Now in South Africa

Lunar Eclipse

2011-06-15T23:13:00.003+02:00

This was the most bellyful Lunar Eclipse i have seen in my life

Gold Coins

2011-01-19T13:56:00.003+02:00

GOLD and GOLD Price

How do you veal if you hear the word GOLD ?

Do you veal good, retch or poor........... Well that bring me to todays story. In South Africa do a lot of people will say poor at this time of the year ( Middle of the Month or January) For as long as humans can remember gold was one of the reason for wore. This precious metal is the only stable trading method for century's and will be so in future. I wanted to post a picture of gold but to keep my blog free from copped material I cold not get hold of gold to take a photo of it for this posting.

South Africa is famous for it's retch gold velds and the deepest gold mines in the world, and today is the gold price R9505.23 or USD 1373.29 If I only had sum gold, so I went to find out how to bay gold. It is not practical for the normal man on the street to bay a slab of god. But you might be able to bay a few Coins, withe the same or even grater value. Just look at the Kruger Rand it is the only coin that is the best to have. Click hear GOLD COINS or the advertised links on the side of the blog and find out how easy it is to bay and sell gold.

Flame lily

2011-01-14T19:07:00.003+02:00

The Flame Lily (Groriosa) is one of natures wonders it is it is a spider like upside down flower from Zimbabwe former Rhodesia. You may see them in South Africa in gardens during the rainy season but it is not a South African plant. My parents had them in there garden for meany years and stile have and so I get hold of them for my garden to. BUT BE WORN the plant is dangerously toxic and avoid handling it's toots. This beautiful flower is green and turn yellow then orange and read there after it forms small hard black seed. The hole plant day in winter and dissipate butt it potato-like roots stay alive for the next raining season. Admire them when you see them but do not touch them or spread there seeds it can become a pest in other contrary's.

Treasure Tank

2011-01-07T14:22:00.005+02:00

Is there Treasure in my Tank or is it only a skeleton in my tank? What do you think?
I have started a aquarium and hear is sum of the fish in the tank. I have sum see ornaments in a fresh water tank and it looks grate. Well atlantes for me do it look good what do you think?

2010-11-01T14:16:00.012+02:00

This mornings Gloriole

We had 22mm of ran form yesterday afternoon and thru the night, all the clouds and damp in the sky have grated a dutiful Rambo in a perfect circle around the sun from about 09:50 and it was visible for about 40 mints. A halo (also known as a nimbus, icebow or Gloriole) is an optical phenomenon produced by ice crystals creating colored or white arcs and spots in the sky. Many are near the sun or moon but others are elsewhere and even in the opposite part of the sky. At the same time Venus, Neptune and Pluto was close to the sun or in the ring. A lot of people took photos with there cell phons of the circle not even knowing one or even more of these planets is also in the ring. I have collected a lot of these photos to see how much of the 3 planets I can see. The biggest Plaint on the photos is Venus on its way to the West to become the evening stare at sunset. You can also see solar flare around the sun. A solar flare is a large explosion in the Sun's atmosphere that can release as much as 6 × 1025 joules of energy. This phenomenon is not uncomen and can bee seen up to a 100 times in a year around the world. Warning it is not healthy to look direct into the sun without the correct eye protection and the sun can make you blind.

The facts was find on Wikipedia

Photos taken by Willie Taljaard

Photos taken by Gert Botha

Photos taken by Rita and Nikita Ranchod

The Moth In the Study room

2009-11-14T15:30:00.001+02:00

Look what is flying around in my Study room. If you know it tell me if not tell what you think.

This year's holiday plans is for the Cape Provence see how the program grows every day.

