The Victoria and Alfred Waterfront, known as the V&A Waterfront, is one of the top attractions in Cape Town, and always a hive of activity. Did you know: The V&A Waterfront is South Africa’s most visited destination!
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Sunset at the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town
March 20th, 2010
View of the town of George at Sunset
March 11th, 2010
View of the town of George at Sunset, from the top of the signal hill, next to the Cross on the Hill in George.
View over George after Sunset from Cross on Hill in South Africa
We Meet up with Ruan Smit and some Ostriches
March 9th, 2010
We Meet up with Ruan Smit and some Ostriches near Mossel Bay. Ruan is cycling around South Africa on his bicycle. This really is a man on a mission, it was 39 degrees celsius and he was cycling for 7 hours (Plett to Mossel Bay) in that heat! You can follow Ruan’s adventure on his blog and on Twitter.
Ostriches near Mossel Bay and Ruan Smit in South Africa
These Ostriches were very inquisitive, so Ruan had some fun with them giving them his sun glasses to play with, and engaging in some conversation. haha!
Good luck Ruan, enjoy the ride!
Another 360 degree photo of Durban Stadium
March 6th, 2010
Yes, we have been at it again, and put together another 360 degree view of the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban. Click full screen button on the 360 photo below, and use the menu at the bottom to choose another location for the second 360 degree virtual tour. Enjoy!
Click to Play 360 Virtual Tour of Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban
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Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth
March 4th, 2010
The Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth is one of the 5 brand new stadiums in South Africa, purpose built for the 2010 World Cup, at a cost of R2 billion (+- US$270million). Enjoy the 360 degree photo Virtual Tour below:
Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in South Africa by John Gore of 360 SA
The multi-purpose stadium was built to host both football and rugby matches, as you will see the rugby posts are up in this 360 degree image. A few more pics of the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium: Read more »
Proof of Elephants still in Knysna Forests!
February 26th, 2010
Early this morning we set off on a walking trail near Forest Edge Cottages, just 10km outside of Knysna. We were specifically looking for any evidence of the Elephants who some believe still roam wild in the Knysna Forests. SANParks believes there is is just 1 solitary elephant still roaming the Knysna Forest, aged between 25 to 35 years old (middle aged, elephants live up to 60 years old).
Not expecting to find any real proof, what we found really surprised us! Elephant dung! The elephant dung had been there for few months, and already had forest mushrooms growing in and around it.
Here is a 360 degree photo of the Elephant dung found, conclusive proof that wild Elephants do still exist in the Knysna Forests!
Dung of Knysna Elephants in Knysna Forests in South Africa
Here are some stills photos of the elephant dung: Read more »
Hats off to a Truly Great Hotel in Knysna
February 18th, 2010
I do not normally post on this blog about our clients or the places we stay (as this blog is supposed to be about the attractions we visit, view points, and other interesting things) but in this case I just have to make an exception (sorry guys, I just have to this one time).
It is a very rare thing to stay at a Hotel / Lodge / Guest House that makes our visit as special as our stay at the St James of Knysna has. This is simply an awesome establishment. Not only is this 5 star Hotel a wonderful structure, a beautifully decorated in antique and colonial furnishings, and the rooms are huge, but service from the staff also goes way beyond the norm.
Here is a 360 degree view of the awesome sunrise we enjoyed this morning (5:50am) from the balcony of the George Rex room at the St James of Knysna:
St James of Knysna sunrise in South Africa Photography by John Gore of 360 SA
Hein, Gillian, Del and Sandy have really made our stay a special one, and I’m not just reciting names I read on a name tag, each of these people have gone beyond the call of duty to make our stay here an exceptional one. Thanks guys!
Well deserving winners of the 2005 / 2006 / 2007 in the Luxury Lodges category of the AA Travel Guide Accommodation Awards, and Hall of Fame 2008 / 2009 ! Good luck for the 2010 awards too!
Here is a 360 degree view of the public lounge area at the St James of Knysna Hotel:
St James of Knysna Lounge in South Africa Photography by John Gore of 360 SA
Hats off to a brilliant Hotel, and team at the St James Hotel in Knysna!
