My Suburb called Central

It rained today, so welcome as it has cooled the air. Lots of moisture around with heavy black clouds. At least it is a soaking rain and not the floods we have been having of late.
Venturing out into my suburb, through the wet streets I went in search of a new coffee shop as my normal one has got expensive. I have heard of another one low down and so went to find it. A real gem hidden away in Lawrence Street among the antique shops. I had a hot cup of coffee and a cup cake for the price of just a cup at the former place! Sometimes one must walk a little further to discover these hidden gems. It is set in an old building and has interesting décor of old furniture and related items. They didn’t have a lot of cakes on display but what they had was very appetizing to say to least. Carrot cake, muffins, chocolate éclairs, croissants and quiche. The antique shop next door has a treasure trove of books, furniture and other memorabilia to excite. At one time they used to sell exotic cars but the present owner has decided on the above instead. This street is just off the Heritage Trail which winds through Central. On this trail one wanders around looking at the old buildings and history of Port Elizabeth. It starts at the Donkin Reserve and takes in the city centre and then goes up the hill to old Port Elizabeth’s heart. Central has many fine old buildings built by our ancestors dating back to the 1800’s when the city was first started by the settlers who landed in 1820. So who will be first to visit this southern most city in Africa?

A View from my Window. Part 2.

Today is a beautiful day with some cloud around as we desperately wait for some rain. Lots of cars going past as everybody heads down to the beach. The wind is easterly which means good weather for the sunbathers and swimmers. Earlier this past week we had a oil exploration ship dock at Coega, the new deep water port across the bay. There’s been talk of drilling for oil off our coasts which is good as it might create badly needed jobs.
Just down the road at the traffic lights is the “Technikon” a centre of learning, the next step after school where mainly the youth get their first taste of life. Across from this building is The Oval, a sports stadium, in the middle of our city, primarily as cycle track and increasingly a venue where schools come to have their sports day and compete. There are also some churches around that are visible, one being an Anglican Cathedral which goes by the name of St Cuthbert’s. This is a lovely old stone building built in the late part of the 1800’s. The rooftops of a more modern church with an old history is visible beyond the Technikon, this original church was demolished to make way for a free-way cloverleaf and so it was rebuilt to original design but with modern materials and incorporating the original windows and was one of the oldest churches built here. St John’s Methodist church’s steeple is just visible over the buildings to the right of my view, this church also has a history being erected in the late 1800’s as well.
How does your view look today? Does your view show the sea or just buildings? It would be interesting to hear about your views, so please feel free to share your thoughts on this.

A Different Way to Travel part 2.

I recently travelled to Cape Town and back aboard this little touring bus. I so enjoyed the trip even though it was a long one! In this bus you can sit wherever you like as no particular seat has been assigned to you. As long as you have a booking confirmation you are away and they will fetch you from your nearest backpacker hostel. Mainliners tend to only stop at towns and cities whereas this bus visits many different backpacker hostels and lodges along the route, so you get to visit some interesting out of the way places. In this bus you are allowed to converse with the driver who acts as driver, host(ess) and assistant. Where the hostels are off the main route, there you wait for a shuttle to connect to take the passengers. It’s great fun and with many of the passengers hopping off and on at the various hostels you get to meet up with old friends from previous trips. Lots of information is shared about with are the cool hostels and which are the ones to avoid! Also who did what and where. A highlight when we got the the Bloukrans River Bridge the driver slowed and asked who would like ‘ a no strings attached bungee’ and a good laugh is shared amongst all and he lets everyone view the scenery and height at a snail’s pace. The drivers also have a good knowledge about local points of interest along the road. I like to sit up front with the driver and assist him by passing the comments book back to the passengers that are leaving the bus and finding out who is going where just in case someone gets muddled as to where they are getting off as some of the local names confuse them. Quite often the latest DVD’s are shown during long parts of the trip. We even went to a game reserve to fetch a young girl, not that we saw any wild animals while there! So if you are ever in South Africa and want a different way to travel this is it!

