Slices of Africa

Time to travel - or not

2010-03-13T17:48:00.000+02:00

When I started this blog, I was planning to travel much more than I ended up traveling.....sigh.... hence the very few entries in this blog. A friend of mine once said "have passport, will travel". I feel like that but life doesn't always work out like this. Apologies to those people who follow this blog and eagerly await the entries.

The brilliant news is that we are traveling to Lesotho over the Easter weekend. Yippee - I can't wait. We are going to Semonkong - the highest abseil in the Southern Hemisphere. Expect lots of photos when we have returned.

Hillcrest to Vryheid

2009-10-04T18:56:00.000+02:00

Who drives to Vryheid, any sane person would ask. Well, it's in the Battlefields region of KwaZulu Natal for starters and the lady who owns the Burmese Cat Stud that I use, lives in Vryheid. Oh yes, I forgot to mention, I also breed Burmese cats. Today was the first time I drove to Vryheid and back. It's about 300kms from home. Instead of going on the N3 to Ladysmith, then across to Dundee and up to Vryheid, I drove to Pietermaritzburg, across to Greytown, through Tugela Ferry, Dundee and onto Vryheid. What an amazing drive. What I did not know is that just after Greytown through Tugela Ferry to just before Dundee there are these amazing mountain passes with awesome scenery. Guess what, I did not take my camera with me. Sigh... I am going to have to teach myself that when I pick up my car keys to go anywhere, I need to pick up my camera as well.

There is this amazing single lane vehicle bridge at Tugela Ferry. It is constructed from steel. There are stop signs on either side of the bridge so motorists need to take turns to drive over the bridge.

The good news is that I will be traveling this road often, in the cat breeding season, so I will remember to take my camera next time and post some photos. In the meantime I have found a few links using Google, hopefully the links remain active. It is definately a route worth traveling.

Hilton Arts Festival

2009-09-21T15:24:00.000+02:00

There are several music/drama/art festivals held at schools in KwaZulu Natal, South Africa. Last weekend was the turn of the Hilton Arts Festival held at Hilton College. It is held every year in September. I am not sure of the actual dates as this year is the first year I have ever attended. My daughter went up on Saturday with friends and watched the Battle of the Bands - a competition for music bands with one winner at the end. Often the winner will be offered opportunities to play at other music festivals etc.They also watched a show called "A Boy Called Rubbish". She loved both the show as well as the Battle of the Bands.

On Sunday we went up as a family to watch the Nibs van der Spuy concert. What an awesome performance. He is such a humble person but what a talented guitarist. It is well worth seeing if you can catch a show in an area near you.

This photo is of the entrance to the small intimate venue where the concert was held.

While we were walking around after the concert, I took photos of some of the buildings (Cape Dutch Architecture)

There was a rather wonderful looking fountain in the middle of the craft fair.

There was also a craft market with high quality goods. These craft markets are always well worth attending.

This stall was selling quilts made my South Africans in the KZN Midlands.

In all it was a worthwhile experience - we had a great day out. I will definitely go again next year

The Midlands Meander

2009-09-13T07:35:00.000+02:00

Apart from the Drakensberg Mountains, the Midlands Meander is one of the most beautiful areas in South Africa. This morning I took a drive through Howick, to Lidgetton, and then onto the Caversham Mill Road to visit a good friend of mine who is house sitting on a farm in the area.

There is something magical about the area. It is a major arts and crafts route in Kwa-Zulu Natal. As a result there is so much to see - specialist shops and general craft shops, a host of Resturants and B&B's. One of my favourite places is Piggly Wiggly. They serve the most amazing cappuccino - with a swirl of chocolate mousse on top. Absolute heaven (if you are a chocaholic :LOL)

On the way home I saw the most stunning small waterfall underneath a low bridge.....South Africa has the most wonderful scenery as I have already mentioned and will keep on mentioning....sorry. It's my passion for Africa. I can drive through the same area time after time and never get bored, there is always something new to see.

Apologies

2009-09-02T21:02:00.000+02:00

It is taking longer than expected to load photos of my trip to the Northern Drakensberg. I hope to have them up by the weekend. Please come back often.

Reasons for this blog

2009-08-30T08:35:00.000+02:00

As you would have read in the description of this blog, I am a child of Africa, I love Africa, her people, her colours, the African Sun and I would love to share some of this love with you, the reader. Yes, Africa has her negatives (as much as any other continent or country), the crime, the corruption etc but it doesn't make me love her any less. It is my wish that you, the reader, will be able to share my love of Africa with me.