| <<
| 40
| 41
| 42
|
| 44
| 45
| 46
| 47
| 48
|
| >>
|
Be sure to hover the mouse over the images.
Johannesburg
12
Graskop
34
Kruger NP
56
Mozambique
7
Swaziland
89
St Lucia
1011
Durban
1213
Bergville
14
Cape Town
15161718192021
South Africa - Bicycle Tour Adventure, Day 5
Pictures and Stories About Bicycle Adventures
Tandem Bicycle Tour/Ride (Graskop to Hazyview),
Drakensberg's Pinnacle to Escarpment to Lowveld;
Kruger NP, Auto Safari, Skukuza, Big 6;
12 November, 2014
Geographical Terms and Concepts
(About Africa and Southern Africa)
Above Left: The 'Great Escarpment' is a geographic elevation that physically separates the highlands from the lowlands of southern Africa. The Great Escarpment boundary separates Climate Zones and Ecological Zones.
Image Source: Great Escarpment map 1" by Oggmus - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Great_Escarpment_map_1.png#/media/File:Great_Escarpment_map_1.png
Above Right: The 'Drakensberg Mountains' (Dutch/Afrikaans for Dragon's Home) are a geographic tectonic plate upthrust (about About 180 million years ago) on the east side of the Great Escarpment of southern Africa.
Image Source: Bing Maps, Microsoft Corp, via Wikipedia.
Where are the Crocodiles Located in Africa
And Where are We?
Above Left: Where the Crocodiles are located in Africa BECAUSE GREAT MINDS WANT TO KNOW!
This a cropped image.
Image Source: Wikipedia.
Above Right: Where we were on this date.
This a cropped image.
Image Source: The original image was from ella.mattsson.be.
Photographic Highlights of the Day
Above: Kowyn's Pass, Drakensburg Mountains, near Graskop.
Above: Terry Struck and the Bee riding down the Drakensburg Mountain Escarpment toward Hazy View, South Africa.
Above: The entrance to Shangana Village. It is a real village (Zulu, I think) and the Chief has helped his village members by bringing tourist business to the village. A tourist visit is very interesting for outlanders; tribal members demonstrate their daily life, serve local food dishes, and perform tribal/ceremonial dances to the public.
Above: Welcome to Africa. We have traveled down the Drakensburg Mountain Escarpment. We are in the lowveld (aka Lowveldt) and approaching Hazy View, South Africa.
Above: Rondavel Hut - This will be our home for two days and nights.
Riding our Tandem Bicycle
From Graskop to near Hazy View, South Africa
Above Left: We had a pleasant breakfast at the Silver Spoon Pancake Palace. By the way, Pancakes are very popular in South Africa, but they tend to be thinner than served in the USA. We rode our bike directly out of town following all signs for Hazy View (sometimes Hazyview).
'Hoof', on the street sign, is Afrikaans for 'Head' but the word is commonly used as meaning Main Street.
Hazy view is our Bicycle Ride Destination BUT Kruger National Park is our Lodging Destination. No one is allowed to ride a bicycle inside Kruger NP. Therefore we will meetup with our support vehicle, driven by Johan, near Hazy View and then drive into Kruger NP.
Above Right: The Soccer Ball is a remnant of the 2010 FIFA World Cup (held by South Africa in many different stadiums across the country). Poor weather is amongst us this morning.
Above Left: Afrikaans and English on the sign - We had all of our bike lights on.
Above Right: We have found poor weather and we are Cycling Onward.
Above Left: Luckily traffic is light and the motor vehicles are being very respectful toward us. Cars are slowing down for us, no matter the traffic direction.
Above Right: We have climbed up to Kowynspas. Now it will be downhill to Hazyview (argh argh). We will be riding down the Escarpment from highveld to lowveld [Veld is Dutch/Afrikaans for Field]. Note that the lights and rain gear are on.
Above Left: Low Gear.
Above Right: The automobiles are traveling nearly as slow as us.
Above Left: Drakensberg Escarpment.
Above Right: Falling Rock Protection.
Above Left: We can see under the ceiling for the first time (we have lowered our elevation).
Above Right: We're turning right.
Above Left: A well placed sign: Road curves Left, Trees on the Left, Trees on the Right, I think that it correctly depicts the road ahead.
Above Right: Our first sighting of Tree Harvesting operations.
Above Left: Wild Lantana on the roadsidee.
Above Right: [Komotiland] Wilgeboon Tree Plantation. We have been and will continue pass by some very large tree plantations.
South Africa provides a lot of timber to the orient. In and of that itself it is good commerce. However, in the age of competition the Timber Industry has found fast growing non native trees to generate a better sales/expense margin (profit margin), so:
1) Collectively, all of the trees consume way more water that indigenous trees and the effect of millions of plantation trees is felt on the water table of local humans.
2) The effects of introducing new non-indigenous trees has been known to create problems with the shared ecosystem. The introduction may and sometimes does affect the local animal populations as well as affect the other plant systems (from tress to bacteria).
