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Cape Town and Surroundings
The African penguin occurs along the coast of southern Africa. Although the species is endangered, these penguins are abundant in the few locales that they inhabit. A breeding colony was established several decades ago at Boulders beach on False Bay.
 Penguins at Boulders beach. |
 Penguins at Boulders beach |
 Cape Peninsula from Cape Point. |
 Table mountain from Long St., Cape Town. |
 Table mountain from the Cape Town waterfront. |
Western Cape
 Eastern shore of False Bay. |
 Eastern shore of False Bay. |
 Hermanus. |
 Walker Bay from Hermanus. |
Knysna lies along the southern Cape coast, about halfway between Port Elizabeth and Cape Town. The small Knsyna river managed to punch through the sea cliffs and has formed a large lagoon. Until the late 1970s Knysna was a relatively quiet logging and boat building town that had attracted numerous retirees. Since then it has attracted an overwhelming number of tourists.
My grandparents retired to Kynsna in the late 1960s and I visited many times as a child. Despite the overbuilding and the omnipresent pandering to tourists, it remains a pleasant town.
 Hannah and Pete, Knysna. |
 Knysna lagoon at low tide. |
The Swartberg mountain range runs west to east about 200km inland in the Western Cape Province. South of the range lies the narrow Little Karoo region and to the north the vast Great Karoo, a mostly flat semi desert punctuated by occasional hills and mountains. The Swartberg range is best known for the tortuous Swartberg pass which connects Prince Albert to Oudtshoorn. This was built in the late 19th century as an alternative to the flood prone Meirings Poort pass. Nowadays the National Road uses Meirings Poort and the Swartberg pass, still unpaved and single lane in many places, receives mostly tourist traffic.
 Northern gateway to the Swartberg pass, between De Rust and Prince Albert. |
 Typical Karro house, Prince Albert |
 Dutch Reformed Church, Prince Albert |
 Vertical strata, typical of the mountains in the Western Cape, Swartberg Pass. |
 Southern side of the Swartberg pass, between De Rust and Prince Albert. |
Grahamstown and Surroundings
Grahamstown, home to Rhodes University, is a small town in the Eastern Cape province. It was originally established as a British military outpost in 1812 but quickly grew into a regional business and educational center after the arrival of the British settlers in 1820.
Grahamstown is not well represented online on maps. For a map indicating its location in South Africa click here. More information is available at the Grahamstown Tourist Information website.
 Rhodes University, Grahamstown. |
 Along the Oldenburgia trail, Mountain Drive, Grahamstown. |
 Grahamstown. |
 View toward Amatola Mountains, just north of Grahamstown. |
 High Street, Grahamstown. |
 Grocott's building, Grahamstown. |
 Hannah, Laurel and I in the small indigenous forest on the James' farm near Grahamstown. |
 A donkey cart, still a common from of transportation. |
Eastern Cape
 Middle beach, Kenton. |
 Shelly Cove, Kenton. |
 Abandoned British fort at Double Drift. |
 Fort at Double Drift. |
 Fish River at Double Drift. |
 Fish River, Double Drift Nature Reserve. |
 View from Madonna and Child trail, Hogsback. |
 Near Madonna and Child waterfall, Hogsback. |
 Three Sisters, near Rietriver. |
 Hannah and my mother, Rietrivier beach. |
 Kap River nature preserve, near Fish River mouth. |
 Intersection of main roads, Steytlerville. |
 The endless Little Karoo, Eastern Cape. |
 Main street, Riebeeck East. |
Flora and Fauna
 Protea, Kirstenbosch, Cape Town. |
 Protea, Kirstenbosch, Cape Town. |
 Pin cushions, Kirstenbosch, Cape Town. |
 Pin cushions, Kirstenbosch, Cape Town. |
 Coral Bean Tree, Bathurst, Eastern Cape. |
 Lizard, Cape Point, Western Cape. |
 King Protea, Mountain Drive, Grahamstown. |