2009-10-19T22:03:00.003+02:00

Day 1

Location	Description	Cost	Link
Cape Town Table view	Book in at Table view cabanas
Bayside Shopping Centre	Get food for the week
Centuri Citty	MTN Science Centre Sunday to Thursday - 9am – 6pm Friday & Saturday - 9am – 9pm Open all public holidays except Christmas Day	Youth 3-18 - R28 Adult - R22 Pensioners- R10	Open Link

Day 2

Location	Description	Cost	Link
Table Mountain	Cable car	Adult - Return: R145.00 Children (under 18 years) - Return: R76.00 Children under 4 years travel free Wild Card Holders - Adult Return: R116.00 Wild Card Holders - Child Return: R61.00 *NB There rates is as un predictable as the fuel price it changes every month open the Link for more accurate cost*	Open Link

Day 3

Location	Description	Cost	Link
Waterfront to Robben Island	Robben Island	The standard tour to Robben Island is 3.5 hours long, Tickets are sold at R180 for adults and R90 for all children under the age of 18	Open Link
Waterfront	Two Oceans Aquarium	Adults R85.00 Under 4 years Free Children ( 4 - 13 years ) R40.00 Children ( 14 - 17 years ) R65.00 Open daily from 9:30 - 18:00, 365 days a year	Open Link

Day 4

Location	Description	Cost	Link
Cape Town	SAAF Museum	The Cape Town Museum branch is open from 08h00 to 15h30 Mondays to Fridays and 08h00 to 12h30 Saturdays The Museum is closed on Sundays and Holidays. SAAF Museum, Private Bag X4, Ysterplaat, 7425, South Africa Telephone: (27) (0) 21 508-6576 Fax: (27) (0) 21 508-6576
Cape Town	Castle of Good Hope	TIME NEEDED: 1-2-hours depending on your interest The Castle is open daily from 9am to 4pm. The Key Ceremony takes place on weekdays at 10 am and the Change of Guards at 12 o'clock.
Cape Town	Signal Hill	Noon Day Gun is yet another of those little idiosyncrasies that sets Cape Town apart and makes her such an exciting place to visit, and you can watch the daily ritual up on Signal Hill at Lion Battery, from 11:30 (except on Sundays or public holidays).

Day 5

Location	Description	Cost	Link
Simons Town	Boulders Penguin Colony IME NEEDED: 1-hour to view the penguins	Entrance fee of R15 for adults and R5 for scholars. This gives access to the beach as well as the walkways and viewpoints
Cape Point	Cape Point	R 75 per person (valid from 01 September 2009). Discounts for children under 12 apply. - Free entrance to Wild Card and Cape Town Wild Card Holders	Open Link Cape Point Weather
Hout Bay	Hout Bay
Hout Bay	World of Birds	Entrance fees are Adults R65, Children R39, Pensioners	Open Link

Day 6

Location	Description	Cost	Link
Parel	KWV Head Office Tel (021) 807 3911
	Afrikaans Language Monument Taal Monument	R12 volwassenes \| R5 studente \| R2 kinders	Open Link
Franschhoek	Hugenote monument	Mon-Sat: 09:00 - 17:00 Sun: 14:00 - 17:00 Closed on Good Friday and Christmas Day Fees R10 for adults R5 for Students R2 for children Enjoy the nice garden and bring a picnicbasket along	Open Link
Franschhoek	Huguenot Chocolates	62 Huguenot Rd ( Main Rd ) Franschhoek R25 per person and we require 24 hours notice. Call (021) 876 4096 to book. Groups are welcome.	Open Link
Stellenbosch	Simonsberg Cheese Shop	Simonsberg Cheese Shop 9-13 Stoffel Smit Street Plankenbrug Industria Stellenbosch Telephone Number: 021 809 1017 Operating Hours: Mon-Fri 09:00 to 17:00 Sat 09:00 to 13:00 Sun/Public Holidays: Closed
Plankenbrug Road, Stellenbosch.	Bergkelders	Tours last about 1 hour. R30.00 per person and is free for children under 18.
Butterfly World	Butterfly World	Rates (subject to change) R35.00 per adult R20.00 for children over 3 R90.00 per family (2 adults, 2 children) R30.00 for pensioners/college students Discount for groups (Conditions apply) Children under 3 enter free	Open Link

New Link On My Blog

2009-03-17T22:10:00.002+02:00

Time flies Sorry not for writing so often but here is a new add-on to my blog. See the link " Indicators" it will take you to my page with News and Economic indicators.

The picture is just something I try to draw if it do lot look good call it Art and then can it represent anything.

