South Africa Travel Guide: Unspoilt forests and wild beaches surround the ‘friendly city’ November 6, 2008
Posted by dodo in : Africa, Europe, Museum, Oceanarium, Rail Pass, Tickets, Tour, Trails , 2commentsThere are many places within easy reach of Port Elizabeth that offer fine walks and hikes through unspoilt natural surroundings. Even within the boundaries of the city, walkers who take to the Guinea Fowl Trail through Settlers Park Nature Reserve will be surprised by the wildness of the area.
Settlers Park contains some 160 different trees and shrubs, and is noted for its richly varied birdlife — which includes the Knysna loerie, giant kingfisher, fork-tailed drongo, gymnogene, herons, Guinea fowl and Egyptian geese. Also common are dassies (Hyrax), tortoises and leguans. The Guinea Fowl Trail takes two to three hours to walk, but is relatively easy. Many shorter walks through the park are also possible, and the park has several entry points, making it easily accessible from almost any part of the city. (more…)
A wild, rocky coast and quiet forests of mighty trees October 27, 2008
Posted by dodo in : Motel, Rail Pass, Tickets, Trails, Trip , 2commentsBetween Plettenberg Bay and Knysna the N2 winds through pine and eucalyptus plantations and patches of indigenous forest. Today’s drive, much of it on gravel, follows several side-roads, two of which lead to the coast — then turns inland to explore the depths of the primeval forest, where the last of the Knysna elephants live their secret lives.
Leave Plettenberg Bay on the N2 towards Knysna, and note your kms as you pass the Stromboli Motel on your left. After a
Further 3,7km turn left onto a good gravel road signposted ‘Harkerville’. 1 km later turn left, and after a further 500 m, at a small group of houses, turn right, passing picturesque cottages before entering indigenous forest with ferns crowding the roadside. (more…)
To the ‘magic mountain’ through the Seven Weeks Rail Pass October 22, 2008
Posted by dodo in : Africa, Cape Town, Hotels, Rail Pass, South Africa, Tour, Trails , 2commentsSouth of the Karoo plains around Laingsburg, rolling hills swell into the sandstone peaks of the Klein Swartberg range. Rivers have etched their way through the seemingly impenetrable rock, and the slow erosion has exposed contorted strata that tower high above our winding route into the Little Karoo. About half the route is tarred. (more…)
The ‘Land van Waveren’ and the wild beauty of Bain’s Kloof part 1 October 12, 2008
Posted by dodo in : Africa, Cape Town, Hotels, Restaurant, Tickets, Wellington , 2commentsThis drive starts with the famous view of Table Mountain from across Table Bay, then heads north in the footsteps of early searchers for the fabled treasure of Monomotapa. The wealth they found was in the soil — rich farmlands flank our route to the ‘Land van Waveren‘ beyond the mountains. The entire route is on good tar.
Turn of the Table Bay Boulevard (N1) onto Marine Drive (R27). Drive past Milnerton, with the lagoon on your left.
Soon after passing Rietvlei on your right, turn left for Bloubergstrand, noting your kms. There are a number of parking areas along the beach- front which afford magnificent views of the sweep of the bay and Table Mountain. (more…)
Traversing Rugged Mountains and Sheltered, Bountiful Valleys October 10, 2008
Posted by dodo in : Accommodation, Cape Town, Hotels, Lodges, Rail Pass, South Africa, Tour, Trails, Trip, Wellington , 2commentsA series of scenic passes over stark and rocky mountain ranges forms a natural circuit — eastwards and southwards from the orange groves of Citrusdal to the gentle orchards of the Ceres valley, then west and north through Tulbagh and the wheatfields of the fertile Swartland. All but 40km of the route is on tarred roads.
Turn east out of Citrusdal’s Voortrek‑ ker Street into Paul de Villiers Street, noting your kms. After about 3 km there are fine views back over the town. The tarred surface ends 3,5 km later, and the road passes tangled rock formations. (more…)
Gargoyles and dragons — the magnificent rocks of the Cedarberg October 8, 2008
Posted by dodo in : Africa, Map, Sightseeing, South Africa, Tour, Trails, Trip , 2commentsA circular drive — almost all gravel — takes you through the rugged Cedarberg. But the section of 32 km from Wuppertal to Matjies River is a rough track suitable only for a. sturdy vehicle with a high ground clearance. Without such a vehicle this should be treated as two there-and-back day trips from Clanwilliam — as we have described it.
For the northern drive from Clanwilliam to Wuppertal, turn right at the northern end of Main Street for ‘Van‑
Rynsdorp via old main road‘, noting your kms. Keep straight past a road to Klawer on the left after 2,1 km. The tar surface ends soon after, and the road begins its gentle ascent amidst tumbled rock formations on both sides of the road — some of the rocks appearing to defy gravity by their top-heaviness. (more…)
Quaint old roads through the land of the copper mountains October 7, 2008
Posted by dodo in : Cape Town, Hotels, Museum, Rail Pass, Tickets, Trails, Trip , 2commentsThis drive is most rewarding in the spring when the display of wildflowers is at its best, but the panoramic views over Namaqual and and the mountain passes — Spektakel Pass and the Messelpad — are memorable at any time of year. Note that two-thirds of the ‘ route is on gravel roads, and that you must take food and drink with you.
Drive north-east alongSpringbok’s Voortrekker Street and turn right towards ‘Airport/Cape Town‘, noting your kms as you turn. After 1 km turn right at the T-junction, and after a further 4,3 km turn left, noting your kms again. (more…)
Geomantic feature of the ancient Tower of London, Secret face of Britain’s Capital City August 22, 2008
Posted by dodo in : Accommodation, Air Tickets, Airlines, Destination, France, Hotels, Ireland, London, Sightseeing, Tour, Trails , 3commentsMost people today think of the Tower as the sinister place built by William the Conqueror where prisoners were kept and tortured, and where illustrious heads rolled, including those of Sir Thomas More, Sir Walter Raleigh, Anne Boleyn and Lady Jane Grey. Over the centuries, in addition to being such a notorious place of confinement, the Tower has served as a garrison, a palace, a zoo, a mint and an observatory. The Tower continues to house the Crown Jewels and other royal regalia, but this important spot in London’s geography goes back much further, and is referred to in the medieval Welsh texts known collectively as The Mabinogion, which record themes much older. To the Celtic Britons, the site on which the Tower stands was Bryn Gwyn, the White Mount, ‘White‘ meaning holy. The White Tower, the central keep of the site and the original part of the structure to be built, recalls this appellation. (more…)
