Roddy's thoughts and pictures at the close of the day
In September and October South Africa began to ease the Covid-19 lockdown restrictions and our local Game Reserves began to open up. We were desperate to get out of town and into the bush so we took advantage of the special offers for residents and had day game drives to Kwandwe and stayed for two nights... Continue Reading →
I've had such positive responses from my recent blog post on the Karoo that it's inspired me to put together these ten images. This time all of the pictures are different styles in black and white. They're taken from Mt Zebra National Park, which is just outside Cradock, along the R61 to Ganora Guest Farm and... Continue Reading →
We are having a long drought in the Eastern Cape - it's only early Spring and already hot after a very dry winter. On the drive up from Grahamstown to Mt Zebra National Park and the Sneeuberg there's hardly any green vegetation to be seen. The landscape is dominated by browns and blues showing off... Continue Reading →
There are some King Proteas blossoming on Mountain Drive at the moment. Though they are not as many as last year - when they seemed to go on flowering for a very long time. As Spring gets nearer the days are getting a little longer so there's just a bit more time to photograph them.... Continue Reading →
We've been staying in Helen's house at Wild Fox Hill, Hogsback, this past week. There's been her three dogs and four cats to look after whilst she's in Sweden visiting Jeannie. We've also taken care of her Eco-Cabin and the Air BnB guests. I've brought along my Olympus OMD I mark 2 along with the... Continue Reading →
Two or three times a year we make the journey west from Grahamstown and into the Karoo - often staying somewhere around Compassberg which at 2504 metres is the highest peak in the Sneeuberg and Karoo. Kate has been working in the area for many years and I've gone along too. Sometimes that's involved some... Continue Reading →
Last week we spent a day at Addo Elephant National Park and, just as we were leaving at sunset, we saw a lone bull elephant striding up over the horizon. The misty Suurberg ridges rising up beyond the Sundays River valley made a lovely dramatic backdrop to his silhouette. I got to wondering what would... Continue Reading →
There will probably be autumn mist tomorrow morning, our host at Tsitsa Falls backpackers (Adrian Badenhorst) told us around the camp fire, you often get them when a hot day follows. He was right. The whole Tsitsa valley was dark with mist at sunrise but it soon began to clear as the sun burned through.... Continue Reading →
Mid winter is the right time for seeing the spectacular flowering of the Eastern Cape's aloes. These four pictures were taken on my daily walk from our home in Sunnyside down the hill, across Somerset Street and through the Botanic gardens to work. The whole countryside is glowing with them: particularly at dawn and towards... Continue Reading →
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