On my bike

Please click HERE if you want to see more pics of Osterley Park in London.

Swadini..more

I think this pic is really great...the thorns....I like the focus here...just what I wanted....
And of course....the leaves and the colours were the focus here...I love Autumn, for all the changes during Autumn...
If any South African can leave me the name of this plant...I would appreciate it...I don't know what it is called, I only know that it got seeds on the end of the branches....they make a lovely scence, though the colour looks a bit dull...
Waterfall sign post alongside the road from Swadini Forever Resort on your way to the Blyde River dam. This waterfall is about 20minutes' walk into the forest...stunning!

And...as you can see...ET! When you arrive at the waterfall, ET meets you there...look at that eye!
I know these pics are not that great...if you are in a hurry, this is what you get! That's the only pic I have with this rock tied-up in the tree...
And this little mini-beast!!! He wouldn't let me photograph him properly, I tried everything to enhance the pic for you to see what I tried to capture...this little naughty spider, was a bit curious and even played dead! on the last pic...he suddenly turned over and aish! he thinks I'm dumb! He must have known that I know he plays dead...silly little creature...but I love them, I can watch them for hours! I wish it was my job to go out in nature to photograph these creatures or just to do research on them....I would love it...

Next pictures to blog...a Tufa waterfall...the third longest in the world, called the Crying Tufa...in the Blyde River Canyon and I've got some very good pictures on it! A tufa waterfall is formed when water running over dolomite rock absorbs calcium. Mosses which grow on the rocks in the stream extract carbon dioxide during photosynthesis which precipitates the calcium from the water to deposit it as layers of tufa on the surface of the waterfall - a process that takes millions of years. The waterfall continue to flow underneath this rock-hard outer shell. There are only a few active tufa waterfalls in the world - one of which is at the Blyderivierspoort Dam.

Here is a fantastic link to keep your mind busy while I'm sorting my pictures...

Here are two links to spider websites, South African spiders and I've sent an email to Norman on the one site to identify the spider on this pic for me!

This one is Science magabout spiders

Bio Museums about spiders with Norman.

Have you....

His book translated into Flemish here.

Have you read...."The soul of the white Ant"...or..."Die siel van die Mier!" by Eugene Marais... if not....you have a gap in your culture...:))....get "The soul of the white ant.." and read it...


Where is the soul of a termite, or the soul of man?

“Someone once said that all behaviourism in nature could be referred to as hunger. This saying has been repeated thousands of times yet is false. Hunger itself is pain – the most severe pain in its later stages that the body knows except thirst, which is even worse. Love may be regarded as a hunger, but it is not pain.

“What protects animals, what enables them to continue living, what assures the propagation of race? A certain attribute of organic matter. As soon as one finds life, one finds this attribute. It is inherent in life; like most natural phenomena it is polarised, there is a negative and a positive pole. The negative pole is pain; the positive pole is sex. This attribute may be called the saving attribute of life; and it is here where one comes closest to what appears like a common purpose beyond nature.” (Eugène Marais, The Soul of the White Ant, 1989:261)


Eugène Nielen Marais[1] (1871-1936) was a South African lawyer, naturalist, poet, and writer. Although Marais is remembered by South Africans more for his contribution to Afrikaans literature than for science, he has been described as being a scientist far ahead of his time.


He began life after leaving college as a journalist, then studied medicine for four years, but eventually took up law and was called to the bar by the Inner Temple. He was a scholar and a man of culture.

However, it was not only as jurist that Marais distinguished himself as a brilliant (yet eccentric) character in South African history. He has been described as “… a human community in one man. He was a poet, an advocate, a journalist, a story-teller, a drug-addict, a psychologist, a natural scientist.”

In 1910, he abandoned his law practice and retreated to the remote Waterberg (‘Water Mountain’) – the mountain area north-west of Pretoria. Here he studied two creatures – termites and baboons that, on the face of it, had nothing in common. Both fascinated him, as did all wild creatures.

Read more HERE...

Toketee

Wow!! Fantastic pictures about water falls and cascades on THISsite, it looks like heaven!

Great pics!

I'm still sorting my holiday pictures...thousands of them!! So...be patient and don't miss out....and if you haven't noticed...I do like purple...my bike is purple-pinkish...it's on my blog...find it...I do like green too...my eyes are green, I think that's why...hahaha....and sunflower-orange...because that's the colour in sunsets and I'm in love with sunsets...
You will notice that I like to take pictures of mountains, trees, sunsets, and then anything nature-ish. But, I'm still practising with my camera...have it almost a year...the digital one...my Chinon something something is packed away ages ago...and the video-camera is just not what I want..I actually want a better camera as the one I have...so btw...my camera is also somewhere on my blog...blogged it a few days ago, if you're interested...
The first picture here was sent to National Geographic!! Just for fun! I really annoyed these hardworking ants...just to get them out for the picture!! They did come out themselves too, but was a bit shy...the following day the nest was completely done...I really tried to take a close-up to experiment with close-ups...I'm still not good...but.. Click on the pictures to see a larger and better view, especially the ants picture...
Gee, I do like red! Red for clothes...I've got loads of red clothes...too many I think..anyway..I'm really proud of the sunset pics here...thought that was good...if you don't think so...go away! :)) I like the pink-ish colour in it! And...the branches of the tree!! Hey...my pictures are all copy-right...protected!!

