Month: January 2025

Posted on

Monday morning/ Munich bound ✈️

It was time on Monday morning to squeeze everything into my suitcases and backpack, and head for Cape Town International Airport to catch the Lufthansa flight to Munich.

Two views from my hotel room window: from sunset Sunday night, and from early Monday morning.
In the distance, the mountains are from left to right: Table Mountain, Lion’s Head and Signal Hill.

Posted on

Sunday/ in Stellenbosch 🍇

My brother and I ran out to Stellenbosch University (our alma mater) on Sunday.
We stopped at the Faculty of Engineering, at Dagbreek Men’s Residence and at the Neelsie Student Centre.

A major remodeling of the main wing of the Faculty of Engineering is underway.
The buildings for the individual departments of the Faculty of Engineering look a little different from 40 years ago, with lettering and new windows. The engineering library is now called the ‘knowledge center’ (Afr. kennissentrum). Hmm.
A little house remodeled into offices, across from the Faculty of Engineering.
Here’s Victoria Street in summer time, with the trees a neon green, and the sky azure blue. The historic dormitories of Stellenbosch University as well as administrative buildings are found here.
The tennis courts where I had spent countless hours playing on as a student, are still there, as is Helshoogte Men’s Residence, and Simonsberg mountain in the distance.
The Neelsie Student Centre is quiet now, but will be abuzz with students come February when the new academic year gets underway.
Red Square* (Afr. Rooiplein) with its sun dial.
*Officially, it is the Jan Marais Square. A long time ago, though, students jokingly started calling the Administration Building nearby the ‘Kremlin’ because the notice boards (where exam results and class marks were pinned up) would declare their fate as a students. So this is a tongue-in-cheek reference to the main city square in Moscow that is the real Red Square.
Posted on

Saturday/ around Mossel Bay 🏖️

It was time to drive back from Plettenberg Bay to Cape Town on Saturday.
I stopped at my uncle and aunt in Mossel Bay, and took a few pictures around downtown and the beaches.

The town of Mossel Bay lies on a outcrop called The Point, about 2 hours’ drive west from Plettenberg Bay. This is where Portuguese mariner and explorer Bartolomeus Dias set foot on land in 1488 after becoming the first European navigator to round the southern tip of Africa.
In recent years it has become a very popular destination for retirees and for younger people moving from South Africa’s northern provinces to the Western Cape province.
Here’s the sands and calm waters of Santos Beach that has just a hint of surf.
The boat and water sport enthusiasts hang out on the other end of the beach, where there is a launch ramp for fishing boats and other craft.
The ‘Stone Church‘ (Afr. Klipkerk) of the Dutch Reformed Church on Church St in downtown.
The cornerstone was laid in 1878 and the church was consecrated in 1880.
Further down on Church Street the blue water of the bay come into view.
The Prince Vintcent Building on Bland Street dates back to 1901. It hosts architects offices, cafes, bakeries and studios.
The St Blaize Terrace building from 1909 is on Marsh Street near The Point.
Nearby is this beautiful building for the old The Point High School (which now houses Milkwood Primary School).
Keating & Co did the construction, also in 1909. The stones were quarried in the hills and transported with cocopans on the rails to the school. Different stones were used: dark pink stones contrasts with the sandstone around the windows.
This tide pool is across from The Point Caravan Park.
Posted on

Friday/ Jukani wildlife sanctuary 🦁

These pictures are from our visit to Jukani wildlife sanctuary this morning.
The encampments are reasonably large, and in almost all cases the animals are from zoos or from situations where they will no longer survive in the wild.
Animals in the pictures: Burchell’s zebra, springbok, lion, mountain lion, Siberian tiger, caracal, brown hyena.

Posted on

Thursday 👺

Here is a selection of photos du jour.

There was no palm tree at this beach house that belonged to my family thirty years ago.  My dad sold it in 1996 and some time after that it was turned into a self-catering guest house.
The 6-story atrium inside the Beacon Isle hotel.
This is a western cattle egret (Bubulcus ibis).
A decorative mask from Ghana, for sale in the Global Village art store here in Plettenberg Bay for US $184.
Posted on

Wednesday/ the Knysna waterfront ⚓

Knysna is a town on the Garden Route and 33 km (20 miles) west of Plettenberg Bay on the N2 national route.

The pirate ship on the Knysna waterfront offers a bar and snacks, and trips around the Knysna estuary up to The Heads and then back again for sunset.
There are many other kinds of watercraft in the marina, of course.
This is a view from a restaurant called Drydock Co towards the Knysna Heads: the headlands of two peninsulas that enclose and form the Knysna River Estuary.
This public art installation of bronze with a chromed finish is called “Zephyr”, and the artist is Stephan Raubenheimer.
Posted on

Tuesday/ Robberg Beach 🌞

My friends and I went for a walk on Robberg beach this morning, and for a very pleasant swim in the Indian Ocean.

The peninsula called Robberg is 8 km (5 miles) south of Plettenberg Bay on the Garden Route. It is a nature reserve, and also a World Heritage Site.
This is Robberg Beach No 5 (one of several beaches with lifeguards between the Beacon Island Hotel and Robberg).
The water temperature was very pleasant, all due to the warm Agulhas sea current coming down the coast from further up north.
Posted on

Monday/ Central Beach 🏖️

There was no rain today here in Plettenberg Bay, but it was still cloudy and mild, with a high of only 23 °C (74 °F).
I went for a walk on Central Beach late this afternoon.