Chance meetup with a cross-country Unicyclist
February 16th, 2010
On Sunday we visited the Tsitsikamma National Park, 10km from Plettenberg Bay, a world famous marine reserve, also famous for the Otter Trail 5 day wilderness hiking trail (more on that later), and on our way back to Knysna we passed a very interesting pair of cyclists, one of them on a Unicycle! A bicycle with only one wheel is known as a Unicycle (in case you didn’t already know that).
Not wanting to interfere too much with their journey, we went ahead to the Groot River bridge, a very big bridge over the Groot River (means big river in Afrikaans), to snap a 360 degree photo of them as they came past (see photo below). Then the guys stopped for a water break, so I went over to make friends, and hear what they are up to. Here is the 360 photo of Geoff Brink and Martin Schroder:
Bridge over Groot River in South Africa – Photo by John Gore
Martin Schroder is a 22 year old guy that decided to cycle around the world rather than go to university, and he did just that! He has been to 69 countries, and countless thousands of kilometers on his bicycle!
Unicyclist Geoff “Heartman” Brink, is the crazy man you see on the Unicycle. He is cycling from Durban to Cape Town, across South Africa to raise awareness of anti-landmine organisation The Sole of Africa.
Following close behind is Fred Hatman in the support vehicle, he is updating the Fred Hatman Twitter feed daily as well as the blog of the trip, so be sure to check that out. His writing style is sure to keep you entertained. These guys are really having a great time!
After chatting to the 3 guys for a bit, I asked if they had a place to stay for the night in Plett (it was 6pm already), and they said no, not yet. So time to use a life line, and phone a friend. So I called Simon Botes, well known as the Fring blogger , based in Plett, and who also runs the popular GoPlett website. Simon was very helpful, and knew who to call right away. Simon called up Earl and Jenny Lawrence of Wild Spirit Lodge, a beautiful backpackers situated on the edge of the Tsitsikamma Forest, who were able to sponsor 3 nights for the 3 travellers. Wow! Thanks guys!
Other Animals in Addo Elephant Park
February 15th, 2010
We recently visited the Addo Elephant Park, near Port Elizabeth, Eastern Cape of South Africa. You can see my previous post about the Addo Elephant Park. But many other animals call this park their home too, so I thought I would make a blog post about these lesser spoken of animals.
This Buffalo must have been very thirsty. He did not want to wait for a herd of 7 Elephants to move away from the waterhole, so this brave (read: stupid) Buffalo slowly moved in closer and closer to the waterhole, and drank right in between the massive Elephants.
Buffalo moves in for a drink of water between Elephants
Here are some pics we took at Addo of animals you are likely to see there:
Jackal drinks quickly at the Elephants waterhole
Two Male Kudu at a waterhole in Addo Elephant Park
Tortoise in Addo Elephant Park
Warthog in Addo Elephant Park
Another Warthog in Addo
We were quite disappointed not to see the rare flightless dung beetle, which occurs almost exclusively in the Addo Elephant Park. We also did not see any of the other big 7 (other than Elephant and Buffalo), but as we were only in the park for a few hours once can’t expect to.
Visit to Addo Elephant Park
February 13th, 2010
We recently visited the Addo Elephant National Park, near Port Elizabeth, Eastern Cape of South Africa. This is a big 7 game park, which means they have all the big 5 (namely Lion, Elephant, Leopard, Rhino and Buffalo) as well as 2 giant sea creatures the Great White Shark and the Blue Whale! On our short visit for just a few hours we only managed to spot Elephant and Buffalo though.
At the Harpoor Dam (waterhole) we found nearly 100 Elephants all at the same time! So we decide to park the car for over an hour, and just watched these magnificent beasts interacting with each other. A number of times some of the Elephants came very close to the car, which was quite a hair raising experience, but these beasts meant no harm to us.
Enjoy the 360 degree view of some Addo Elephants passing by close to my car:
Elephants at Hapoor Dam in Addo Elephant Park in South Africa
Here are some photos of the Knysna Elephants:
Addo Elephants walking towards us