Butterflies of South Africaenjoy!

All of these pictures were taken at the "Game Reserve" where we stayed...next door to the Swadini Forever Resort!! It was a fantastic three days!! Too short!

My pics..Osterley Park

My first time to see white cattle!! It looks almost like the South African Drakensbergerwe used to have on the farm.
And these pictures are all some of my best of reflections...all in Osterley Park...before my fall!

Chess champions, poems, Jacaranda trees and class tools!

World champions

and

a chess poem

Class Tools

Purple

This picture of the bees is mine! Taken on holiday.....

Boabab tree

This tree was pictured on the way to the Blyde River boat trip at Swadini. The boabab tree is one of the oldest on the continent. The boabab tree is also on the car number registration plates of the Limpopo Province in South Africa. See the first picture- background of the letters....

Read more here: Boabab trees
Some boabab trees are huge, take a look here to see how comfortable a boabab tree can be!(click on the link on the right saying:boabab tree) Boabab Tree

Red tailed boa

When arriving at the Blyde River Forever Aventura Resort- to take a break and have a kit-kat! we saw this Red tailed boa and I only wanted to take a picture of the guy holding it.... He then asked if I want to hold it! I'm not scared of snakes....I'm scared of spiders! Spiders are all over the place and you can't see them so easily! ....It was a bit funny, this very thick snake - having it all around your neck! This snake is a pet snake of the resort! I got a "reward" afterwards...an ice cream! (not from the resort!) One of my favourite flavours!

Forever Blydepoort

Virtual Mpumalanga ...worth taking a look at this site:

Mpumalanga and Blydepoort

School, books and nature

This nature program will definitely be on my list of TV programmes to watch when I'm in South Africa next week!

http://www.5050.co.za/


Just discovered I have a couple of books to read! on top of another 6 given as a present....this one is about Philosophy....which I like..."The Reason of Things..." by A C Grayling....and I still need to read these two! By Richard Bach..."The Bridge across forever..." and...."One"....

Picture of my Secondary school.....on your way to the office ....

http://www.hslydenburg.co.za/site/
Follow this link to my old school's website....my Secondary school.......

...........and this link to the place where my grandfather started a school...
Boschfontein Primary School.... it's a small farm school, still existing....
http://www.multimap.com/maps/?title=Boschfontein%2C%20KwaZulu%20Natal%2C%20South%20Africa&t=l&map=-30.5833,29.1167164&loc=ZA:-30.5833:29.1167:16#t=l&map=-25.10125,30.25137114&loc=:-25.1:30.25:11Boschfontein,

Wednesday's quote:

Our games reveal our characters

by...Ovid

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ovid

Owl

Owls are one of my favourite birds, the other favourite is the guinea-fowl. The barn owl in particular, they are very cute. Click on the images to see a larger image, especially the extract from the baby owl book, one of my favourite books too! (btw....i love children's books...) The Owl and the Pussycat is of course my other favourite "owl book", although it is a poem!

http://www.owlpages.com/owls.php?genus=Tyto&species=alba

Blue Butterflies

On this link on my Wordpressblog, here, you will find more blue butterflies and links to wonderful butterfly-sites! This is a must-see...The link will open in a new window.

Poppies

Have you seen a Zorse?

Read all about it here: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=464723&in_page_id=1770

Lion Whisperer

The king of the jungle doesn't frighten the lion whisperer.

Please click HERE to read more and to see a movie about him.

Animal behaviourist Kevin Richardson has such an intimate bond with big cats that he can spend the night curled up with them without the slightest fear of attack.
Richardson, 32, who is based in a wildlife conservation area near Johannesburg in South Africa, works his unusual magic on other species too. Cheetahs, leopards and even unpredictable hyenas hold no threats for him.

Table Mountain in flames

It has happened that people are careless when visiting the mountain...two or three years ago it was apparently a British guy who started a fire...This pic was sent to me by email.

50/50

50/50 is South Africa's top Environmental TV programme....follow this link and have a look. Viewers can win big prizes for their photos about nature, which must be sent in on a CD or a floppy disk. The big prize by the end of the year is usually a 4x4! This is a bilingual programme : Therefore you will see English and Afrikaans facts about nature on the website.


http://www.5050.co.za/default.asp

Magwa Falls

I've just come across this website and is so excited! This is basically the route I did with "Uncle Mauritz"...read my post called "Mkambati Nature Reserve"...and you will see it is this route! If you love hiking, THIS is what you should do! Go THERE and just DO it!

Those pictures on the site...is what I saw too...fantastic views....places...unbelievable scenes....

This route is the route we basically followed up to the Reserve....


http://www.wildcoastholidays.co.za/hiking/mbotyi.htm

Huberta South Africa's famous hippo!

Huberta's Journey.....



Please click HERE to read about this famous Hippo of South Africa and her journey! The link will open in a new window. Huberta's story is a true story!