Graaff Reinet's Obesa Nursery – Walk the Cacti Labyrinth

Obesa Cacti Nursery

You either get it, or you don't. With the Obesa Cactus Nursery. Although describ­ing it as a 'nurs­ery' hardly does the exper­i­ence justice. For a visit here, if you allow it, is far more of an exper­i­ence than it is a simple trip to the nurs­ery to pick up a cac­tus or two for your win­dow sill.

First of all the 'nurs­ery' takes up the bet­ter part of a block. For those of you who want to find it, hunt down the street dom­in­ated by a myriad psy­che­del­ic­ally painted houses. They're a series of guest houses that go by the same name as the nurs­ery (run by Johan's ex-wife, who remains a fan des­pite that). The nurs­ery is dir­ectly across the road, and all over the pave­ment, and, if you look around you, on just about every avail­able piece of ground.

That this is the work of a man with a pas­sion is obvi­ous. Having lived with a garden­ing nut who has trans­formed the bet­ter part of our city garden into a wild veget­able man­dala, I think I can handle it. Continued

5 great things to do when in Graaff-Reinet

Reinet House

Stop your car on the out­skirts of town on the Camdeboo Mountain Drive and below you will lie the cir­cu­lar shape of Graaff-Reinet, held within a gen­er­ous bend of the Sundays River closest to you, and the moun­tains of the Sneeuberg in the back­ground. It's a glor­i­ous set­ting, to say the least.

Depending upon the time of year that you go, it will either be mer­ci­lessly hot (at least 40 degrees in the shade if the last couple of sum­mers are any­thing to go by) or really cold (dur­ing winter).

Neither of which should act as a deterrent, for the town is not only beau­ti­ful, it is also pretty large as far as Karoo towns go, full of a rich his­tory (it's the fourth old­est town in the coun­try after Cape Town, Stellenbosch and Swellendam) and it has count­less places to visit and things to do. Continued

I ♥ Kenton on Sea Because ...

I ♥ Kenton on Sea

Hi, I’m Gill Pringle from Beach House in Kenton on Sea.

Kenton on Sea IS BEST KNOWN FOR its sheltered coves and pristine stretches of beach.

GET YOUR PICTURE TAKEN AT Carriage Rock which is an inter­est­ing land­mark and com­mands a superb sea view.

THE BEST fam­ily PICTURES CAN BE TAKEN AT Shelley Bay and Mermaids' Pool.

OTHER HAPPY SNAPS AT Bushmans River mouth.

WHEN THE WEATHER'S GOOD, I LIKE TO swim at Shelley Bay.

WHEN THE WEATHER'S BAD, I LIKE TO curl up under a mohair blanket with a good book and enjoy the view from Beach House. Continued

I ♥ East London Because ...

I ♥ East London

Hi, I’m Leigh from The Rose 'n Ale in East London on the Sunshine Coast in the Eastern Cape.

East London IS BEST KNOWN FOR its friendly people and lovely beaches.

GET YOUR PICTURE TAKEN AT the Esplande as there are often dol­phins surf­ing the waves.

THE BEST beach PICTURES CAN BE TAKEN AT Gonubie, and Nahoon beaches.

OTHER HAPPY SNAPS AT the lion park (where they breed white lion and you can usu­ally play with them), the East London zoo and the aquar­ium, not to men­tion the ele­phant exper­i­ence at Inkwenkwezi. Continued

I ♥ Summerstrand Because ...

I ♥ Summerstrand

Hi, I’m Christine Landman from Carslogie House in Summerstrand.

Summerstrand IS BEST KNOWN FOR its beau­ti­ful beaches.

GET YOUR PICTURE TAKEN AT the Pier because it has the most beau­ti­ful view.

THE BEST beach PICTURES CAN BE TAKEN AT Hobie Beach or fur­ther along towards the flat rocks.

OTHER HAPPY SNAPS AT The Boardwalk and Entertainment Centre.

WHEN THE WEATHER'S GOOD, I LIKE TO take a long walk along the prom­en­ade which stretches all along the beach­front or to play a game of golf at the Humewood Golf Course.

