The Changing Face of Whitianga
Since the start of construction for the Whitianga Waterways project undertaken by Hopper Developments, Whitianga has gone through a comparatively rapid change as the canals were constructed and the houses began to spring up. The town has gone from a sleepy backwater, where during winter it seemed everyone went into hibernation as the streets were often pretty much deserted, to streets that even in winter are often devoid of parking places and busy with pedestrian/shoppers who now have a town that …
Etosha, Namibia
Etosha National Park offers excellent game viewing with the many waterholes attracting endangered black rhinoceros, zebra, lion, elephant, large numbers of antelope and many other species Etosha, meaning ‘place of dry water’, is encloses a huge, flat calcrete depression (or pan) of about 5 000km². The ‘Pan’ provides a great, parched, silver-white backdrop of shimmering mirages to an area of semi-arid savannah grassland and thorn scrub. The pan itself contains water only after very good rains and sometimes for only a few days …
Chobe, Botswanna
Chobe in Botswana has one of the largest concentrations of game in the whole of the African continent. It is also one the world’s largest remaining wilderness areas and offers the most diverse array of wildlife out of all of Botswana’s national parks. By size, it is the third largest park of the country, after the Central Kalahari Game Reserve and the Gemsbok National Park. It is also the country’s first national park. We spent most of our few days in Chobe along and on the Chobe River which …
Walvis Bay, Namibia
Near the popular seaside resort town of Swakopmund, Walvis Bay is good spot to visit to see the Pelicans and Seals which perform for visitors. Swakopmundwas founded in 1892 as the main harbour for German South-West Africa, and a sizable part of its population is still German-speaking today and is an example of German colonial architecture. After German South-West Africa was taken over by the Union of South Africa in 1915, all harbour activities were transferred from Swakopmund to Walvis Bay which was originally a British port
Africa 2008, Sossusvlei
Namibia offers stunning landscapes as well as the abundant wildlife and in particular the Sand Dunes of Sossusvlei and the dead forest of Deadvlei are a landscape photographers dream. The early morning starts to catch the perfect light are well worth the effort and it also means that one can avoid the heat of the sun from mid morning to mid afternoon. The late afternoon/evening light is just perfect also. The dunes of the Namib desert (the oldest desert in the world) …