Travel by Train in SA

2009-02-08T21:22:00.001+02:00

Have you recently travel by train in SA. Well I have in July 2008 and what I thought to be a stress full experience turned out to be relaxing and fun. We were traveling on the Thosholoza Meyl from Johannesburg to Cape Town with 40 children. First to get the tickets for a big group like that was fun. Although it was booked long before the time they still had to print the tickets one by one when I asked for it and nobody seems to be in a hurry. But if you travel this way you must never be in a hurry it takes about 25 hours to get to Cape Town. Make sure you book on the train with the sleeper couches and not the sitter one. That one is like sitting in a bus non stop and I will not suggest it. It cost us R420 return and bedding on the train was in the region of R40 but we were using our own sleeping bags. At first traveling through the stations of Johannesburg’s suburbs was not very scenic but once you out of the city you see South Africa from a another angle. The route takes you also through the longest railway tunnels in South Africa.

The food on the Train is very good and fairly cheap. Sitting in the dinning car having something to eat and drink as the landscape around you change is something I can not explain to you. The sounds on the rails make you sleeping at night so much sweeter. No traffic to worry about you can just relax. Off course with 40 children the fun never stops on the Train.

If you want to do it in more style and much more expensive (from R9999 to R17000) and luxuries way, take the Blue Train we past it on the route or shall I say they passed us in the luxury of a five star hotel. Less expensive is the Premier Class at R1380 to R4900 doing the same route.

This photo’s was on that fun trip.

Rain in South Africa

2009-02-01T15:34:00.006+02:00

South Africa have a summer and winter rainfall regions both of them get moderate rain fall during that season. I stay in the summer rainfall region that is coloured below in the map. The red parts of the map is indicating the winter rainfall regions.

During 2008 we had floods in the Cape regions and I was fortunate or unfortunate to witness it while we tour the Cape with the Highveld Youth and Children's Choir. The Cape can get nasty no wonder it was known as the Cape of Storms by Bartlomias Dias and Sr Vasco Degamas. These photos were taken on that tour and despite the weather we still had lots of fun in Cape Town.

In Mpumalnga we had about 200mm rain in the last two weeks this was taken just after we had a big thunder storm in Secunda on the 18th the small stream running through town looked like a river.

Safety During Storms

Never try to cross a bridge if water is flowing over it.
Never Hide under a tree if the there is lightning keep your feet together and stay away of high objects try not to touch metal objects. The safest place is in a Car.
The place in south Africa with the most lightning is the Highveld and particularly the Amsterdam and Piet Retief regions. This does not mean you must not visit these towns they are beautiful.
Do not go out to sea or a dam if the wheather is not good

You can get more information on weather and Forecasts for South Africa on http://www.weatherphotos.co.za

Eclipse in South Africa

2009-01-26T20:58:00.000+02:00

Over the past few years we were very lucky to see once in a lifetime events. Like the full eclipse on 4 Dec 2002 and today 26 Jan 2009 we had a 65% eclipse. There is a lot of tales in Africa based on an eclipse but none of them is true. In 2002 a lot of people visited SA to see the full Eclipse and the ascent path of the moons shadow was clearly seen.

Unfortunately I have missed it in 2002 because of rain I was on the border of Swaziland at that stage. Today we nearly missed it again with fog clouds covering the sun but in a way it was also beautiful because we could look at the sun for short intervals without special glasses the fog act as a filter. The sad part of it was that I was not able to take photos of it therefore I have tried to draw the turning point for you. The people in Cape Town were at the best spot to see it and you might get nice photos on the web that was taken there

Sunset in Africa

2009-01-17T17:50:00.007+02:00

I always say one day I want to go and visit Norway to see the Northern Lights one dream that might come true when I retire one day. Well on the other hand we have the most beautiful sunsets in the world. Someone asked in the comments of my last story if I’m in the tourism business, No I’m a normal middle class worker in SA and I’m working at one of the biggest Petrochemical plants in the world. The company is called SASOL and we make a variety of chemicals from coal, and our main products is Petrol, Diesel, Airplane fuel, Polypropylene and a lot more. Like Wine this plant is also very special. The plant was build in the apartheids years when SA had sanctions against it and it generate jobs for more then 30000 people. You can read more on the plant on the SASOL web.

