Umbrella mushroom

I found these petite little mushrooms in my back yard the other day and I realised. Fairies and pixies also need umbrellas to hide under when it rains.

Tolbos Country and Coffee Shop

The Gamtoos River Valley is a beautiful area just west of Port Elizabeth. It is a farming area producing mainly citrus and potatoes and an awesome option for a weekend or day getaway out of the city and into the scenic countryside. At the heart of the Gamtoos Valley is the town of Patensie and right at the entrance of the town is Tolbos Country and Coffee Shop.

Tolbos is a real country shop and you will find everything from home baked rusks and biscuits to preserves and jams right out the farm kitchen.

Other than jams, the shelves are filled with bottled fruit and things like liuqeurs and fresh oranges. Out of the kitchen you will find the best farm breakfasts and home baked cakes and pies around. Definitively worth a stop on a day in the country.

Victorian Post box

There are a couple of old and historic post boxes around the country that is still in use. I found this old post box dating from the Victorian era just outside the Somerset East Museum in the Eastern Cape town with the same name.

Yellow church blooms

Yellow flowers in front of a church in Prince Albert in the Karoo

Burchell's Zebra

On our visit to Addo Elephant National Park the other day we found a couple of Burchell's Zebra browsing on an open field just past the Marion Brie waterhole. The Burchell's Zebra is the most common zebra in South Africa and are normally found in short grassland areas within savanna woodlands and grassland plains. The body stripes (each individual have a unique set of stripes, very much like fingerprints) of the Burchell's Zebra is less numerous and broader than that of the Cape Mountain Zebra with less prominent stripes on their legs. The Burchell's Zebra also has a distinctive brown phantom stripe on their white stripes.

A foal is born after a gestation period of 360 - 390 days. When it is born the mother will first take it away from the rest of the herd so that the foal can get used to her unique stripes and sent and will be able to identify her. Only then will she go and introduce it to the rest of the herd. The stripes are used for camouflage either in the bush or when the group is in its heard. With all the stripes moving around a lion wouldn't be able to focus on one individual and they have a better chance of escaping.

Bayworld

The Bayworld Complex on the Port Elizabeth beachfront consist of the Port Elizabeth Museum, Snake Park and Oceanarium. I have done several posts about Bayworld on my blogs, most recently a series of 10 photos early in April on Port Elizabeth Daily Photo. I visited it quite often as a child and it lightens my heart that the Rugrats also enjoy going there. Unfortunately the complex is having financial problems and any exposure and assistance helps, hence this post.

My interest in dinosaurs and fossils was always fueled by the Dinosaur Hall. The main feature in the exhibit is the life size Algoasaurus of which bones were found in the area. My favorite exhibit though is the Shipwreck Hall with all the noteworthy wrecks from around Algoa Bay.

Another popular exhibit at Bayworld is the Marine Hall with the central feature being the skeleton of the last Southern Right Whale to be hunted in Algoa Bay. Other things forming part of this hall are whale and shark exhibits.

Currently there is a temporary exhibit next to the Snake Park called Africa's Lost World. The exhibit consists of several life sized moving dinosaurs. The Snake Park's permanent exhibit includes a big number of local and foreign snakes, crocs, lizards, tortoises and turtles.

The Port Elizabeth Oceanarium was made famous by its dolphin family and their performances. Unfortunately the last two dolphins were moved to Hong Kong about a year ago. Even though there isn't any dolphins anymore, the Oceanarium still does seal and penguin presentations along with a new feature called the penguin walk. The Oceanarium also has its two aquariums, a small one with tropical fish and a large one with sharks, various fish species and turtles.

Bracket Fungus

I have a thing for bracket fungus. I'm always fascinated when I find some of it out on a walk. Bracket fungus are normally found on dead hard woods in the form of their characteristic shelf or bracket shaped fruiting bodies called conks. Bracket Fungus is a very important part of the a forest's existence as it helps to break down plant matter, in this case tree matter, to be reintroduced into the soil. Although the actual conk grows on top of the dead wood, it puts it's root system into the wood and breaks it down from the inside.