WHEN THE WEATHER'S BAD, I LIKE TO visit The Boardwalk Casino and Entertainment Centre.

I THINK THE BEST TIME OF YEAR TO VISIT IS sum­mer, BECAUSE the beach­front is a hive of activ­ity. Continued

I ♥ Port Alfred Because ...

I ♥ Port Alfred

Hi, we are Valerie and Peter from Sunshine Cottage in Port Alfred in the Eastern Cape, South Africa.

Port Alfred IS BEST KNOWN FOR being the Heart of the Sunshine Coast with pristine beaches, nature trails, the Kowie River, good game reserve and deep sea fish­ing. Many res­id­ents are des­cend­ants of the 1820 Settlers.

GET YOUR PICTURE TAKEN next to the old can­nons on Wesley Hill.
THE BEST hol­i­day PICTURES CAN BE TAKEN AT the small Boat Harbour or at the river mouth.

OTHER HAPPY SNAPS AT Big Pineapple in Bathhurst only 8 minutes away and in front of the small air­craft at 43 Air School en route. Continued

I ♥ Port Elizabeth Because ...

I ♥ Port Elizabeth

Hi, I’m Jonker Fourie (known online as Firefly) from Port Elizabeth Daily Photo in Port Elizabeth.

Port Elizabeth IS BEST KNOWN FOR its friendly people, beau­ti­ful beaches and coast­line, game reserves on our door­step, diverse his­tory and unfor­tu­nately... the wind, which isn’t any­where as bad as people like to make it out to be.

GET YOUR PICTURE TAKEN AT with a lion cub at Seaview Game and Lion Park or chee­tah at Kragga Kamma Game Park.

THE BEST sun­rise PICTURES CAN BE TAKEN AT Shark Rocks Pier or on the Donkin Reserve.
OTHER HAPPY SNAPS AT Sardinia Bay, Maitlands or around the his­toric build­ings on the Donkin Heritage Trail.  Check out PE Daily Photo for lots of happy snaps ideas. Continued

Rhodes and Barkly East — Photographs

The Northern Ukhahlamba region of the Eastern Cape is an area of wide open spaces dom­in­ated by the majestic Drakensberg.  Known for its freez­ing winter tem­per­at­ures it is one of the only areas in the coun­try where snow ski­ing is avail­able!  This is not the only activ­ity avail­able though with options like moun­tain bik­ing, trout fish­ing, horse trails and fossil trails also high on the list of things to do.

The vil­lages of Rhodes and Barkly East are found in these Eastern Cape Highlands (one reaches Rhodes from Barkly East).  Barkly East is known as the Switzerland of South Africa, offer­ing almost guar­an­teed winter snow.  Rhodes is a little more remote and almost seems frozen in time.  Declared a con­ser­va­tion area in 1997 the vil­lage boasts won­der­ful archi­tec­ture from the flat-roofed church house to the Herbert Baker designed stone school house.  If you are vis­it­ing make sure you pop into the Rhodes Hotel. Continued

I ♥ King Williams Town Because ...

I ♥ King Williams Town

Hi, I’m Alida  from Twins Guesthouse in King Williams Town in the Eatern Cape.

King Williams Town IS BEST KNOWN FOR its his­tor­ical build­ings and sites. The town star­ted as a mis­sion sta­tion on the banks of the Buffalo River in 1834 and boasts a num­ber of old and inter­est­ing build­ings.  The British Kaffrarian Savings Bank housed the fin­an­cial insti­tu­tion from the 19^th Century to the cur­rent time and Fort Murray dates back to 1848.

