Boardwalk development

One of the single biggest leisure developments ever in Port Elizabeth is busy taking place at the Boardwalk complex on the beachfront as we speak.  The Boardwalk, as part of their new casino license agreement, is busy building a brand new 2400 seater international standard conference centre along with a 5 star hotel (a one billion rand investment) which will officially open in December 2012.  I think most people in the city, specially those working in the tourism and meetings industries, can't wait to see the finished product.  For now we have to be happy with peeking through the windows in the construction barrier like curious children though.

War Memorial cross

Its always an exciting moment when I discover something in Port Elizabeth that I didn't know about before.  This was the case the other day when I noticed this foliage in the shape of a cross in St Georges Park just behind the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Art Gallery. 

The plaque reads:  In memory of all those South African men and women who lost their lives in the various wars.  Not for themselves but for others. 

I always knew of the Cenotaph outside the entrance to the park, the Prince Alfred Guard Memorial and a third war memorial which I just realised that I haven't taken a photo of before (Note to self: Go take photo of war memorial plaque at St Georges).  This means that St Georges Park has four war memorials... that I know of. 

Traditional welcome

The beating of drums... women dancing... a praise singer singing... all part of a traditional welcome to Africa and something that tourists just love to see.  In fact, tourists just can't walk past them without taking pictures or even joining in and bobbing to the rhythm.  A rhythm which is very addictive by the way.  Last week we welcomed 56 Belgium travel agents for a four day visit to Port Elizabeth and the Eastern Cape and the guys from African Drumbeat welcomed them to the welcome function at the Beach Hotel in style.

Kids Expo drumming

Over the weekend the annual Kids and Baby Expo took place at the Moffet-on-Main Lifestyle Centre here in Port Elizabeth.  The expo's exhibitors covered just about everything that you would need for babies and toddlers as well as a lot of activities to keep the kiddies busy while at the expo.  I manned a tourism information stand at the show and across from me there was drumming for kids in the form of a story.  Every time the story started the kids just flocked in to participate.  Needless to say I was just about able to tell the whole story by the end of the show.  Ad to the drums the painball stall (where they did target shooting) next door and the constant noise of the inflatable soccer field's fan on the other side and I had a splitting head ace at the end of each day.  But thoroughly worth it in the end.

The Lion King

Port Elizabeth is surrounded by some of the best private game reserves in South Africa, not forgetting Addo Elephant National Park right on our doorstep.  The majority of these game reserve have free range lions and its always a highlight on any game drive to encounter these magnificent and proud animals.  Kalahari is one of two male lions in the Kuzuko section of the Addo Elephant National Park.  He was one of the first six lions brought to Addo from the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park when it was decided to reintroduce lions to the park a couple of years ago.

Happy Valley lilies

I don't think there is anybody who have grown up in Port Elizabeth that didn't visit Happy Valley as a child.  With the summer season apon us I was curious to see what kind of shape it is in and decided to take a walk up the valley.  It was a stunning early summers day and I couldn't help but to sit down next to the stream for a couple of minutes to take in my surroundings.

From the top of the Duckpond

The cricket season is on its way here in South Africa with the 1 Day Cup domestic competition that just started and the Australians touring the country.  St Georges Park here in Port Elizabeth just hosted an ODI match between the Proteas and the Aussies and is now getting ready for the domestic series.  I went to a function on the top floor of the Duckpond Pavilion the other day and couldn't help but to marvel at the magnificent view of the oldest test cricket stadium in South Africa. 

Into the sunrise

One of the best parts of an afternoon / evening game drive at a game reserve is stopping to enjoy a drink while the sun is setting, yet not many people would associate a game drive with a sunrise.  Visiting Kuzuko Lodge north of Port Elizabeth recently we set off on our morning game drive just before sunrise and turned right into the sun just as it was hanging above the horizon.  So where a cowboy would ride off into a sunset, we drove into the sunrise on our way to find rhino, elephant and cheetah.

Old Road signs

I don't know why but for some reason this road sign is my favorite road sign in the world.  It stands just north of the Zuurberg Pass on the old road inland.  From this point you can head north towards Somerset East on the R335, west towards Jansenville on the R400 or east to get to the main road (N10) between Port Elizabeth and Cradock.  South will take you past Ann's Villa and over the old Zuurberg Pass towards Port Elizabeth. Just a pity it wasn't a nice blue sky day when I passed it the other day.

The old road north

In years gone by (and now I'm not just talking about a few moons ago, but more like a 100 years ago) the main road from Port Elizabeth heading north (today called the R335) crossed over the mountains via the old Zuurberg Pass  before heading further north through Somerset East and Cradock.  This picture was taken of the dirt road, now mostly used by the farming community and people heading towards Kuzuko Lodge and Darlington Dam, just on the northern side of the Zuurberg Mountains.