Now the Sunset: This photo was taken by my wife just outside town (Secunda) looking at the sunset over the factory. You can see about 50% of the Plant sticking out with all its lights. It is a pity we are located on the grass and wetlands of the Highveld and not on the route of overseas tourist therefore they never see this huge plant that generate fuel for the car they driving. The biggest structures you see on the photo are cooling towers that is big enough for a 12 story building to stand in. No it is not smoke it is steam coming out of them.

The next photo was also taken by my wife on the same evening standing in front of our house.

Cape, Wine and where to visit.

2009-01-06T22:39:00.004+02:00

This week most of the people that were on holiday in South Africa are back at work facing the challenges of 2009. But I’m going to talk about one of South Africa’s products that are world famous and one of the things we are proud of. Yes we make some of the best wines in the world. If you have not yet taste it you must get hold of a bottle. Most of the wine is made in the Cape province where the history of wine started in 1659 when Jan van Riebeeck the first person to set foot in South Africa and to stay here made the first wine. Ever since it has grown into the leaders in the wine market. On 8th January 1918, growers in the Western Cape founded the Koöperatieve Wijnbouwers Vereniging van Zuid-Afrika Bpkt (KWV). KWV came to dominate the industry until the end of the apartheid. I’m enjoying a 5 year KWV Brandy right now while I’m typing this story and believe me it tastes desirable nice mmm.

Now, what does this have to do with traveling in SA? Well if you traveling in SA and particularly in the Cape you must visit a winery. Winery’s I will suggest to visit is Spier, KWV, and my favorite to visit is the Berg Kelder, a cellar hollowed out of the heart of a hill in Stellenbosch about 45 km from Cape Town. Close to it is Simomsberg Cheese factory a must to stop for some cream cheese.

You must taste wine on your visit to a winery it will cost you between R20 and about R60 and you can taste the different wines just make sure someone else is driving the car back to your apartments. You can also order SA wine at WineWeb I have checked their prices and it is almost the same as a direct purchase from a cellar. If you love sweet wine go for the Orange River Hanepoot. I bet you want to book in at a nice place in Cape Town see E-Bookings for accommodation bookings in the Cape and the rest of SA. Cape Town also offers a lot of other things to do and I plan to blog on that once I have finished my holiday plans for December 2009 with in the coming weeks. I will give you my tour plan so that you can see how we do it in SA.

A Quick Holliday Destination in SA

2009-01-01T18:21:00.007+02:00

I hope you going to have a great 2009 and keep on planning your next holiday. Let’s talk about quick holiday to South Africa. Some times people visit SA for a short time or business and want to see the Big Five but there time is too short to go to the Kruger National Park. The place to go is the Pilanesberg National Park that accommodates virtually every mammal of Southern Africa. Also home to the Big Five. The park is about 200Km from liver Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg and the roads to the park is in very good condition.

My quick tour to South Africa will look like this:

I will stay in one of the Pilanesberg National Park camps for 3 days spending one day driving through the national park. One day visiting Sun City to see the Kwena crocodile farm and then enjoying the rest of the day at the Valley of the Waves relaxing in the water. On my last day before you move on visit the Predator World also close to Sun City. And in a short time you have seen nearly all the wild animals in SA and had a lot of fun. My wife will obviously recommend you to stay longer.

Safety

Remember wild animals are with a reason kept in nature parks they are wild and can be dangerous. Keep with in the rules of the parks and stay out of trouble. Never leave you luggage unattended and keep your money at a save place on you. Never wander of into suburbs that are not on you touring plans and first ask advice at information centers before going into rural areas. The mosquitoes in the Pilansberg region do not carry Malaria therefore is this one of the safest wilderness areas in SA to visit. I will suggest you use insect repellent when the mosquitoes start to bite to keep the irritation of itching away.

These Photos was taken at Sun City’s Valley of the Waves when I was there on 26 Dec 2008

Christmas and New Year in South Africa

2008-12-24T11:34:00.002+02:00

In the run-up days to Christmas and New Year a lot of things happen in South Africa I will try to list them under their own headings.

Commercially

Most shops and even street vendors see Christmas as an opportunity to make money the shops get decorated and suddenly everything is on special

even if it is not a special. And everyone start to buy Christmas presents. The shopping centers become over crowded because most of the schools have closed already in the last week of November till the second week in January for the summer holidays.

