Category: flickr

Moody Mountain

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Yes, Spring is supposed to have sprung, and indeed it may be happily bouncing around the rest of South Africa, but the Cape coast remains distinctly wintery. A delectable cocktail of 13°C, strong winds and heavy showers is forecast for today after a hailstorm of note woke the family from its collective slumbers at 3:30 this morning.

Spring, it certainly ain’t.

Table Mountain was decidedly moody this morning as I paused to snap a couple of quick pics on the way to work. It refused to smile and turned its back on me. Grumpy bugger.

A measure of the rain that we have had over the past couple of days are the waterfalls coming off the top of the mountain. These are temporary affairs – usually only seen after prolonged heavy rain: it has been wet.

Accompanying the rain were some nice high winds, hence these pictures of the ship – a Turkish coal carrier – which broke anchor last night and was (and still is) beached at Blouberg.

And finally – desperate for something warmer and drier – a lovely summary (geddit?!?) of the Brandon Huntley saga from Jeremy Nell. Funny stuff.

EDIT: Since I had my camera to hand, I took this photo too. I quite like it.

Name that bird

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We were down at the Waterfront today, terrorising sealife in the aquarium, watching eco-friendly puppet shows and drinking chocolate milkshakes.
While I was enjoying a coffee at the pub [shurely shome mistake?], I spotted this little fellow, who later tried to defaecate on me. Despite consulting Sinclair, Hockey and Tarboton’s Birds of Southern Africa (which, after all, is where I are finding myself today), I have no idea what sort of bird this is – anyone able to accurately ID it for me, please?

newbird

As there is nothing to relate the size to, I can tell you that it was about… this big. And it was only while reviewing the day’s photographs this evening that I noticed that it was ringed. I’m pretty sure that makes no difference to what species it is, though.

Answers on a postcard, please.
Or just leave a comment.

Then and now

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What a difference two years, four months and thirteen days makes (as the song goes) (sort of):

       
Less golf course, more footy stadium. All the boxes ticked, then.

When I was adding yesterday’s photo to my Green Point Stadium Flickr set, I noticed that I had taken one back in April 2007 from almost exactly the same spot on Fritz Sonnenberg.

Fortunately, Fritz is a pretty easy-going kind of chap and didn’t mind me taking the pictures.

World of Birds revisited

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It had been a while since we had been out to Hout Bay’s World of Birds and been crawled all over by squirrel monkeys, so we met up with friends and headed out there yesterday. Maybe it’s because we’re nearing the end of winter now and not yet into tourist season, but I have to say that the place needs some TLC desperately. Muddy paths, broken cages, damaged signs and bins, overgrown bushes. Nothing huge, but  the whole place just needed a good clean up and some work and money put in to it.
And, at R155 for the three of us (K-pu was a freebie) they should really have the money to do something about it. Although maybe they’re suffering in the credit crunch as well. Some big corporate sponsorship wouldn’t go amiss. Investec World of Birds, Woolworths World of Birds or maybe Rainbow Chickens World of Birds. Or maybe not.

That said, the animals all looked well kept, happy and healthy as ever and the kids really enjoyed themselves, and at the end of the day, I guess those are the things that are important. Thus – for me – it still remains a recommended attraction for visitors to Cape Town – especially those with kids. Alex was particularly taken by the parrots and the promise of an ice cream at the end of the visit.

I tried to get photos with the “new” camera, but it’s tough when you have your own little monkey hanging off your arm and another one chasing a turkey. Here are my best efforts. I particularly like the Kookaburra shot.
I’m no big fan of things Australian, but I’d love to taste one of them for real.

Gumtree at Kirstenbosch

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Gumtree, originally uploaded by Ballacorkish

A snappy quota snap for today – my Saturday promises to be hectic and rushed – although there’s always a slim chance of something later if you’re lucky.
Warmer days at Kirstenbosch in February. With my favourite lump of rock in the background.
You’d think that the best gardens in the Southern Hemisphere would be able to grow a straight tree.
But no.