This picture is from early Sunday evening, of the iconic Beacon Isle hotel, with Central Beach in the foreground.
The site of the hotel has a distinctive history: it was a whaling station at the turn of the twentieth century, and became the location of a small hotel in 1940.
In 1972, this hotel was demolished and replaced with the six-story Beacon Isle Hotel.
Watch out for great white sharks! 🦈
Looking at that bar chart below the shark’s tail fin, it appears that it is less likely in January for sharks to appear in these waters.
Plettenberg Bay has experienced increased white shark activity in recent years and tragically suffered two fatal shark bite incidents in 2022, within three months of each other.
Little egrets (Egretta garzetta) roosting in a tree in the parking lot across from the Beacon Island hotel. They are herons, belonging to the family Ardeidae.
Here comes a fishing safari boat, hot and heavy, so that it can beach and then be winched further up onto the sand.
There is a rocky outcrop on the far end of Central Beach (away from the Beacon Isle Hotel).
Posted on

Sunday/ to Plettenberg Bay 🐚

It’s a 6-hour drive to Plettenberg Bay. We opted for the N1 national route through the Huguenot Tunnel to Swellendam, from where we took the N2 to Plettenberg Bay.

I could only take pictures of the first half of the drive, while I was the  passenger and not the driver.  🤗

It’s a 6 hour drive from Cape Town to Plettenberg Bay.
Here is the entrance to the Huguenot Tunnel.
It is a toll road tunnel that runs through the Du Toitskloof Mountains, connecting Cape Town to the northern regions of the country.
The tunnel is 3.9 km (2.4 mi) long and it opened in March 1988.
The tunnel offers a route that is safer, faster (between 15 and 26 mins) and shorter (by 11 km/ 6.8 mi) than the old Du Toitskloof Pass over the mountain.
At the other side of the tunnel, there are beautiful scenes of the Du Toitskloof Mountains.
Soft cloud puffs and the jagged outcrops of the Du Toitskloof Mountains.
This is a railway station building in the town of Robertson.
The town of Ashton lies at the foot of the Langeberg mountain range.
This arch bridge is new (it opened in August 2021) and lies over the Cogmans Gorge River (Afr. Kogmanskloofrivier) in Ashton.
Here is Swellendam, the third oldest town in South Africa after Cape Town and Stellenbosch.
I found this hibiscus flower in Riversdale, as we made a stop to have some lunch.
This is the N2 national highway in the Riversdale area— even though it offers only one lane in each direction here.
We did not run into too much traffic going east, but we ran into lines of cars going in the opposite direction, heading back to Cape Town. The kids in school still have a week or two of summer recess, but maybe mom or dad will have to go back to work on Monday.
Lots of rolling hills and farmland in the Riversdale area.
We made it! We lost the blue skies and the sun along the way, but that’s OK. It’s just a rainy day in Plettenberg Bay and we will soon have the sun back.
This is the view from our Airbnb, of the Keurbooms Estuary and the beaches around Plettenberg Bay.
Posted on

Saturday/ checking out 🏨

It’s time to leave the Cape Town area, and the Airbnb that I have been staying in. My friend and I are driving up the coast to Plettenberg Bay in the morning.

I have been staying in an apartment in one of these buildings by the Tyger Waterfront in Bellville. The complex is built around an old quarry that has been transformed into a 4-hectare man-made lake with a promenade around it.
A Cape wagtail (Afr. Kaapse kwikstertjie, Motacilla capensis) sits on a handrail.
And this fella is a rock hyrax (Afr. Kaapse dassie, Procavia capensis). They are small, plump and tail-less guinea-pig-like animals, about as large as a big rabbit.
Posted on

Friday/ Father Time ⏳

Happy Friday, the first of 2025.
Here is one more cartoon from South African newspaper Die Burger (“The Citizen”) by cartoonist Dr Jack.

Father Time 2024 to Baby 2025: “Behave yourself”
Pop-up Party Hippopotamus: “A beautiful year to all of you”
Posted on

Thursday/ fishes from Mozambique 🐠

I am buying stamps from South Africa and southern Africa now that I am here, and saving a little money in the process. (Stamps from this part of the world are sent to the USA by express airmail or by international courier— which can be $40 or more for one shipment. Surface mail takes several months).

I love this 1951 definitive issue from Mozambique, part of a set of 24 stamps.
At the time, Mozambique was still a Portuguese colony, and the currency was the escudo.

The fishies are going to swim in freshwater when I get them home, so that I can separate them from the paper that they are pasted on.

 

Posted on

Wednesday/ Happy New Year ☺️

It’s 2025!
Happy New Year!
The cartoon is from the South African newspaper Die Burger (“The Citizen”) and by cartoonist Dr Jack.

“Good news, swarrie*! Even though your barbecuing leaves a lot to be desired, we have decided to stay until after New Years”
“You may have to run out to the store today, since the brannas** is AGAIN running a little low. “
#$!&🤬
Side Comment by the little hippopotamus: “House guests are like fish— after three days they start to stink”

*old brother-in-law; **brandy/ supply of brandy