As someone who has a keen interest in plants, I was amazed and blown away by the plants in the area.  There are over 200 species of endemic plants in the area (endemic in the plant world means plants that do not grow anywhere else in the world), and over 2,000 species of indigenous plant species (more than all the plant species occurring in the United Kingdom).  One that we were particularly interested in seeing was the Pondo Coconut Palm - a plant that grows only on the Northern Bank of the rivers in the region.  The banks are dripping with these palms, which taste and look exactly like the coconut we are all used to, only in miniature form… gourmet coconuts if you will!  Just north of the reserve is another natural wonder known as the Red Dunes.  Aptly named, these dunes are bright red and lie right along the coastline, punctuated with crystal clean rivers, making the landscape surreal and beautiful.  The region is known as Xolobeni and is also very rich in fossil deposits from the Cretaceous period (some 145 to 65 million years ago). 

Needless to say, the area is a natural wonder and a visit there will be nothing short of life-changing for many people (certainly for myself).   The Red Dunes, however, are of particular interest to those who make an income from the raping of third world resources, in that they are rich in Ilmenite which is the main ingredient in Titanium production.  The Australian mining company, Mineral Commodities, was granted a licence to open cast mine the area along the coastal dunes, extending into the current Mkambati Reserve.  The application, which was wrought with illegal and dodgy activities of every imagination, was lodged in 2005 and the legal battle that has ensued between the South African government and the local people has resulted in the destruction the various eco-tourism initiatives that were run by the local community (very well I may add).    After ten years of litigation and other means of resistance from the local community and those aiding them, there is still no answer from our government on the revocation of the open-ended open cast mining licence that they granted to a foreign firm.

Once again we are faced with a most apparent lack of concern for both human rights and our natural heritage by our government… proving yet again that, in South Africa, life is cheap and cash is god.

The Mineral Commodities plans for the area.

The comments from our Mineral Department.

For the latest updates on the calamity visit the SWC.  The guys that have been fighting the good fight.

Yesterday was a pearler of a day on the Natal North Coast.  A nice respite the after incessant winds for what seems like months.  The result was that we managed to drag ourselves out of bed at the respectable hour of 6:30, which is impressive for a Sunday, to make it to the  beach before the wind returned.

The waves were average on arrival, but I was desperate to try out my new wooden board and was fearing the long-term consequences to my psyche from weeks without contact with the ocean or a surfboard if I did not paddle out immediately.   Not long after that we spotted what we presumed was a Whale Shark out to sea.  The Whale Shark (Rhincodon typus) is the largest fish in the ocean and is harmless to humans.  This particular guy was around 8m in length and was swimming around in the surface in its peculiar warbling, fin-thrashing way.  It is still somewhat intimidating paddling a surfboard out into the blue yonder towards a giant shark, no matter how harmless, just in case you have misidentified it somehow.

We paddled tenderly over to it until I spotted the characteristic white Polka dots and the rounded dorsal fin, after which the final burst of excitement kicked in.  He (or she) was swimming large circles around us feeding on small fish,  and kept coming back for another look.   My nose was a mere 6 inches from his meter-wide face on a few occasions.  And I managed to snag a few grabs on his fin before being whipped off with a little flick of the tail.

I paddled in and had a great time surfing little waves in clean water on my smooth wooden fish.

If you practice selective eyesight and manage to block out the monstrous homes that have slowly replaced the modest beach cottages, dominating the skyline above the beach, and forget just for a minute the general movement towards demise in our area,  you just may think that you’ve found a little piece of heaven.

We captured a few images that caught us,  and failed to capture countless others.  There are just some things that no amount of film & recording can do any justice to.

The very aptly named “Wild Coast” region…  what you can’t capture is the smell of wood fires, livestock and clean air.

En route to St Francis the back way.  Not a soul in sight.

The Golden Gate National Park.  One of the most picturesque public roads in the country.

Paradise is just a few k’s down the road.

