Somewhere my love

Image:http://www.kwathabeng.co.za/limpopo-marulaneng-hoedspruit-gallery.html

Wat is a Tufa waterfall? and where can I find one in South Africa? and how can I get there…this post and this link here, give you all the answers! enjoy!
 https://chessaleeinlondon.wordpress.com/2007/09/19/what-is-a-tufa-waterfall/ The Link will open in a new window.

I hope you enjoy this “movie” about South Africa. The images are from the Eastern part of the country… the Mpumalanga province, previously called the Easern Transvaal. It was August…end of winter…and not holiday for South Africans, so we were lucky…. places were not crowded…. You will see mostly images about the third largest/deepest canyon in the world…the Blyde River Canyon. As it was the end of winter, the area wasn’t as green as it used to be during summer! The Grand Canyon is the largest, then the Fish River Canyon in Namibia… This canyon is the greenest canyon in the world. You will also see the potholes at Bourkes Luck. Then, in this canyon, there is a waterfall, called a Tufa waterfall. On one of the images I tell you in short what a tufa waterfall is… where other waterfalls wear away the soil…this kind of waterfall does the opposite! This tufal waterfall is called the “weeping tufa”, as it looks like a face with an eye…and the water flows from the “eye”…A Tufa waterfall is a waterfall where the calcium rich water builds the rock face over which it is flowing as the calcium and mud hardens in beautiful forms, that’s why it’s a “growing” waterfall. This link HERE has got a brilliant picture of the Tufa waterfall – the one you can see in my post too – in this canyon and awesome pictures and many links to places/resorts in that area. Here you can see the “face” of this waterfall…brilliant! The link will open in a new window.

You will see a cave, which can only be seen on the boat trip. You will also see some images from the Sudwala caves. You can put “Swadini” in my search box to find those fantastic links and to see more pictures of that area. I focused on this movie mostly on nature images …do enjoy! On THIS LINK you can see more pictures and links to sites to book a holiday! and on THIS LINK you can see pictures of Pilgrims Rest area and maps/info if you want to tour that are…really beautiful to visit!
If you have enjoyed this movie…Links will open in a new window. Click HERE to see another movie about South Africa which I posted a few days ago.

 

 

Somewhere my love…by the
Ray Coniff singers.

Somewhere, my love,
There will be songs to sing
Although the snow
Covers the hope of spring.

Somewhere a hill
Blossoms in green and gold
And there are dreams
All that your heart can hold.

Someday we’ll meet again, my love.
Someday whenever the spring breaks through.

You’ll come to me
Out of the long ago,
Warm as the wind,
Soft as the kiss of snow.

Till then, my sweet,
Think of me now and then.
God, speed my love
‘Til you are mine again.

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What is a Tufa waterfall?

See on THIS LINK , on my blog, more pictures about the Blyde River Canyon and also a full picture of the Tufa Waterfall and…a movie…with some of my hols photos about the area where the waterfall is!

When we’d gone on the boat trip on the Blyde River (“Blyde” means “joy”), we were told by the guide that this tufa waterfall has the shape of a face. That is so true, we could really see the “face” , that’s why this tufa waterfall is called the “Weeping/Crying Tufa”, it literally looks like it’s crying…you can only see this waterfall when you go on the boat trip! If you watch this movie …you will see it!

The fall is about 43m and that makes it the 3rd longest in the world. Incidentally, the Blyde River Canyon is also the third largest in the world! (read my other posts about the Blyde River Canyon by following the labels). 1. Grand Canyon 2. Fish River Canyon (Namibia)

The Blyde River Canyon is the greenest Canyon in the world.

A tufa waterfall is formed when water running over dolomite rock absorbs calcium. Mosses which grow on the rocks in the stream extract carbon dioxide during photosynthesis which precipitates the calcium from the water to deposit it as layers of tufa on the surface of the waterfall – a process that takes millions of years. The waterfall continue to flow underneath this rock-hard outer shell. There are only a few active tufa waterfalls in the world – one of which is at the Blyderivierspoort Dam.

I think this is perhaps what an ant sees when it looks up!
And now, the best part of all, that’s ME! Say hello…..! I was looking for some scraps and hoping the people in the car would throw me something! In particular the lady! She was so friendly to me, I really thought she was gonna throw me something…heard words like….ahw….hungry…poor thingy….look….siestog….arme ding!

Follow this link HERE and you will NOT regret it! The MOST spectacular pictures I’ve seen on the web from these places!! Do yourself a favour!!

This is part of the Canyon!

