On one of my last days in Cape Town, my sister Judy and I drove to the little fishing village of Kalk Bay. We were looking to buy some fresh fish off the boats, and found some Yellowtail for dinner. We had lunch in a wonderful little restaurant on the railway line, overlooking the bay, and explored the quaint shops full of all kinds of tempting treasures before heading home in the afternoon.
I just spent a few days in the Cape Agulhas / Struisbaai area at the southernmost tip of Africa, where the Indian Ocean meets the Atlantic. This part of the country is renowned for being unpredictable, with quick changes in the weather ,and wild seas, as evidenced by the many shipwrecked vessels littered along the rugged coastline. It is remote from the larger cities (a three hour drive from Cape Town, for example) and mainly comes alive during the summer, when holiday makers flock to its shores. Here are some photos that I took during my visit. What a beautiful place!
Every year I spend a few weeks in South Africa visiting my family. The first two weeks I spent in Durban with my mom, and we spent many hours sitting on her sunny verandah watching the garden birds as well as other random visitors. Here are some pics that I snapped during that time. Next on to Cape Town and a five day stay at Struisbaai, a beautiful little town near Cape Agulhas, the southernmost tip of Africa, where the Atlantic and Indian Oceans meet.
My nephew farms some land in the Swellendam area of the Western Cape, set against a stunning backdrop of the Langeberg Mountain range. He uses completely natural, sustainable farming principles, and keeps mostly pigs, although there are a couple of goats and sheep who have been adopted along the way. Saroo, the Great Pyrenees farm dog is the protector of all! Here is some more information about Simon’s farming philosophy: https://www.facebook.com/1792394950/posts/pfbid0oKAosnyzS1TNvyiv3YxoPDfYLChEfWp3skyGKmS2PY8gm8mL6gQrDgusvtrFTWbHl/?mibextid=cr9u03
We spent a night in the area and here are some of the images.
This is the land of my birth, and much as I love and appreciate being a citizen of the USA, there are definitely ties that bind me to South Africa. I have family ties here, and it is also one of the most beautiful countries in the world. That’s not just my opinion; it is echoed by many who have traveled here. I have returned every year since I left (except for a brief COVID interruption) and although like most countries, this one has it’s share of problems, the beauty is unchanged. Here are a few images of places in the Western Cape area.
I’m back in the USA after spending a month in the country of my birth, South Africa. So many stories to tell, so much I could say, about the sadness and the hopelessness, the unnecessary suffering. Mainly due to corruption and theft. Theft from the people who have been robbed of an opportunity to create a great new African example of growth and prosperity. Theft by those in positions of authority at every level who have used those positions to enrich themselves at the expense of a naive and trusting people who believe their empty promises and vote them into power. I took these photos to illustrate a theme that is repeated everywhere in this country. The disparity between the haves and the have-nots. There’s plenty of blame to go around and plenty of opinions, but it is what it is.
I have posted about these guys in the past, but since nothing much else exciting goes on in my Mom’s retirement village, here is another episode, season 2 🙂
People put out food for the birds before they go to bed – big mistake! Problem is that monkeys get up earlier than the birds and so apply the old adage – “ya snooze, ya lose”.
Actually there was some other excitement the other morning, and it wasn’t good excitement. Five of the residents’ homes were broken into and robbed during the night. The little village is surrounded by a wall with an electric fence, and there are gate guards on duty 24/7, but these things still happen. Fortunately no one was hurt, but the old folks were still pretty rattled, especially one lady who sleeps with her phone right next to her bed and who discovered it gone the next morning!
I took another short break from the city of Durban and flew approximately 300 miles south to East London, and from there traveled back north a few miles to the quaint coast town of Gonubie where my sister and brother-in-law have a house. The house is on the Gonubie River lagoon, and we decided this morning to swim across the river and hike north along the beach for a few miles to a place called the Kwelera National Botanical Garden, also on the beach. It turned out to be more challenging than we expected, since a lot of the terrain was very rocky and flip flops should not have been my choice of footwear. We expected it to take an hour and it took more like 3 hours to cover the 4 mile stretch of coastline. Fortunately we were picked up by car at our destination so didn’t have to walk back. These are a few of the photos I took along the way.
I think that for those like me who were born in Africa, the pull of the wild stays with you, no matter where one wanders throughout the course of life. There is something that nourishes the soul when standing on untamed soil listening to the sounds of the birds and letting your senses absorb the wildness of the land and its inhabitants. This is the best of Africa, its finest gift.
We are almost at the end of a long, hot summer and I’m so looking forward to feeling less lethargic and more energized to get out there and photograph my world. In the meantime, I sat in my airconditioned office and dug back through some old folders and reminisced about past adventures. Here are a few taken in South Africa over the last few years. Such a long way to go and now even more tedious thanks to the COVID19 virus, but amazingly beautiful and worth the effort. Soon I’ll be heading to the North Carolina mountains for some fall photography – can’t wait.