Holidays

Most families go on vacation for 2 to 4 weeks and a huge majority of them go to the coastal regions. Yes it do not snow in SA we go and cool of in the sea temperatures go up to 35 degrees Celsius in bigger part of SA. It is also raining season in the biggest part of SA. Not that it rain a lot if in a good year you get a thunder storm every second day or so. There fore coming from Europe take of the snow jackets before you land at Oliver Tambo Airport in Johannesburg. Remember SA is on its best in the summer it is green and beautiful

Crime

Crime in the big cities does pick up in the past it was blamed on the poor and unfortunate people but I start to believe it is more organized crime. Syndicates, that tries to rob shops and transport companies, of their cash. On 22 Dec the police arrested 30 armed men in 3 separate attempts to rob shops. House breakings also pick up because many houses are left alone for periods of up to 4 weeks. Picket pocketing does happen in shopping centers and you must be alert when doing shopping.

The les fortunate and homeless Children

A lot of organizations run welfare projects to give to them some thing for Christmas About every local radio station joins in on such projects. Most churches, Bikers clubs, and cultural groups are involved in welfare projects.

What causes deaths during this time of the year?

I think the number one killer is alcohol people drink to much and then do stupid things like: Driving, Swim in the sea, Lighting fireworks and working along the side of busy roads and in front of oncoming traffic. Reckless driving and speeding on the roads is probably number two. Children drowning in swimming pools a day or two ago it was on the radio of 3 drowning in one day only in Johannesburg. On New years day the most people drown in the sea because it is overcrowded and they that can not swim while playing in the waves. People get killed in crime act but it is difficult to relate it to the festive season, these are things that happen through out the year.

On Christmas and New Years day

Most families come together to celebrate Christmas day by giving present’s and some even attend church at 00h00 on Christmas day. Traditionally we eat on Christmas day If it is not a Braai (Barbeque with a proper fire) it is a huge cooked meal and then we still eat cake through the day we can eat in SA.

South Africa's political parties

2008-12-18T00:36:00.030+02:00

South Africa has 11 official languages and more the 16 political parties. The government of the day consists of 16 parties with the African National Congress (ANC) as the leading party. In 2009 South Africa will have an election according to the constitution. Independent of the government is the IEC (Independent Electoral Commission) They are the Electoral Commission of South Africa a permanent body created by the Constitution to promote and safeguard democracy in South Africa. If you haven’t seen a poorly structured web visit this one, at least can you see if you are registered on the main page but it is a struggle to get to the rest of the information on the page. They are so independent that I could not even get a list of political parties on their site.

With the oncoming election in 2009 and disbelieve in the ANC have it happened that a breakaway party have seen the light. It is called COPE (Congress of the People). This party have South Africa talking and as in politics is there a lot of attempts to make things for them difficult even the word “Congress” get debated by the ANC that claim the word for themselves. You hear daily if people from the ANC that is walking over to COPE and the party are growing in support. Definitely, a party that is going to give the ANC a hard time.

If COPE wins this coming election it will change history again in South Africa.At the moment is there no intimidation that I could pick up in SA and it seems if we going to have a free and fair election. The ANC is hopefully mature enough to handle the situation should they loose the election. We all pray that we won’t end in the same situation as Zimbabwe and some of the rest of Africa without a proper government after the elections.

In no specific order hear is a list with links to most the roll players in the coming election could get hold of.

	Independent Electoral Commission
	African National Congress
	Congress of the People
	Democratic Alliance
	National Party
	Freedom Front Plus
	Christian Democratic Party
	Christian Democratic Alliance
	African Christian Democratic Party
	Inkata Freedom Party
	United Democratic Movement
	Independent Democrats
	Pan Africanist Congress
	United Christian Democratic Party
	Minority Front
	Azanian People's Organisation
	South African Communist Party

How long will the rest of the world sit and watch Robert Mugabe Killing people?

2008-12-12T01:10:00.002+02:00

What an insult to humanity to watch the killing of innocent people in Zimbabwe again, while everybody in the rest of the world watches. It is a shame that Saddam Hussein that was one of the worlds strongest dictators was taken out by fours while Robert Mugabe gets away with the murder of his people.