Ships in The Bay

There are often ships sitting out in the bay. Today there are least two ships both ore carriers, but as we have tow port within the greater metropolis of Mandela Bay there are often many types of ships. Car carriers come either to deliver Audi’s and other imports to the big motor manufactures that ply their trade from our city or they come to pick up Volkswagen Polos which are built at the plant in Uitenhage. Amazingly all right-hand drive polos are been built at Uitenhage. They used to build all the right-hand drive Golf’s here there too but when the 2010 recession hit they took that build back to Germany to save jobs there. Ford exports both the Puma diesel and Rocam engines to mainly South America, and the far east. The car carriers arrive at 6pm and set sail at 11pm having loaded 1000 cars, they don’t waste time at all!
During the months of July through to October they fruit boats come to load fruit for export and they are at least 2 ships in the harbour loading while 3 to 5 ships await their turn out in the bay. We export iron ore and also scrap metal to the far east. Most grain imports come through our harbour and are trucked to the Western Cape we have the facilities to off load. Then we have both line fishing and crayfish boats that go out from our port to fish for their livelihood. There is a crisis at present where line fishermen have not been awarded their permits that they had for years whereby forcing them into poverty as their source of income has dried up. The people getting the permits are not even fishermen so it appears as if bribes are the order of the day!
We have other interesting boats and ships that visit our port from time to time, there are oil rigs on their way to the east stopping for either repairs or provisions. Sometimes after a big storm at sea ships come here to be patched up so they can continue on their way. We get a lot of old ships being towed to the breakers in India and the East to be scrapped. The the different navies of the world also call here for social visits and then increasingly we get cruise liners calling here so their passengers can get to see the game reserves and other exciting events we have on offer around our city.

Grain ships unloading

Port Elizabeth harbour

A View from my Window.

Looking out my window I can see many sights but right in front is the horse memorial. This memorial commemorates the horses that fell during the Boer War .It is unique and quite special as it is about the only one in existence. I also see quite a few tour buses that bring tourists to see the monument. Big one and many small ones all showing foreign tourists our exciting places of interest.Then there are the mainliners that travel up Cape Road on their way to Cape Town carrying all sorts of passengers. I can also see the bay with all manner of ships coming into our 2 ports carrying cargoes destined for our country. We also get passenger ships and cruise liners visiting here bringing different people to our shores. And then we have these interesting ships, barges and oil rigs that come into the bay for both repairs and protection from the weather. Looking out today I see a lovely day with some cloud on the horizon and the wind is blowing again a feature of my city. In the west are more clouds meaning another cold front is on the way. Ambulances rush up and down the road with sirens blaring and mini bus taxis roar around with their guys yelling and touting for business. Sundays see less taxis and more cars as people come and go to the beach. Then some tourists walk on the Heritage Trail which is popular and winds through the city centre and shows all the places of interest on a more personal level. Some of thee are the fort which never saw a shot fired in anger and many settler houses that have been lovingly restored back to their former glory. I can also have the largest flag in Africa if not the world flying from a flag pole at the Donkin Reserve. This reserve was made to be an open space when the settlers arrived in 1820. Sir Rufane Donkin was on his way back to England when the governor of the Cape asked him to welcome the settlers to our shores and he erected a monument to his late wife who had died in India and thus that is how Port Elizabeth got it’s name!

the Horse Memorial

the view looking out over the bay

A Different Way to Travel

If you are a young tourist in travelling in South Africa then there is a different mode of travel available. A small 22 seater bus with a trailer that travels between Cape Town and Port Elizabeth, Durban and Port Elizabeth and Durban and Johannesburg. They will take backpacks, bicycles and or surfboards as well as the normal suitcase. You can purchase different options like safari and adventure packages or travel passes as well as round trips. A unusual concept known as the hop on hop off package is available if you are travelling in one direction and haven’t gone a tight time frame. This is available on an 2 year time frame and can be used if and when you want to take the next journey, all you have to do is phone the company office, quote your ticket number and book the next section of your trip. Other types of tickets are called the travel pass runs over 7, 14 or 21 consecutive days, now these particular tickets enable you to go in any direction within the time frame purchased. This means if you want to go say from Cape Town to George and then back to Swellendam and back to Cape Town and then to Port Elizabeth within that time. Quite an unusual idea!

If you check my link you can find out more.

A Canopy Zip-line Experience!

Ever tried a canopy zip-line through a forest. Down at Storm’s river they have just that. It’s an adrenaline experience. You are strapped into a harness and you fly through the trees of the forest on zip-lines. None of the trees are damaged in any way as they are strapped by binding with rubber insulation. You will be quite safe as you are always attached by at least 2 lines at any one time.

