Our first snow experience

Internationally people don't really associate South Africa with snow and is often surprised when they hear that some areas do get snow in winter.  Large sections of the Drakensberg as well as parts of the Western Cape, Eastern Cape and eastern Free State often get snow with the bigger cold fronts that hit the country during winter.  When a particular severe one hits most of the southern mountains in the country are covered in snow as was the case on the weekend of 16 July.  My family has never seen snow and we just haven't had the opportunity to do the three hour drive that would be needed to get to it either because it always happens during the working week or we have something else on.  On that particular weekend the Damselfly and I was in Knysna for the (cancelled) Knysna Half Marathon and couldn't get the family to the Graaff-Reinet area to see snow. 

A lot of people from Port Elizabeth made the drive up that weekend and all we heard was how good the snow was.  Obviously the Kidz were very disappointed that we weren't able to do it.  This week snow fell early in the week and on Wednesday night we were told that there were still snow about just north of Graaff-Reinet.  Thursday was Women's Day and thus a public holiday so I bundled the family into the car and hit the road at 5am with the hope to find some snow.  After breakfast in Graaff-Reinet we headed for the mountains and up the Lootsberg Pass which is the highest in the area... and only found a little bit of snow next to the road.  We then turned for the Wapadberg Pass and struck it a but luckier, although it was crystal clear that our informant was wrong and most of the snow seemed to have melted long before we got here.

The important part though was that we got to see snow for the first time, even if it was only a patch next to the road, and wasn't going to let the opportunity to experience it go to waste.  After doing the obligatory snowball fight the Kidz got right into building their first snowman, adding the scarf and beanie that came along for this purpose and not forgetting the carrot I had to stop and buy in town after breakie.

The Kidz just couldn't get enough with Drama Princess making snow angels and Chaos Boy building a second snowman just for good measure.  This all inbetween sporadic snow battles that just didn't want to get old.

Ah yes, and even though yours truly prefer to stay behind the camera I just had to get a picture myself.  We had a marvelous time experiencing the little of snow we found but it was a bit disappointing.  I'm not sure if there will be another opportunity to see snow again this winter, but knowing what we know now we will definitively attempt a proper snow experience again next winter.

Stormy St Francis

When the wind blows in Cape St Francis it doesn't hold back.  Arriving in town for a function I actually thought that if the wolf in Three Little Pigs ever ran out of breath to huff and puff with, this would be a good spot come and stock up again.  Not that its an every day occurrence, but everybody wants to show off every now and then and on this day the wind was showing off.

When it rains in the mountains...

I have mentioned in other posts that we had a lot of rain during our stay in the Drakensberg.  Our first day was a nice sunny one on which we did the Lookout Rock / Tiger Falls trail.  At the top of the trail I took a photo of the moon just above the mountain.  I didn't notice that the moon was "pouring out".  The old people used to say if the moon is "pouring out" (upside down) then its going to rain.

And rain it did... again... and again... buckets full... truck loads full... cats and dogs...

Little streams...

... became torrential rivers...

... and little gentle waterfalls...

... became big angry waterfalls

Fire bird

During the recent fires around Port Elizabeth I headed over to Fairview to get some fire shots. I came across this very interesting sight. This black headed heron (one of three I could see) was patrolling all along the fire line. There were literally hundreds of grasshoppers and other insects fleeing from the fire and quite clearly the gang of herons caught on to this and became opportunistic hunters. They didn't have to search for the food, the food came to them.

Old Fire hydrant

A picture I took recently when the fires were burning all around Port Elizabeth. I was on a dirt road in Fairview and found this old fire hydrant marker in the grass next to the road with the fire in the background. Thought is was a bit of an ironic sight.

Water droplets

Aaaaaaa..... There is no place like home. We got back from two weeks of camping yesterday and although its nice being on holiday, its nicer to get cleaned up properly and to sleep on your own bed and not an inflatable mattress. My back is shot. Now to sort through all the pictures I took to see what can be posted and what can go straight into my stock. Holiday pictures will start tomorrow. In the mean time here are a couple of pics I shot the day before we left after we had a bit of an overnight drizzle.

Rain in the Karoo

The Karoo can be a dry and lonely if it hasn't rained for a while. Farmers are very dependent on water and most farms have boreholes and windpumps to get the water for their farms to be able to function. But when it does rain, the Karoo and its inhabitents rejoice. Specially if a thunderstorm approaches after a hot day and cools everything off.

One of the things the people of the Karoo loves most is seeing water in puddles and dams after the rain

Grass fire

On my way home on Friday I noticed the fire department's grass fire unit go by towards some smoke in the distance. I took a shortcut and actually got there before the truck, just to find a grass fire next to the surburb of Overbaakens.

There were three crew members in the truck and they got the hose out very quickly and started working on stopping the fire from getting to the houses. I took this pic litterally moments before the truck nearly ran over me. I was standing right up against the truck to get the pic when the fireman (not seeing me there) decided to pull it forward. Thank goodness for my catlike reflexces. *wink*

Here the fireman firelady is doing her thing with hose in hand

Fire

I've posted so many nature picture lately that I thought I'll post something totally different today. I nearly used the word "anti-nature", but although fire is natures biggest enemy in most case, it could also be its friend. One case that comes to mind is 'Fynbos' (also known as the Cape Floral Kingdom). Fynbos consist of about 8500 different plant species but covers the smallest area of the all world's biomes. The seeds of a lot of fynbos species drop down and could lie underground for years waiting for the next fire. When a fire comes it burns down all the old plants and the heat causes the seeds to germinate and grow after the next rains.

This fire was a small veld fire that was burning next to my hotel on my last visit to Johannesburg. I could get nice and close and because it was night it made for a nice pic.

Wind and sand

I have done a couple of posts on the Sundays River and the Colchester dune fields before on the Port Elizabeth Daily Photo. During my last visit there the wind was howling and the sand was blowing all over the show. Now we all know sand and cameras aren't the bestest of friends, but I braved the wind and sand to try and get a couple of photos of the sand blowing off the dunes.

Cloudy streaks

Driving home the other afternoon I couldn't but help to stare at the sky in awe. There was the most amazing cloud streaks painted on a brilliant blue sky. As soon as I got home I grabbed my camera and ran out on the street to get a couple of shots. I couldn't really choose only one for here, so I posted the best three.

For more great Skywatch pictures from all over the world, visit here.