The 84 year old President Mugabe made the statement on 11 December 2008 "Now that there is no cholera, there is no need for war." even as the toll rose to 783 deaths and South Africa declared a border district a disaster area. Because of hundreds of cholera infected Zimbabwe people stream into South Africa for medical help.

Now is the time that the international community must help to end this Killing of people in Zimbabwe. South Africa alone does not have the power and/or the guts to do it.

The Question is how will help?

Roads in South Africa

2008-12-10T22:30:00.006+02:00

Most of the major routes in SA are tarred the main routes is mostly toll roads. Toll roads in SA are normally in good condition and full of speed traps. You might also get animals and people on tall roads close to town ships so be careful. The other roads that are linking the smaller towns is also tarred but in some areas not well maintained. Those roads normally have potholes in them and some is dangerous. The local people spend quite a bit of money on tyres and wheel alignment due to damage on their cars from potholes.

Driving style: In towns is the speed limit 60Km/h and on the open road 120Km/h cars drive on the left hand side of the road in SA. The most people die on the roads during Easter weekend and school holidays. That is normally when most of the people in SA are on the road people travel up to 2500Km on holidays. Most of the accidents are due to reckless driving and alcohol misuse.

What to see on the roads: You may come across the most interesting thing on the SA roads. From people that overtake when they can not see oncoming tragic to very slow moving things. If you lucky you might come across abnormal loads at 2Km/h. and then is their, the funny ones. These photos do not need explanation

December 17, 2008 the sun will rise continuously for 36 hrs

2008-12-10T16:04:00.005+02:00

You have most probably got an e-mail with this message that is doing the round in South Africa.

“Coming December 17, 2008 the sun will rise continuously for 36 hrs(1.5 days)... During this time the US countries will be dark for 1.5 days.

It will convert 3 days into 2 big days. It will happen once in 2400 yrs. We're very lucky to see this. Forward it to all ur friends”

And now you want to know if it is thru? The answer is NO, it is not thru.

Why not?

The earth is turning and for this to happen it must slow down and speed up again. The impact this will have on all living things is catastrophic. We will experiences less gravity on the earth. The Moon will take off in its one direction. The earth will move out of its orbit. I can think of a lot more bad things that will happen if the earth turns slower. It will be like a sudden stop of a car driving into a wall.

How perfect is the Earth?

God have made the earth so perfect that NASA have not yet find any traces of life on any planet around us. The precise position of earth and the speed the earth is turning give the earth its property’s for life.

Welcome to South Africa

2008-12-06T22:29:00.008+02:00

By now you must have heard that South Africa is a beautiful county. Yes that is true I live here and therefore I also believe that South Africa is beautiful. Why? Because we have the biggest diversity of landscapes from Rainforests and Bushveld to Deserts. The Big Five Lion, Elephant, Rhino, Buffalo, Leopard all lives here and you can see all of them on one holiday in the Kruger National Park if you lucky or with a good touring glide. Well if you do miss out on seeing them in the Kruger National Park you can see them in some private parks or even in one of the local zoos. I was so far unlucky to see all five in the Kruger National Park because a Leopard is a shy animal and most of the time hunt at night.

I have been asked if the wild animals walk around where we live. The answer is NO They live in big Game reserves some private and some not. The only place where wild animals like Elephants and Loins do walk loose that I know of, is north of South Africa in the Nothing parts of Namibia and Botswana. We also have a lot of animals that you will see only in South Africa or Africa.

The people around here: We have 11 official languages in South Africa but if you do speak English 98% of the people will understand you. Netherlands can be understood by Afrikaans speaking people if they listen very careful to you when you speak slowly in Netherlands.

Crime is just as bad as any were in the world. Never leave you luggage unattended and keep your money at a save place on you. Never wander of into suburbs that are not on you touring plans and first ask advice at information centers before going into rural areas.

If you not sure about your tour plan you may asked me and I will tell you if I will go there or not to give you an idea of save places to go to. I will most probably put my answer in the blog for others to read.

This was my first Blogging on this Blog and I hope you will enjoy it and you time in South Africa.