Addo Elephants Photographs

Todays photographs are of elephants in the famous Addo Elephant Park in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. The original Elephant section of the Addo Park was proclaimed in 1931, when only eleven elephants remained in the area … today it is proudly sanctuary to over 450 elephants. Continued

Shamwari Game Reserve

There is something distinctly colonial about Shamwari Game Reserve. Perhaps it’s that I don’t get out much, but there is nothing like a lovingly restored Edwardian mansion, the cool verandah and furniture a throwback to a bygone era, to make one feel distinctly elegant, even if I wasn’t exactly attired for the occasion.

How I got there is another story, but I happened to ‘gatecrash’ Shamwari, in a way. We stumbled off an overnight train from Johannesburg, to find ourselves awaited by a 4×4 vehicle and escourted onto the Shamwari grounds … Continued

Addo Elephant Park Photograph

Situated in a malaria free area just one hour’s drive from the South African coastal city of Port Elizabeth, the magnificently diverse Addo Elephant Park offers a wide variety of game viewing, outdoor adventure, accommodation and cultural experiences. You will be amazed at the variety of South Africa Wildlife that can be experienced in one easily accessible destination … Continued

The Oliver Foundation has a mission …

Oliver Foundation

The Oliver Foundation has a mission. To work with local communities to help build a sustainable future for people and the environment. The UK-based organisation made a commitment in 2007 to focus its support in the Eastern Cape. It works predominantly in rural areas, bringing about change by developing and supporting programmes that have a social, environmental, educational and economic impact on those it effects.

And with good reason. Over seven million South Africans live in dire circumstances,  surviving on less than R5 a day. 26% of the country’s poverty stricken households are based in the Eastern Cape. As a result of a lack of proper education, unemployment rates are believed to be as high as 70% … Continued

Keiskamma River Mouth Photograph

Todays photograph was taken in the Eastern Cape at the Keiskamma River Mouth in Hamburg. The little town of Hamburg lies on the estuary of the Keiskammer River, which here forms a lagoon. As the town’s name suggests, Hamburg was founded in 1857 by German settlers. Thanks to its beautiful beach, Hamburg … Continued

Mazeppa Bay Photo

This beautiful photograph was taken in the Wild Coast in the Eastern Cape by Lauren Goulding. Mazeppa Bay is one of the most beautiful areas of the Wild Coast and is well known for its excellent fishing. There are a wide variety of game fish to be caught (the biggest ever caught was apparantly a 791 kg Great White Shark). For more info see Mazeppa bay. Continued

Discovering the Eastern Cape

Addo Elephant Park

For hundreds of years, the Eastern Cape has been the ancestral stronghold of the Xhosa people and while in many ways it has become westernised, remnants of this tribal history remain in the people and some of the unspoilt areas of the province.

On entering the Eastern Cape on the N2 highway one crosses the Bloukrans Bridge, the boundary between the Eastern and Western Cape. The very first attraction one is greeted with is the world’s highest commercial bungee jump, at 216 meters. This is a good indication of what is to come.

The Eastern Cape is an exhilarating experience for visitors from the bustling port cities of Port Elizabeth and East London with the blue flag beaches of the Eastern Cape such as Kings Beach, to the rural tranquility of the Transkei. Despite the cosmopolitan feeling in some of the urban centres, there is always an element of the untamed, just below the surface. Continued

Bayworld Museum Complex

Bayworld

Now known as Bayworld, which means you get to see the Oceanarium, the snake park, and no 7 Castle Hill as part of the same visit, the country’s third oldest museum boasts a 15 metre Southern Right whale skeleton, a life-size reconstruction of the giant dinosaur Algoasaurus (it’s not a recently discovered species, but a take on Algoa Bay!), and a bronze cannon that dates back to 1640 that was recovered from a Portuguese galleon shipwrecked off the coast near Port Elizabeth.

If that isn’t enough reason to visit the Port Elizabeth Museum, which effortlessly combines cultural and natural history in displays of dinosaurs, bird and marine life, costume and local history, Xhosa beadwork and a curiosity corner, then perhaps the maritime history hall will do the trick. Fully rigged models of sailing ships of an era long gone by, together with the ships’ artefacts, never fail to impress; whilst models and skeletons of whales, sharks and dolphins give one a still life view of the live animals on display in the Oceanarium, which offers close encounters with local marine wildlife. And the snake park is a veritable feast of reptiles that include tortoises, juvenile crocodiles, geckos, terrapins and snakes. Continued

The Transkei

Wild Coast

When driving towards the Transkei, particularly between East London and the Kei River crossing, it almost seems as if you are entering another country. This, you can tell, is wild, untamed country. Whereas en route to Transkei you will travel through towns and cities much like any other in South Africa, when you get there these bastions of civilization are few and far between, with miles and miles of lush, unspoilt green fields and countless aloes lining the hills and valleys of this beautiful area instead.

Having been an independent homeland, the traditional Xhosa stronghold for many years the Transkei retains a sense of difference and otherness, despite its reintegration into South Africa. Still dotted here and there with traditional Xhosa rondavel kraals perched precariously on the slopes of the perpetually misty mountains and herdsman still to be seen watching the herds of cattle that symbolize wealth here, the Transkei can seem like a land lost in time. Continued

Jeffreys Bay – Laid Back Leisure

Jeffreys Bay

The town of Jeffrey’s Bay, located just South of Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape, is undoubtedly South Africa’s surfing capital. Stories about the formation of the town abound, many claiming it was found by a shipwrecked captain. Some say the town was founded by surfers, but the real story is that a certain Captain Jeffrey, while sailing his cargo ship along the coast in the mid 1800’s, decided that the place was the ideal location for a holiday home.

He did just that in 1850, and for years – living alongside the local people – he was the only colonial resident. More residents did move in though, and the local hotel, a landmark, was built in its original form, from timber and corrugated iron, around this time. The original hotel was demolished and rebuilt in 1968, and still exists as such today. Continued