3) There is a Green movement afoot, particularly in Africa, Australia, and South America, to return to only having native species (plants and animals).
Above Left: We're going straight.
Above Right: Plantation Trees (first generation trees).
Above Left: Plantation Trees (second generation trees; see the stumps of the previous generation of trees). When the trees are cut, a new tree will grow from the stump
Above Right: Distance Marker, assuming that VL is a Roman Numeral for 45 (the measure is unknown, be it Miles or Kilometers it does not match any current destination distances). Terry and I stopped for a water sipping break, we saw the upside-down block, and we moved the marker upright to see what it was.
Above Left: Overview of the countryside. The photo has been brightened in order to show the landscape, we still have a cloudy overcast.
Above Right: Lost Work Helmet (aka Hard Hat).
Above Left: Fire Tower. In the dry season (only a month away) billions of dollars of plantation trees can go up in smoke.
Above Right: Pot Holes. Potholes often come from heavy truck use and overloaded vehicles. From our perspective, the roads were pretty good.
Above: Wild Protea.
Above: Magnolia like plants - We are now passing through private properties and lowering our elevation on the South African Escarpment.
Above Left: Lily.
Above Right: Bananas on a Banana Plantation.
Above Left: Banana Plantation Packing and Operations Center, idle at the moment
Above Right: 10k to go.
Above: The entrance to Shangana Village. It is a real village (Zulu, I think) and the Chief has helped his village members by bringing tourist business to the village. A tourist visit is very interesting for outlanders; tribal members demonstrate their daily life, serve local food dishes, and perform tribal/ceremonial dances to the public.
Above Left: A fellow cycle tourer. It's difficult to see but he is going uphill with a a load; we're still riding down the Escarpment.
Above Right: We reached the lowveld. Our pickup (for entering Kruger National Park) at Hazy View was right around the bend (we did not know it then). This was our last bike tour picture of the day, the next pictures were taken from inside our transport vehicle inside Kruger NP.
Kruger National Park
Above Left: Impala.
Above Right: Cape Buffalo of different ages (look at the horn curl).
Above Left: The reception area, of interest is the wood beam architecture, construction, and thatched roof.
Above Right: An elephant skull (with tusks removed) + the shell of a Hinged Tortoise.
Above Left: Lotus Blossom (strange to us, November is our home's Fall Season and here it is Spring).
Above Right: The Founding Fathers: Paulus (Paul) Kruger [top], Pieter (Pete) Grobler [left], and LTC James Stevenson-Hamilton [right]. Declared Sabie Game Reserve in 1898 and Kruger National Park, Sabie Reserve in 1902, and Kruger National Park in 1926.
Above Left: The gate keeper (we made her day).
Above Right: Roof of the camp store and gift center.
Above Left: The roof of our hut (water proof and breathable).
Above Right: We learned quickly that the huts have much more interior space than appears from outside.
Above: Warnings to customers, Monkeys (Cercopithecidae) are thieves, they are clever, do not feed, they may bite if threatened. Pictured (above right) are the two types of Monkey, the Chacma Baboon and the Vervet Monkey
A Day Drive through Kruger National Park
Above Left: Giraffe.
Above Right: Black Bellied Bustard.
Above Left: Black Underwing of Egyptian Goose.
Above Right: Nyala, Female.
Above: Nyala, Females Left, Male Right - It hardly seems that they are the same species, but they are.
Above Left: Zebra.
Above Right: Oribi, Male.
Above Left: Oribi.
Above Right: Impala, Male.
Above Left: Wildebeest.
Above Right: Zebra.
Above Left: Giraffe.
Above Right: Oribi (the photo dimensions are correct, not stretched).
Above Left: Hinged Tortoise (Digital Camouflage, but a few million years old pattern).
Above Left: Dung Beatle (rolling some dung, go figure).
Above Right: Rhinoceros (we were on an early walking tour for this photo).
Above Left: Lizard (we were on an early walking tour for this photo).
Above Right: Elephants (we were on an early walking tour for this photo).
Above: Rhinoceros (we were on an early walking tour for this photo).
Above Left: Southern Tree Agama - Not my best picture, but the image captures the Florecent Blue Head of the species.
Above Right: Elephant Sign.
Above Left: Flash Fires through 'the bush' is one of nature's way of re-energizing the cycle of life. A fire burned through here within the past two years. The white ash that looks like Snow or Alkali is the remnant of Ironwood, perhaps the hardest and densest tree in Africa, certainly in Southern Africa.
Above Right: Our Bike in the support van became loose; Terry is making a security adjustment. This vehicle was a great transport/shuttle/cargo vehicle, it is a Toyota Van and we do not see this model in the USA.
Above Left: Cape Buffalo just look like they could care less about anything around them.
Above Right: See it?
Above: Amarula Tree at Dusk (a revered tree in the middle of an intersection).
A Guided Night Drive through Kruger National Park
South Africa / Suid Afrika
Thus ended another wonderful day and night in Africa.
| 44
| 45
| 46
| 47
| 48
| 
| >>
|
