A Ninja Turtle problem in East London

I was in East London a couple of weeks ago and noticed the neighbourhood watch board on the guesthouse gate.  Neighbourhood watch groups do an amazing job getting residents together and curbing crime in residential areas and I live in a suburb with a very active neighbourhood watch. Looking at this board though I thought to myself that we're very lucky in our area not to have a Ninja Turtle problem like they do in East London.

Beware the Warthog

 

Being from the Eastern Cape we all know that there are areas where you have to be very careful driving at night.  Unlike our friends in the Big Smoke it's not robbers and highjackers we have to be careful of, but rather Kudus.  These big antelope jump fences up to 2 meters tall and come and browse on the side of the road after dark, often jumping into the road and colliding with cars when they get startled by the bright lights.  Because of this Kudu warning road signs is a regular sight on the roads of the Karoo Heartland.

But lately, a new sign has stuck its head out.  A Warthog warning sign.  Now warthogs don't jump fences, for that their legs are way too short.  But they do burrow underneath and they can often be seen on the side of the R75 road towards Graaff-Reinet from Port Elizabeth.  Hence, Beware of Warthog signs. 

For some reason, I just want to sing, "Hakuna Matata! What a wonderful phrase. Hakuna Matata! Ain't no passing craze..." when I drive past them. Go figure...

"We still Bezzy for the Moument"

A walk around the Reinet House Museum in Graaff-Reinet recently had me wander into the mill house in the backyard.  They're currently busy with restoration work and a hand written sign on a piece of torn off cardboard caught my eye.  I just had to snicker. Clearly somebody asked one of the Afrikaans workers doing the restoration to just put up a sign so that people don't fidget with the mechanism and this was the result.  No, I'm not being a Grammar Nazi, I just love the simplicity of it .

Scaredy-cat

After climbing the Danger Point Lighthouse outside Gansbaai in the Overberg in December, Drama Princess and I headed down the path towards the rocks to find a Geocache hidden nearby.  As we hit the trail down we encountered this sign.  Damn, those must be big spiders if there is a warning sign including them along with snakes.

Drive carefully at Seal Point Nature Reserve

The Seal Point Nature Reserve in Cape St Francis is home to the SANCCOB penguin sanctuary which is situated right next to the historic Seal Point Lighthouse.  From St Francis Way there is a short road that takes visitors to the lighthouse and SANCCOB centre and it is at this intersection that SANCCOB has erected this very interesting warning sign.  Can you name the animals you have to watch out for as you drive into and walk around the reserve?

Warning: Buffalo Crossing

South Africa's roads have many different road signs.  Some you see everywhere and sometimes you get those who crop up and make you do a double take.  When it comes to people and animals on the road there are quite a few.  Pedestrian crossing signs.  Warning signs for cattle, tortoises, children, poth-o-les (I'm not sure what a poth-o-le is and what it looks like though.  Must be some kind of nocturnal animal), kudus, cats and even penguins.  I have even seen signs with elephants on public dirt roads through game reserves and signs with dung beetles in Addo Elephant National Park.  But seeing a Buffalo warning sign on a tar road was a first for me.  The Buffalo Warning sign is situated on the R63 outside Graaff-Reinet where the road runs through the Camdeboo National Park.  Camdeboo is home to Cape Buffalo and they apparently often cross the road on their way to the dam to drink water.

Karoo railway signals

This railway signal at Cockscomb Station on the R75 to Graaff-Reinet really tickled my fancy for some reason.

Local is lekker....

The last few weeks have been a challenge.  It wasn't just my car being stolen with my backpack and everything in it which was locked in the boot.  It was also the fact that my backpack contained my camera which meant that I haven't been able to take photos lately except for a few pics with my phone.  It also means that my blogging hasn't been as frequent as it should be as I have been without any pictures to blog.  

Last Sunday I had to drive up to the Karoo town of Graaff-Reinet for a Monday meeting and to avoid coming back empty handed I snapped a bunch of pics with my trusty Samsung.  I love Graaff-Reinet.  It's one of my favorite towns and I never mind spending a bit of time there.  One of the other people who were there for the meeting saw this sticker on the back of a bakkie in town and snapped a pic which they sent to me.  I think it says it all. 

Port St Johns' Second Beach

Port St Johns. Scenic. Cultural. Rustic. Authentic. Rich experiences. Unspoiled beaches, Rugged coastline. Natural beauty. The backpackers' party town of the Wild Coast.  Port St Johns at the mouth of the Mzimvubu River really is an iconic town and covers all of that and more. Looking at the picture of Second Beach you could easily mistake it for a tropical island somewhere.

 

One word of warning though.  If you want to swim at Second Beach, don't go too deep into the water.  The beach has recently been named one of the most dangerous beaches in the world after the eighth person in 5 years lost their life in a shark attack here.  Zambezi and Bull Sharks are found along the coast and in the Mzimvubu River and is especially active if the river has been in flood so rather stick close to shore and obey the life guards at all times..