Image: http://www.kwathabeng.co.za/limpopo-marulaneng-hoedspruit-gallery.html

http://rpc.technorati.com/rpc/ping

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Swadini..more

I think this pic is really great…the thorns….I like the focus here…just what I wanted….
And of course….the leaves and the colours were the focus here…I love Autumn, for all the changes during Autumn…
If any South African can leave me the name of this plant…I would appreciate it…I don’t know what it is called, I only know that it got seeds on the end of the branches….they make a lovely scence, though the colour looks a bit dull…
Waterfall sign post alongside the road from Swadini Forever Resort on your way to the Blyde River dam. This waterfall is about 20minutes’ walk into the forest…stunning!

And…as you can see…ET! When you arrive at the waterfall, ET meets you there…look at that eye!
I know these pics are not that great…if you are in a hurry, this is what you get! That’s the only pic I have with this rock tied-up in the tree…
And this little mini-beast!!! He wouldn’t let me photograph him properly, I tried everything to enhance the pic for you to see what I tried to capture…this little naughty spider, was a bit curious and even played dead! on the last pic…he suddenly turned over and aish! he thinks I’m dumb! He must have known that I know he plays dead…silly little creature…but I love them, I can watch them for hours! I wish it was my job to go out in nature to photograph these creatures or just to do research on them….I would love it…

Next pictures to blog…a Tufa waterfall…the third longest in the world, called the Crying Tufa…in the Blyde River Canyon and I’ve got some very good pictures on it! A tufa waterfall is formed when water running over dolomite rock absorbs calcium. Mosses which grow on the rocks in the stream extract carbon dioxide during photosynthesis which precipitates the calcium from the water to deposit it as layers of tufa on the surface of the waterfall – a process that takes millions of years. The waterfall continue to flow underneath this rock-hard outer shell. There are only a few active tufa waterfalls in the world – one of which is at the Blyderivierspoort Dam.

Here is a fantastic link to keep your mind busy while I’m sorting my pictures…

Here are two links to spider websites, South African spiders and I’ve sent an email to Norman on the one site to identify the spider on this pic for me!

This one is Science magabout spiders

Bio Museums about spiders with Norman.

http://rpc.technorati.com/rpc/ping

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Blyde River/Swadini

During our holiday in August – South Africa, we were really lucky to find accommodation at a place next to the Swadini Forever Resort (previously Aventura). I grew up in the Eastern Transvaal -now Mpumalanga, which means:”place of the rising sun.” We drove through Lydenburg, spent time on the farm where I grew up.Krugerspost lies between Lydenburg and  Pilgrims Rest, the historical town and from there we then ventured off to the Echo Caves. First we stopped at Ohrigstad to fill-up the car. We first thought to stay at the Echo Caves Motel, but changed our minds and headed for the Blyde River Canyon. We initially thought that we would just pop-in and have a place to stay! But, as we were on holiday and didn’t take any notice of dates and public holiday days in SA, we didn’t know it was a long weekend!Thursday was Women’s day and the Friday was a public holiday! Anyway, we got at Blyde River Forever Resort: “Sorry…we are fully booked!” Well, we didn’t expect to hear that, but then realised why we heard such unexpected words! OK! It was 7pm, not very late you know, but we’ve been on the road for a very long time by then. There were loads of B&B places, which we saw on random roads, not very far off, so, we decided to take the road, looking for some decent B&Bs.
Just as we took a turn-off, stopped to look at an entrance of a B&B, Andre stopped next to us. He was our angel! “Hello…are you lost?” he asked very friendly and with him was his partner.”No, but we’re looking for a place to stay”, we replied anxiously. “Come with us! You can stay in Marius’s lodge!” We didn’t wait for a second invitation. Tired of being all day on the road basically from Groblersdal, we followed him, for only just about 80 m! What we got, was a fantastic lodge, place for about 10 people to stay. We could pick and choose where to sleep, like Goldilocks!! haha..I tried different beds…playing Goldilocks…! It was fun…2 bathrooms, showers …huge kitchen…(if you keep coming back to my blog later, you will see all of this) It was fantastic.”Because you don’t have any cleaning services for the weekend, you can pay R30 per person less…,” he continued through all the non-stop talking! I wanted to say: “Shus, you’re talking too much,” because Andre was talking non-stop about all the places we can visit and the more he talked, the more excited he got!! He also told us about – click here: – Moholoholo Animal Rehabilitation Centre, but our time was limited and you have to book to go there. Our boat trip was already booked for the same time we could go to Moholoholo, so sadly, we couldn’t go there, as we were heading for Pilgrims Rest and Sabie the following day…If my memory hasn’t gone lost…”moholoholo” means something like…”falling rock”…or ‘rolling rock.’

Enjoy this movie about the area of the Blyde River, which I put together using some of my pictures, not a great camera, I need to warn you. Our video camera perished a few days ago and we need to wait till we’re back in the UK to try and get it fixed.

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