First day in Pretoria – not been here since 1982Memorial to Nelson MandelaThe Union Buildings – difficult to photograph by virtue of the sheer size and the sun shining – the buildings were designed by Sir Herbert Baker
The Telekom Tower:
The Telekom Tower – open everyday – except today
The Voortrekker Monument:
The Voortrekker MonumentAs grim inside as it is outsideLooking toward the city from the Voortrekker Monument
The Schanskop Fortress:
The Schanskop Fortress – we did also go to the Klapperkop Fortress but that was also closed, as you’d expect a tourist attraction to be on a public holidayView from the fortress
Rietvlei Nature Reserve:
Southern White Rhino in Rietvlei Nature Reserve, near Pretoria. The horns are kept short to deter poaching – there have been no Rhino deaths attributable to poaching here since 2016
Johannesburg
The Carlton Centre:
Johannesburg – or Jozi, as the locals now call it. The City Sightseeing Bus is a great way to see the place. It took around 3 hours to do the green and red routes with only three stops: two to change buses (from the green route to the red route and then back to green) and the Carlton Centre – for me, for old time’s sake (I stayed near here back in 1982)Views of Johannesburg from the 50th floor of the Carlton Centre tower blockThe Carlton Centre opened in 1971 and is still the tallest building in Johannesburg and they claim the whole of Africa…No one can accuse Johannesburg of being an attractive city but it is interesting and it is undergoing regeneration…
The Apartheid Museum:
The entrance to the Apartheid Museum for non-whites… https://www.apartheidmuseum.org/The Apartheid Museum is another grim reminder of the cruelty and stupidity of humans…
Liliesleaf:
A visit to Liliesleaf – like the Apartheid Museum – another grim reminder of the oppression inflicted by Europeans on the majority of South Africa’s population – https://www.sahistory.org.za/place/liliesleaf-farmLilliesleafA giant amongst menSo: was Olof Palme assassinated by the CIA or BOSS?
East London to Port Elizabeth
East London Airport
Grahamstown:
The Cathedral of St Michael and St George in GrahamstownGrahamstown town hallDowntown GrahamstownThe astonishingly ugly settlers monumentLooking down over Grahamstown
Port Elizabeth:
The Donkin lighthouse in Port Elizabeth
From Port Elizabeth to Mossel Bay
Storms River:
Storms River
On The Road:
Driving by George
Mossel Bay:
Mossel BayWho doesn’t love a Nestlé factoryA full scale replica of the caravel commanded by Bartolomeu Dias at the Bartolomeu Dias Museum, Mossel BayAt the Blue Shed coffee shopA strange collection of cars at the Blue Shed coffee shop – great coffee, though…The lighthouse at Cape St Blaise
Swellendam
On the road to SwellandamSwellendamSt Emmanuel in Swellendam – built in 1911, replacing the old church
On the road to Cape Agulhas
De Hoop Nature Reserve:
Koppie Alleen in the De Hoop Nature ReserveKoppie Alleen in the De Hoop Nature Reserve
Cape Agulhas:
The lighthouse at Cape AgulhasView from the lighthouse at Cape AgulhasAnother view from the lighthouse at Cape AgulhasThe southernmost tip of AfricaThe point at which the Atlantic and Indian Oceans meet
On the road to Hermanus
HermanusWhale watching in Hermanus
To Stellenbosch via Somerset West
A fine view over Somerset West
The Cheetah Outreach:
4 cheetah cubs at the Cheetah Outreach, Somerset West- the oldest is 5 1/2 months. Cheetah sleep from 16 to 18 hours a day…
Stellenbosch:
Stellenbosch Stellenbosch Stellenbosch Stellenbosch Part of Stellenbosch UniversityLunch at Greengate – a lovely little bistro in Stellenbosch
Cape Town
1, Belvedere Avenue, Cape TownView from the rear balcony
Table Mountain:
Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens:
At the Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens: a Barberton Cycad – cycads have been around for an estimated 100 million years, they are very slow growing, endangered and live for thousands of years…
A Motorway Service Station:
There can’t be many motorway service stations where you can see Southern White RhinoA Secretary Bird – in a birds of prey rescue centre near Dullstroom
Long Tom’s Pass:
Long Tom’s Pass (Long Tom being the gun) – around 2000m and spectacular viewsThe gorge at the Mac Mac Falls (falls themselves not shown as the fence blocked the view and the sun was shining directly above them)…Forest Falls between Sabie and GraskopA day of sightseeing around the Panorama Route – a stunningly beautiful region around Graskop. In a country that’s not exactly short of stunning scenery and spectacular landscapes, this is certainly worth exploring. Here are the “three rondavels”…At the Bourke’s Luck PotholesAt the Bourke’s Luck PotholesAt the Bourke’s Luck PotholesAt the Bourke’s Luck PotholesAt the Bourke’s Luck PotholesThe PinnacleThe PinnacleLisbon FallsLisbon FallsBerlin FallsStarting the day with yet more stunning scenery – at the Graskop Gorge, where you get a fascinating glimpse of South Africa’s much diminished indigenous forest…A Cape Starling – a murmuration of these would be a sight to beholdMomentary loss of focus…Breakfast visitorA Blue-headed Tree Agama
Botswana
Chobe National Park
The Caprivi Strip:
For anyone who has always wondered what the Caprivi Strip looks like. The Caprivi Strip is a 450km strip of land that is part of Namibia and which separates Botswana from Angola and Zambia. It is named after Leo von Caprivi, a German Chancellor who, in 1890, exchanged this strip of land with the British for Zanzibar. It gave the Germans access to the Zambezi and their former colony of Tanganyika. It was part of this treaty that Britain ceded Heligoland to the Germans, as well. Needless to say, ceding Heligoland was remarkably dim…
Going Bush:
Sunrise in the ChobeThere was me thinking that the A33 went to Basingstoke…
A Leopard:
Lucky enough to see a leopard in the Chobe National Park
Elephants:
As Nature Intended:
The Chobe River forms the border here between Botswana and NamibiaSunset
Eswatini
Crossing the border into Eswatini – it changed its name from Swaziland in 2018…The Foresters Arms HotelThe Foresters Arms HotelThe Foresters Arms HotelSibebe – the beer of Eswatini at the Foresters Arms HotelA visit to Mlilwane Wildlife Sanctuary…Roan AntelopeA weird place called House on Fire, which is a collection of curio shops, a theatre and a restaurantSo, farewell Eswatini – or Swaziland as most people know you and as most of your signs still indicate you – confusing, maybe – but a lovely little country all the same. And your capital – Mbabane – seems to be pronounced as in “mbuh-bahn” – but who knows. If you’re over this way, pop in and say hello…Hello South Africa
