Emmarentia Dam - November 2011

We went to Emmarentia Dam a few weeks ago! It was an absolute blast!! If you're planning to go, sooner rather then later should be you're war cry! Everything is green and alive and just waiting to be eaten up by your eyes!!
And if you can't go then hey, that's what this blog is for! ^_-

 Isn't it pretty? This is the back end of the dam, where many little, what would you call them, dam-lings, reside! It was woody and full of little paths you could walk down or cycle. People brought their dogs and the whole place had a very relaxed, friendly atomosphere!

 Don't you wish your dog would do that? Oh and by the looks of small landmines about the area I'd say people see this sign as more of a suggestion then a rule.

 Doesn't that look refreshing?

 What we like to call, 'Tim Burton Trees'! They give the woody area a bit of a surreal feel to it! The pine smell is heavenly though!

 The one I like the most is third from the top, no religious gatherings! Well now where will we get to sacrifice that goat we brought?

Now what the heck is this? If it's for shade why is it straddled over a fence? Could it be art? If so people's standards have dropped a bit since my day! *When I walked uphill to school 10miles in the snow - both ways!*

Isn't it pretty? With the vague scent of roses wafting in the breeze! *sniffs at air like a blood hound*

Even the most jaded person has to admit this is beautiful! The gardens are a lovely place to come to just meander about and enjoy my favorite sort of nature - the tamed, nice, neat rows sort! :P

Cor whatever he ate last night didn't agree with him...

Some statues squirrelled away from the public eye. I still get an unreasonable urge to go tripping down the pathway and draw a mousetache on them! They look very formal. They need to relax a bit!

Rob pelts off after the ice cream man! He's got competition! It's neck and neck! Who'll win? who'll get their Wild berry lolly first?! God the suspense!!!

I will admit the botanical garden's loos leave something to be desired. They're very open so all of nature can come into the stalls and snuggle up close to you. This is one of my companions!

And this was the tap outside the bathroom. And if you're thinking, yeah okay this fetish for bathroom doodads has got to stop Jo! Then no!! I took this pic to try give you and idea of how hard the water was shooting out of it! Take a look at it hitting the, very fake, marble! Sheesh, you put your hands under that stream of water and you lose a layer of skin!! I can see the guy, it would be a guy, who put this in, standing there in a white lab coat with disheveled hair and a crazed look in his eye yelling, "Hygiene has it's price! MWA HAHA!!!"

A deer statue used to stand in the gardens. I remember climbing it when I was a wee thing. But it got stolen to be melted down for bronze. The police got the head back and it lasted maybe 6 months. Then it was stolen again. I think it a perfect monument to the joys of living in South Africa. :P

The Huguenot monument. I don't remember hearing anything about these guys in history class. What a woeful thing is education!

There's tons of birds out and about in the gardens, they're mostly too busy to chat though...

Just going to mow me some hay!! We snuck into the back part of the gardens, where technically you're not supposed to go, and I found this too good an opertunity to miss out on! The seat is very comfie.
Sadly they hadn't left the keys in! Where's the trust?

The Gardens - take two - Late May 2011

I recently blogged our first trip to the Walter Sisulu Gardens, where we bounded about exploring and oohing and aahing over interesting flora and fauna.

http://sparkyjoadventure.blogspot.com/2011/05/walter-sisulu-botanical-gardens-april.html

Well we decided to go back! And this time we did some of the small "hiking" trails about the park. Want to see some of what we saw?

This is the gate opening into one of the hiking trails, isn't it inviting? Mind we did the walk in such a willy-nilly fashion that we ended coming out this side instead! Eh, who wants to do things by the book all the time anyway?

Isn't that a scrumptious view? It's late May so winter was settling in with a 'Brr' like determination but it hadn't yet managed to conquer all the feisty green plants, hooray!

Don't these steps look like they might lead to somewhere far away and magical? Mostly they just lead to more hiking trail, but I'm sure that magical kingdom is just around the bend... (Oh wait, this map is upside down! And drawn by me! Oh dear...we're all gonna die, aren't we?)

