Moonrise on the Wild Coast

I spent the most amazing three days exploring the Wild Coast recently and will still post all about it in the coming weeks.  Obviously there are lots of photos to share as well.  In the mean time here is one I took at Wavecrest on my first night of the moon rising over the river mouth at about 7pm.

Dune Ridge - a country jewel in the St Francis Bay crown

When you think St Francis Bay in the Eastern Cape you tend to think beautiful coastline and black and white houses on the canals.  If you had to spend a weekend in St Francis you would probably expect your guesthouse to have stunning sea views or be situated right on the canals.  Yes, but not always.  We spend a fabulous weekend at Dune Ridge Country House just outside (and with this I mean literally only a stone's throw away) St Francis Bay and found anything but.

 

 

As we arrived at Dune Ridge we knew we were in for a treat.  This award winning - it was the national winner in the four star country house category at the 2013 Lilizela Awards -  accommodation establishments are nestled away between thick coastal fynbos teeming with a multitude of bird species and the large dune fields to the rear of the property.  You are literally removed from the rest of St Francis Bay so it gives you a great country feeling while still only 5 minutes away from the beaches and canals.  We were welcomed by owner Sarah Swanepoel who showed to our rooms consisting of two of the 6 double rooms in the main house.  Unfortunately the family cottage outside was booked but there was an inter leading passage joining the rooms giving us our privacy yet still being close to the KidZ. 

 

The guesthouse is surrounded by lush gardens and once the KidZ started exploring they quickly came back to fetch us and point out the paths to the swimming pool and well hidden spa area.  The pool looks like the ideal spot to sit with a book and cool down between chapters.  Unfortunately for us it was a cool autumn weekend which meant that we skipped the pool and rather went for a couple of short hikes along the Cape St Francis coastline nearby.  The one thing we didn't get a chance to do was Dune Ridge's Frog Safari.  Not for the squeamish I presume but I'm sure the adventurous would get to see a couple of potential princes (and princesses?) hopping around in their torch lights.

Although Dune Ridge serves dinner we tried out a couple of places in the village.  Breakfast was a feast though, served out on the stoep the first day and inside the dining room the second.  Talk about spoiling us rotten.  The KidZ especially loved the waitress who brought them hot chocolates with probably more marshmallows in it than actual hot chocolate.  The same stoep was also the perfect spot for afternoon coffee and listening to the birds (when we could get to KidZ to be quite for 5 minutes) with a glass of wine around sunset.  Was it sunset or wine 'o clock? I can't remember.  But is there a difference?

 

Dune Ridge really is something a little bit different from what you expect out in that area.  The guesthouse is a mixture of colonial nostalgia and modern sophistication yet it isn't stuffy and pretentious.  It's family friendly, very homely, a beautiful setting, offers great service and dishes up good food.  Yes I know that line sounded just a bit too cliché but believe me, you get everything but cliché.  The only problem?  Our stay being just too short. 

 

Disclosure: We enjoyed the visit as guests of  Dune Ridge Country House.  I received no further remuneration, wasn't asked to write a positive post and keep full editorial control.

Red Dragonfly

Even though I am known as Firefly, the Dragonfly must be my favorite insect.  A long weekend at Sitrusoewer next to the Sundays River near Kirkwood had me spending a lot of time on the water in a canoe and I was amazed at seeing how many dragonflies and damselflies there were.  I got this picture of a Red Dragonfly and decided to see if I can find out what it is called.  I never really found the answer to my question.  I did find this out.  There are in the region of 750 species of dragonfly in the whole of Africa.  Most of these are found in the tropics.  In South Africa there are 158 species, 90 of these being ‘true' dragonflies and the other 68 damselflies.

The beauty of the Langkloof

The Langkloof may not be a developed and marketed tourism route, but it is very scenic and has tons of tourism potential.  Its biggest disadvantage though is that it runs parallel to the world renown and very popular Garden Route.  I really enjoy driving through the Langkloof which stretches over a distance of about 200 km between Kareedouw in the east and Herold, just north of George.  But who wouldn't?  It is flanked by mountains on the north and south and the scenery changes from fynbos to summer fruit orchids and back at regular intervals.  The Langkloof was named by Isaq Schrijver in 1689 but wasn't thoroughly explored until 1752 by an expedition led by August Frederik Beutler.  The valley has been farmed since 1760 and some families have been there several generations by now already.

Table Bay sunset

In my home town of Port Elizabeth we get the sun rising over the sea giving beautiful sunrise picture opportunities along the beachfront.  In Cape Town its the total opposite.  Sunset is enjoyed with the Atlantic Ocean as setting.  Usually when I am in Cape Town I like to head up to Signal Hill at least once to enjoy sunset.  During my last visit I decided to rather head down to the Sea Point Promenade.  A rather good choice me thinks. 

African Blogger Awards - Photography runner-up

I am currently exploring the Wild Coast a bit while on my way to #Indaba2015 in Durban and have had very periodic internet access.  On checking Twitter yesterday afternoon I saw a tweet announcing that The Firefly Photo Files has taken the runner-up spot in the Photography category of the African Blogger Awards.  Say what?  It took a double take and a quick check at the other tweets announcing the different winners and runners-up before it dawned on me.  I actually took second place in the African Blogger Awards!  It hit like a ton of bricks. Well, actually like a totally unexpected message on Twitter but you get the idea.  The one thing that struck me though (except for that proverbial ton of bricks) is the fact that the category was my second choice, Photography.  I actually entered the blog in the Travel category and it gave me an option to choose a second category as well.  So there it is.  Always keep your options open because sometimes it pays off to have a little backup in place. 

I don't normally enter blog competitions because often the winners are chosen on popularity by seeing who can get the most votes.  These awards used Webfluential's social media tracking to measure blog traffic as well as social media engagement so I gave it a shot.  Apparently a shot was all I needed. 

The African Blogger Awards aims to acknowledge the top African talent in the world of Bloggers, YouTubers, Facebookers, Tweeters, and Instagrammers. These awards provide an opportunity to the most successful online influencers in Africa to be recognised for their hard work in growing and keeping their communities active and engaged.  Reading this makes me really proud of the achievement and recognition that this blog has received.  Now all I can hope for is similar recognition from my peers and those making use of bloggers  in their campaigns or just to create content.  To my regular followers, thanks you for sticking around and enjoying what I have to share.  I may not be a professional photographer or writer (well, hopefully at some stage in the future I will make some money from doing it) but I do it because I have an absolute passion for travel and really enjoy sharing what I see, discover and experience with you.  This one, is for you.

My Table Mountain

I have a special affiliation with Table Mountain.  If I haven't been to Cape Town for a while I miss it like you miss a loved one.  When I do visit the Mother City I can't take my eyes off her... it... erm... the mountain.  One would swear I'm having an affair with her. So what if I do?  Anyhow, I usually try and visit Table Mountain every time I'm in town, even if its only for a trip to Signal Hill.  I wish I had time to hike up Lion's Head or the table itself while in town or just had the bucks to go up the cable car every time. This last trip I stayed in Tamboerskloof so at least had an early morning walk along Table Mountain Road, but in general Signal Hill it will have to be.