When we arrive at the strapping in station, after paying and storing our valuables, the guides will strap us into this harness making sure that we won’t come lose an then everyone in the group is loaded into a vehicle and transported down into the forest to the start. Here they give us a short history and instruction on what to do. Then affixing us to 2 lines they launch us one at a time out into space and then you are flying through the canopies of the trees. On arriving at our first tree the front guide , who has already gone ahead will secure you to the tree by means of a clip onto a wire secured to the tree. In this first section of the trip they video our experience., so the cameraman is always somewhere either ahead or behind the group. We shuffle around the tree to the next point of departure and line up to be launch again. After 3 such stations we are informed that if we wish to leave this is the last chance to do so as we now are getting high up in the trees. It’s here that the cameraman leaves to go process the film so we can purchase them at the end. The guides are very well informed on both the trees and the birds that inhabit them. Some of the lines are quite long with the longest being 120m and the highest 90m. After 2 hours of exhilarating fun we come to the end and are given a bottle of spring water before climbing the rather steep hill back to the vehicle that returns us to the reception where they take off the harness and show us where to go for our lunch which is included in the price. After lunch certificated are given out signifying that we have now done a canopy tour and we all troop through to purchase our DVDs and photographs of our experience.

Cameras are allowed as long as they are securely strapped onto the wrist and all other personal belongings are stored in an individual locker and you key is strapped to your wrist.

Safaris for the Family

How would you like to take your family on a safari over a whole day? Be picked up at your home and after one hour of driving being taken first to see many elephants plus maybe a lion or gnu in the wild spend 3 hours just cruising around in a little bus taking photos and gazing at these beasts lumbering along side the vehicle. Then leaving and going for a scrumptious lunch to fill those empty stomachs! Afterwards travelling to the best experience of the day! An afternoon filled with a real bush journey in open landrovers searching for lions with their cubs lounging in the midday sun. Then it’s off to find rhinos in their part of the reserve and maybe a giraffe or two as well. By this time our stomachs are craving some nourishment and so we stop for some refreshments and roosterkoek, a small bread cooked on the fire while you wait, with jam. A time of reflectance  to discuss what you have seen with maybe other parties from the other vehicles. Then we hop back into the vehicles to go back to search for the lions who as it is getting dark will be searching for their evening meal and thereby giving you a glimpse of Africa at it’s savage best. While looking for these magnificent beasts we spy some giant tortoises or some more giraffe loping across the veld. It’s time to search for some more elephant with their young before heading to the Lapa, which is the largest in southern Africa for the evening 3 course meal. This consists of a ‘potjie’ which is similar to a stew but is cooked over coals for 4 hours and is not stewed but the contents just lifted and the juices allowed to soak through. This  is served with vegetables  and you can seconds as well if you are still hungry. The main course is followed by desert and cheese and biscuits finishing off with a cup of tea or coffee.  We leave the lapa heading out for the last part of our safari searching for the nocturnal animals and flying creatures before heading back to our transport to head home.
This is an experience within the reach of most people and is available in the malaria free Eastern Cape.lios

Interesting Places to Hike

Hiking can take you to those interesting nooks and crannies which most people never discover. Near to Port Elizabeth, there is a nature reserve that was proclaimed at the same time as the TsiTsikamma mountain reserve down on the Garden Route. This nature reserve is called Groendal Nature Reserve and is located right next to Uitenhage which is part of the metro of Nelson Mandela Bay. It is roughly the size of Port Elizabeth and has some of the most beautiful hiking trails that I’ve seen. It consists of Fynbos on the higher slopes and Montane forest in the ‘kloofs’ or ravines where lush vegetation can be found. Uitenhage’s main dam is sited running through the middle of it. The wildlife that can be found there are mainly Babboons. Mongoose, small Duiker and Blobokke, which is a buck the size of a smallish dog, the 2 latter animals are small buck which move in amongst the ferns and bush. sometimes come out of the ticket to drink at a stream and this is where they might be seen. The spiders are quite amazing as they can spin their webs within seconds of a person walking through and breaking it. The streams that flow throughout the reserve have water that is sweet to drink and very pure as well, so replenishing your water bottle is quite safe. Lower Blindekloof which when translated means blind ravine follows the course of one of the many streams in the reserve and has many places to stop to swim and more  rest up during your hike. That can be done either as an afternoon hike or a casual day hike. Then there is upper Blindekloof which is a more strenuous hike with several pools to swim through. Vyeboom which means fig tree named after the wild fig trees that grow there, is a day hike where you can either hike up through the stream or on a very tricky trail that winds along the edge of the cliff. Just be careful or you can fall off the edge as is what happened to me one Wednesday afternoon, which was not a very pleas ant experience as I ended up with 2 bruised ankles and a swelling on the ball of my foot which took 3 months to heal. Then there is Waterkloof as you realise is on a stream and can only be accessed by wading thigh deep through reeds over submerged logs and a deep stream bed.