Some parts of the garden actually did look dead scary! You can imagine this scenery in a slasher movie where some abnormally large breasted girl in scanty clothing is running for her life while the baddy, who was miles behind her, pulls a short cut and leaps in front of her with a smile and a wink and a really high quality chainsaw!

Soft moss....*rub rub rub*
Oh that mark on my middle finger was where a hot pot got revenge on me! It's still not fully healed even now! If you'd like you can take a moment of silence...

Under the low hanging branches we go! Tall people might find this walk a bit more adventurous then us compact sorts. However small people will find their struggle amusing so it's a win-win situation!

EGAD!!! A SNAKE!!! Well at the gardens a hose pipe really is the closest thing you're likely to get to a snake. Can't say I was complaining!

Was trying to take a photo of a butterfly fluttering about here! Little demon moved so fast! BUT if you look closely on the pathway you can see his shadow!! I'm not sure why but I feel rather proud of that!

There were a lot of really pretty, sassy little flowers sprinkled all about the park. I wanted to take a zillion pics, but I'm realistic enough to know I'd be the only one who'd sit through photo after photo of pansies that were floral and not "just really fabulous people hunny!"

Here is the waterfall again. If you squint your eyes up all Asian like (though not as attractive), you can see the eagle nest on the left hand ledge, high up and far away. We thought they were empty but....


With the aid of a telescope conveniently placed there by birding enthusiasts, we managed to see the eagles! Both these pics were taken by having me arch over the scope and hover my camera just above the eye piece! Me thinks not too bad all in all! I even managed to get a pic of the male who flew off ten seconds after he was spotted! Oh Jo, what good timing!

Apparently the eagles nest there all winter so if you'd like to see it sometime, or maybe just go through the park on a hike or two with a woman with an extremely under-burnt middle finger, well, just let me know, I'm always game!

The Walter Sisulu Botanical Gardens - April 2011

Friday (29 April 2011), Rob and I decided to go to the Walter Sisulu Botanical Gardens! They’re out in Roodapoort, so not even on the other side of the globe! (Unless you’re reading this from another country, not South Africa, in which case, never mind!)

Oh my unholy cheeses but these gardens were gorgeous!!! I think it’s because you have to pay to get in! Emmarentia Botanical Gardens is free, but alas it doesn’t have a penny’s worth on this one! (Sorry Emmarentia!! < - -grew up with these gardens so feels a bit of a traitor. But just a bit!)

Below are some pics to help me explain the whole thing better!!

Aren't they pretty? There were herb gardens and rock gardens and butterfly gardens and a whole feast of different plants and goodies to look at!


Oooooh! Lovers getting close and snuggly! Now that's the way to do it!


Here is the dandy little bridge we had to cross to get to the waterfalls! Doesn't it look shady and peaceful and make you think that any time now a murder mystery is going to play itself out with you as the main character?


Off to see the falls! Aren't they huge?! Can you imagine having a picnic just nibbles away from all that free flowing water? Think it would make you need the bathroom every ten seconds!


Here we saw a bunch of kids lining up to be executed.
Okay no not really... sigh. There were classes of kids going all about the gardens, looking about and writing in books and behaving pretty much the way all kids do when on a field trip and out of class and having to bother to concentrate!


We came onto the restaurant from the back and observed this nifty criptic sign! Can you tell what it's supposed to say?*


The restaurant itself! Rob ordered a meal and my my, did they do him proud! No small portions of funky, week old veggies here! (Or if there were, they were nicely fried so you couldn't tell!)

I spent a large amount of time trying to take photo's of butterflies! They're not very obliging and my camera was filled with blurred action photos with maybe a colourful dot somewhere about it! Still look! Look! Not too shabby hey?!


And yes, I took other photo's of other strange critters as well! They were a lot easier then the butterflies!!

You can almost taste the greenery and beauty of the whole place! And considering the day before and the day after were grey and over cast, didn't we luck out big time?

So why not give the gardens a visit sometime? And if you get the idea, hey we should take Jo as well - seriously, go with it!