Time for a pitstop

Farm stalls all have their unique points and quirky bits. 

Daggaboer Farm Stall outside Cradock has this sign by the gents.....

Taking a gardening break before the wind comes

It's been a beautiful day in the Bay today and with some bad weather coming I made the most of it.  Spent the morning Geocaching with the Kids and did a quick bit of gardening in the afternoon, although I did feel like this wind vane at times.  I snapped the pic at Ann's Villa recently.

Straw People at Affie Plaas

Anybody who has driven along the R60 between Swellendam and Worcester cannot in good faith claim that they haven't seen the family of straw people next to the road just outside Robertson.  I put it like that cause there is just no way that you can miss the 3 meter high Mr and Mrs Straw with their kids next to the road.  So what are they doing there?  They're a gimmick to draw attention to the Affie Plaas farm stall.

Affie Plaas is a very popular spot along the road and here you will find anything from home made eats to handmade craft and wines.  This is a wine producing region after all.  There is fresh bread, farm butter, pies, milk tarts, goat's milk fudge and many other yummy things on sale.  Unfortunately they don't allow visitors to take photos inside the shop (which you are reminded of by signs on the shelves every two steps) so I can't really show you any of these goodies. 

Cape Point Vineyards

Visitors to the Cape would normally associate wine with the Stellenbosch and Franchhoek areas, so big was my surprise to discover the Cape Point Vineyard on the Cape Peninsula just outside Noordhoek.  Although some reports show that vines were planted in the Noordhoek area as early as 1752, the Cape Point Vineyard's first vines were only planted in 1998.  The vineyard is situated on a narrow strip of land between the cold Atlantic and the mountain with the warm summers and cool sea breeze creating the perfect micro climate with slow ripening conditions.

I'm not much of a wine drinker but couldn't resist escaping the family for an hour or so to go wine tasting at the vineyard's tasting facility.  They have two wine brands that they market, the first under the vineyard label,  Cape Point Vineyards, and the second one being their funky label called “Splattered Toad”.  They produce both white and red wines but their Sauvignon Blanc is world class and has won several awards over the last couple of years.  You can start by tasting a minimum of three wines (for curious non drinkers like me) or there are options that include more wines.  They also have a deli on site and you can order cheese, cold meats and fruit to enjoy with your wine. 

The Cape Point Vineyard, and specially their irrigation dam and system, is a primary breeding ground for the Western Leopard Toad which is endemic to the area.  The toad is also the figurehead of Noordhoek and the Vineyard has started working closely together with the local residents and Toad NUTS (Noordhoek Unpaid Toadsavers) in their conservation efforts of these toads.  The Splattered Toad label is based on the Western Leopard Toad and R1 gets donated to the conservation initiative for every bottle of Splattered Toad sold.  Funding was also made available by Cape Point Vineyards to, amongst others, erect signage to warn traffic of toad breeding zones.

Millwood mining town

After the 1885 discovery of gold in the forests about 15 km's outside of Knysna, a small town mushroomed up just about overnight as miners flowed into the area.  At its height the town consisted of 75 wood and iron cottages, 6 hotels, 4 boarding houses, a hospital, Methodist Church, a number of general dealers, bakers, butchers, banks, a music hall and 3 newspapers with over 1000 men mining in the surrounding forest and hills.  The gold rush ended just as quickly as it started and by 1893 there were only 7 people left in the town and all the old mine town buildings got moved to Knysna.  One of the original cottages still stands where it stood back in those days and today houses a small museum and coffee shop serving the most divine scones you can imagine. 

Further up the hill on the original Millwood town site there is very little left over except for the road and a number of signs pointing out where the prominent buildings stood.  Its a bit spooky knowing that you are walking through a town which is no more and I can imagine it being a lot more spooky up here after dark. 



The Central Hotel (one of six hotels in the town) must have been the life of the town and many a miner probably celebrated (and lost everything) here after a sudden windfall.  I followed the path into the heather from the sign and found some of the old foundations of the building overlooking a beautiful view across the valley.  Otherwise not much left here either. 

There were quite a few visitors to the area on the day of our visit and it warms my heart to know that both tourists and locals venture into the Knysna forests to see these attractions and don't just stick around town.

Keep out

Sign posts

I always enjoy it if I go somewhere and there is a sign post pointing towards major world cities along with distances. At that moment you realise how big the world really is and while I'm typing this the contrary is also true as within nanoseconds of clicking publish post this post will be available world wide.

This one stands on the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town...

... while this one is situated at Cape Point

Funny signs

Today I want to feature two signs that I photographed in Cape St Francis to the west of Port Elizabeth.

This one was put up on the little dirt road leading to the Seal Point Lighthouse. It was put up by the Ajubatus Marine Rescue group who has their centre next to the lighthouse. Just for those who don't know Afrikaans, "gat" means hole. Kimberley se gat refers to the Big Hole diamond mine in the town of Kimberley in the Northern Cape which is the world's biggest man made hole.

To this one I can only say:"DUH!"