated from the river by a narrow road.