For the identification of insects and other fauna and flora of South Africa.

Monday, January 4, 2010

A few days by the sea - Part 1

Situated along our east coast, the city of Port Elizabeth is known for its sunshine and safe sandy beaches. It is situated along what we call the Garden Route and is approximately 400 miles (800 kilometres) from Cape Town.

It is an important centre for the South African motor industry and used to be one of our major ports. Temperatures are moderate all year round with rain scattered throughout the year. It is a very historic place and one of the oldest cities in SA.

During our summer season, it attracts many people from inland as the calm waters are perfect for all kinds of water sports including scuba diving.
The pier at Hobie Beach (above) attracts many fisherman and on the other side, the harbor (below) can be seen.
There are long stretches of beach to walk along and the road is lined with holiday accommodation.
On perfect days like this, families flock to the waters to cool down and enjoy a picnic on the sands.
Shallow rock formations sends up sprays of water with its never ending motion and always reminds me of life with the constant change we experience.

32 comments:

Wendy said...

O how I would love to visit. My friend's friend moved to Africa last September, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed and hoping we'll be visiting her sometime within the next 2-3 years :)

Firefly the Travel Guy said...

YAY! My home town. Pity I was out of town, otherwise I would have loved to have met you.

Have you ever checked out my second blog. Port Elizabeth Daily Photo? - http://portelizabethdailyphoto.blogspot.com.

This Is My Blog - fishing guy said...

Joan: I need somewhere to flock to heat up. What a beautiful place.

SAPhotographs (Joan) said...

Hello Leeloo. Where in Africa is your friend? If you ever come this way you must let me know so we can meet up for lunch or something.

SAPhotographs (Joan) said...

Hello Jonker. I am going down there again sometime and I will phone you and take you to lunch. :)

Yes I do check out your other blog and have seen much of the city as you have posted the pictures.

SAPhotographs (Joan) said...

Come on over Tom. There is plenty of sunshine here to go around. Would love to have you amd M visit sometime.

Diane AZ said...

Thanks for the trip to the beach! I love the water spray and rocks in the last one. It does suggest "change" which is something we can count on for sure.

Gaelyn said...

I'm so glad you got to the coast. Must have been a nice day with so many people on the beach. I could sit in a quiet out of the way place for a while and watch the ocean spray. Change is wonderful! Ain't life Grand!

Craver Vii said...

Those beach pics look so inviting! It's freezing here in Chicago.

SAPhotographs (Joan) said...

You are welcome Diane. I thought you would be wanting some warmer weather round about now. :)

SAPhotographs (Joan) said...

You cannot know how happy I was at the chance to get down there Gaelyn. :) I think life is more than grand right now.

SAPhotographs (Joan) said...

How great to see you back Craver. Missed you. I have had one experience of Chicago's cold and that was enough thanks. :)

Becky said...

I never thought of SA having beaches for some reason. They are beautiful and so inviting. I guess I just think of the animals. Great photos!

Wendy said...

Lunch with you would be wonderul Joan :) She lives in Gabon, I believe it's situated in the center of Africa. You probably know where it is :P

Becky said...

OK, I'm ready now to come down. What an inviting and beautiful post Joan!
With all the snow we have I wouldn't have to think twice before heading South!
B.

Rambling Woods said...

You asked on my blog is you could send some sunshine to me? Yes and some ocean too...beautiful...Michelle

Mary said...

Looks like a wonderful beach. I could sure use the warmth right now!

SAPhotographs (Joan) said...

Hello Becky (Florida). SA is surrounded by coast right from the east to the west as we are on a penninsula much like Florida. Our Weather is much like yours too and tends to be very sub-tropical in many areas.

SAPhotographs (Joan) said...

Leeloo: Gabon is quite far away but if you ever get down this way, let me know. :)

SAPhotographs (Joan) said...

LOL!! I would have been packed and gone already if I were you Becky and on these beaches. :)

SAPhotographs (Joan) said...

I will pack it up and send it Michelle. :)

SAPhotographs (Joan) said...

I am sure you can Mary. I do feel sorry for everyone there right now.

Anonymous said...

You have it all Joan.....the Bush, the Beach, and the friends to enjoy it all with. Thanks for bringing us with you.

SAPhotographs (Joan) said...

You and Stacey are so welcome to join me Bernie. Anytime.

Anonymous said...

Wonderful photos there Joan! Port Elizabeth reminds me a lot of Palma, Spain, especially that second photograph. We used to park that big aircraft carrier off the coast of Spain and spend a week or so.

Probably the beaches of SA are overlooked by a number of people, because when we think of Africa, we think of lions and elephants and forget that it does have a seacoast and a beautiful one too as your photographs show.

Thanks for sharing Joan! : )

SAPhotographs (Joan) said...

Thanks Ken. I think it is the 'deepest, darkest Africa' which people remember.:)

So many places here remind me of areas I visited in the USA even though we have them on a smaller scale than you do. We laso have tropics, desert, mountains and everything in between. Our slogan is "A world in one country" and I would have to agree with it.

No Blog said...

Hi Joan, sorry for my late reply but some of us have to work you know LOL!. Hey! I see you visited my old home town. Hope you enjoyed the wind down here. Love the photo's. :)

SAPhotographs (Joan) said...

Hello Lawrence. Yes I was up your way visiting some friends. If I had thought about it I would have asked you for your number and we could have met for coffee. I will do so the next time I am there maybe you, Jonker and I should get together. :)

Philip said...

Hi Joan nice to see you went to PE great shots myself I went to CT again this time no breakdowns :) wow I have some catching up to do here :))

SAPhotographs (Joan) said...

How wonderful to hear from you again Philip. I have been thinking about you and hoping you had a great Christmas and New year.

It was a wonderful break and possibly the most relaxing few days I have had in my life. I hope you had a marvellous time in CT too. I am sure the kids loved it.

myonlyphoto said...

Joan I could use good warm weather here. These are surreal images. It is amazing how powerful the water is, yet we only have 3 percent of the fresh water in the world per surface area, if I am correct. Thanks for sharing, these are amazing again. Anna :)

SAPhotographs (Joan) said...

I am sure you could Anna. I dont know how you manage in that cold weather. If it were me I would spend the whole winter in bed. LOL!! I think a person does not realize how powerful the sea actually is until you sit there and watch those waves. It has a life and an energy all of its own.