GET YOUR PICTURE TAKEN AT Terry’s Sound and Vision. If you don’t fancy that why not find a suit­able spot in the Botanical Gardens.  The gar­dens are beau­ti­ful and fea­ture five sep­ar­ate con­ser­vat­or­ies. Continued

Grahamstown, the 'Festival City'

Main Street Grahamstown

Grahamstown is renowned as “the Festival City”, as it is host to the largest arts fest­ival in Africa — the National Arts Festival. Most people visit the town dur­ing the fest­ival period, and exper­i­ence the crazy bustle of thou­sands of tour­ists jost­ling their way down High Street, dodging between the hawkers tout­ing their African wares, and on to the next fant­astic show. In-between fest­ival time, Grahamstown is a sleepy town. Grahamstown is also known for its many schools, and Rhodes University, and the town’s pop­u­la­tion seems to swell dur­ing term time when the stu­dents return to this quiet town that many stu­dents refer to as “the bubble.” Continued

Graaff-Reinet, gem of the Karoo

Graaff-Reinet

Stargazing, like whisky, is an acquired taste. It takes patience, an appre­ci­ation of subtle nuances and enough time to fully become involved in either activ­ity. Stargazing while drink­ing whisky? Well, that might just be the path to travel enlightenment.

Graaff-Reinet, the Gem of the Karoo, offers some of the best star gaz­ing in the world with enough space and an atmo­sphere con­du­cive soak­ing up some of the radi­ant cos­mo­lo­gical won­ders that the Southern Hemisphere’s heav­ens have to offer. Continued

The Kowie Canoe Trail

Kowie Canoe Trail

Have you decided to have a week­end away and want to com­bine activ­ity and adven­ture?  Canoe trails make for an ideal hol­i­day.  The Kowie Canoe Trail will lead you approx­im­ately 21kms up the Kowie River past attrac­tions such as The Old Wreck, Windy Beach, Rabbit Rocks, Cob Hole, Black Rock, The old Mill, The Reef, Ferry Glen, White Rock and on to the Camp at Horseshoe Bend.

If you are the adven­tur­ous kind con­tinue a short way past Ebb and Flow where fresh water flows down the Kowie River and into the sea.  Look out for sight­ings of game on the east bank of the river ... Continued

Fugard Festival in Nieu-Bethesda this Weekend

Fugard Festival

If you are lost for some­thing to do over the Heritage Day long week­end why not book last minute accom­mod­a­tion in the Eastern Cape town of Nieu-Bethesda and attend the Fugard Festival?  Athol Fugard was born in 1932 in the town of Middelburg and went on to become South Africa’s most import­ant play­wright and cer­tainly the first to gain an inter­na­tional repu­ta­tion, and is now renowned as one of the worlds greatest playwrights.

The 2010 ABSA Fugard Festival will keep you enter­tained with a num­ber of plays (includ­ing four Fugard plays).  The fest­ival is the only place in the world where you will be able to see so many Fugard plays in one fest­ival – right here in the Eastern Cape!  Apart from the Fugard plays there is also the loc­ally pro­duced Hotel Paradiso ... Continued

Picadillis in Middelburg, Karoo

Picadilli's in Middelburg

I recently bought the sweetest little scarf.  My brother and I were en route to Ficksburg from Graaff-Reinet and stopped in Middelburg for a) Karoo biltong and b) pet­rol (in that order of import­ance).  To be hon­est, Middelburg is not much to look at but our biltong search was prov­ing futile (I know, you wouldn't think so, it was the Karoo after all!) so we drove around the town a bit try­ing to find a butchery.  Right at the end of a road I spot­ted a mus­tardy col­oured shop called Piccadilli's.  ‘Let’s try down there’ I said to Gareth and he duly turned left and steered us towards the shop in ques­tion ... Continued

Win 2 Nights for 8 People at the Luxurious 5-Star Graded Addo Afrique Estate (closed)

WIN a 2 night stay for up to 8 people at Addo Afrique Estate private game reserve, loc­ated in the malaria-free Greater Addo area of the Eastern Cape, over­look­ing Addo Elephant National Park.

Addo Afrique offers two 5 star graded lodges — Addo Afrique Giraffe Lodge and Addo Afrique Elephant Lodge — each designed for optimum game view­ing. Vast pic­ture win­dows lead­ing on to spa­cious wooden decks afford breath­tak­ing pan­or­amic views of the Addo plains – ideal for watch­ing herds of anim­als, includ­ing buck, ele­phant and buf­falo as they come to graze at sun­rise. Continued