In Australia, just about everything is toxic and deadly. It is home to the worlds only known poisonous mammal, the duck billed platypus, the stupendously lethal box jellyfish and the blue ringed octopus, amongst many, many others.
True Blue Aussies are not going to lose sleep coming to South Africa, but perhaps the British, who’s most poisonous animal is the house cat, may be more tentative.
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As I’m sure some of you have noticed this Logue is pretty one-sided, so to speak, in the favour of Cape Town. There is nothing wrong with that, but there are other beautiful parts of South Africa that are just as attractive.
Philip has asked me to help provide a balance and let the readers know what is hip, hot and happening in Durban or Durbs to the locals!
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The last few days have been real swelterers. Today being the worst by far, Hitting at least 39 degrees in Capt Town CBD and the mid 40’s inland. The “comfort factor” in Cape Town was estimated at 44 degrees Celsius which is around 4 million puny Fahrenheit’s. Ok 111 F, but that’s still hot enough to melt amalgams.
The huge downside to the balmy weather, apart from being poisoned by your own melted fillings, is the amount of bush fires that start and devastate areas. Many of the bush fires are started intentionally by idiots, and others unintentionally by idiots. Very few fires start naturally especially in Cape Town as we never see lightening in Summer.
One of the common causes according to the fire department are “bergies” smoking mandrax pipes up in the hills and passing out when they get too high. Informal settlement homes mainly use paraffin stoves for cooking and piles of combustible rubbish can easily start a razing blaze. In the preceding two days have made over 1000 people homeless, destroying 240 shacks. Last year this time, a British tourist was arrested for starting the BIG fire that destroyed many homes and took lives. I never did hear what happened to him… but I will warn all visitors not to throw lit cigarettes out of car windows!! The Fynbos on Table mountain is a protected species and authorities take exception to it being burnt down along with fire-fighters and homes.
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Every time I take a walk on the beach in Cape Town, I am always amazed at the amount of, for lack of a better word, Biomass. The sheer quantity of ex-seafood that gets washed up makes you think just how rich and bountiful our coastline still is.
For example, in an hour we collected 100 shy shark egg casings (mermaids purses). We also met a guy who collects sharks teeth. He is there just about every evening and claims the blackened teeth are petrified. I can’t imagine what a 2” Great White fang has to be scared of, but after searching his secret patch for a few minutes we found 2!!. Very impressed.
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SA Logue brings you the lowdown on the camps of the Kruger National Park. See our Kruger Camps tag for more.
Crocodile Bridge Camp
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Two Crocs in Kruger River
Where is it? On the banks of the Crocodile River, at the Kruger Park’s southeasternmost tip, right next to South Africa’s border with Mocambique. (Discounting Komatipoort, the next stop on the N4 after Crocodile Bridge is Mocambique’s town of Ressano Garcia.)
Kruger Park Maps
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The Vredefort dome is the worlds largest meteor crater and is situated 120km SW of Johannesburg.
It is said to have been created by a chick chunk of rock the size of Table Mountain vaporizing 70 Cubic Kilometres of earth on impact and a crater 300km wide.
Vredefort’s original impact scar measures 380km across and consists of three concentric circles of uplifted rock. They were created by the rebound of rock below the impact site when the asteroid hit. Most of these structures have eroded away and are no longer clearly visible.
The dome is also known for its unusual chaotic magnetic properties, which make compasses swing wildly and amalgam fillings play K.i.s.s FM.
As a tourist destination, the dome is a place of great scenic beauty. Home to over 450 species of nesting birds, butterflies and other more interesting wildlife.
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Brian Habana, South Africa’s fast running (11sec for 100m) sweetheart of Rugby, recently raced a cheetah for charity, you can see the video on CNN.
They had to bring in a Hollywood stunt team to stage the event, and posted animal wranglers armed with tranq guns, all along the course to prevent the cheetah nibbling on Habana’s throat.
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Disa Linderiana is the name given to the brand new orchid found near the summit of Sneeuberg (Snow Mountain) at 2000m above sea level. It has been named after orchid expert, Professor Peter Linder.
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Shark diving and in particular shark cage diving has become very popular in South Africa in the last few years. The controversy is that some people are linking the increased chumming of waters (blood and fish guts) to increased shark attacks on our shores. Diving in cages is also a whole day affair, including boats, waves and potentially vomit. While they may not be an alternative to seeing a Great White gnashing through bars to get to your face, on land there is another option which may suffice.
On our wedding anniversary, for reasons unknown, Sarah gave me a ticket to dive with the sharks at the Two Oceans Aquarium at the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town. This is done in the huge central tank, without a cage and for all patrons to see, much like the Coliseum.
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If I had my druthers, I’d be packing today for a weekend trip up the West Coast and into the Northern Cape, where the farmers say the wildflowers have begun to bloom, and are carpeting vast swathes of Namaqualand in bright color.
Mind you, it’s going to be cold, cold cold up yonder - the whole of SA is currently being plagued by a particularly nasty spell of winter weather - so the flowers might not show their pretty faces come sunup. (They prefer strong sun, and tend to only half-open in weak light.) On the other hand, …
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