The Coral Aloe. Aloe Striata all aglow

The Valley of Desolation…

Where there are no railings, but they’re pretty serious about those rocks…

The beauty is always in the details…

Tea time in De Vlugt.  The best Melk Tart I’ve had in 20 years.  De Vlugt is a few hours from anywhere at the top of a mountain pass build in the 1860′s.  Prince Alfreds Pass is highly recommended.  We stumbled on it, which is always the best way to find these treasures.

De Vlugt under a blue sky on a still, crystal day

Drawing a line on the map works out in ways unimagined.

Another aptly named attraction:  The Big Tree

Too bizarre to not stop at.  The Wolf Sanctuary in Tsistikamma, South Africa

yes. tres bizarre.

The clearance on the little green car makes things interesting at times.

Seal Point.

“As many as 800 employees of the Carlsberg brewery walked off the job this week after being told they’d only be allowed to drink at lunch. A spokesperson for the Copenhagen-based brewer confirmed the free beer that had previously been available in company fridges had been removed and that workers would be limited to the beer available at the lunch canteen. Much of the staff is said to be striking in solidarity with drivers and warehouse workers, for whom the changes mean they’ve lost the right to their three beers a day.“

Scandinavia really is another planet.  Let’s all move to Denmark.

BEERS ARE ONLY GIVEN OUT FREE DURING LUNCH HOUR???

enough said.

Here are some of our dear friend Jules’ favorite youtube clips.  Jules has impecable taste, has a particular knack for finding beautiful animations on the world wide web, and is generally just to be considered an authority on this.   Plus it’s more enriching than spending more time on bookface.  Check it out.

1.    Krapooyo

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2.  Chainsaw Maid

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3.     I lived on the moon

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4.    Burning  Safari

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5.   Fallen Art

According to speculation in the local money press pages, Walmart, the US retail supergiant is eyeing South Africa as it’s next opportunity (they’re currently busy with Russia) for expansion into the global market.

Now having lived in the United States for 10 years I am only too aware of the supposed evils of Walmart, but I honestly couldn’t think of a town more appropriate for their expansion into the foreign market than our own.  Some of the things that tend to trouble folks about Walmart  are their so-called decimation of small towns through the elimination of all local competition, the alleged  conversion of entire sections of towns into to parking lots, and their procurement practices, which have been called into question  with suggestions of ‘sweat-shop’ produced goods being thrown around.

Considering this, I personally think that Walmart will fit perfectly into the current architectural style of the North Coast:

It will fit perfectly with the current development, and the plans for expansion in our area:

Which as always, seeks to merely enhance our natural surrounds:

Additionally, the local populace is will easily fit the customer profile of the WALMART shopper:

http://www.peopleofwalmart.com/?state=1&cat=41 

Perhaps we too will be able to submit our shoppers for their two minutes of fame on peopleofwalmart.com

I think it’ll fit like a glove!

But my one concern in all of this progression towards the soul-less greed-driven shopping strips that have killed off the heart of every middle-American town, is  where the hell are the credit unions, Ben & Jerry’s, In & Out, drive thru pharmacies, 30 minute oil changes, some decent Mexican Food and the 24 hour beer selling gas stations?

One of the bright spots (often the only bright spot) in any trip to our nearest shopping mall, the aptly named, Gateway Theatre of Shopping (it is a spectacle indeed), is walking past the CUM bookstore and the ensuing debate over its name.  According to their website www.cum.co.za,

“CUM books has become a much-loved and popular name in many South African homes. CUM books strives to provide culturally relevant and biblically accurate books and products –  proclaiming firmly that not only Christian books are sold in the stores, but also a Christian lifestyle.”

Cum now, really?

Now the obvious question is, did nobody in the room know the current slang use of this word when deciding on the unfortunate name for their Christian bookstore chain?  Since the stores roots are in the NG Kerk (Church) with its deep, dark Calvanist background, I’m going to go out on a limb and say that they didn’t think to check the urban dictionary on this one:

to cum (third-person singular simple present cums, present participle cumming, simple past cameor cummed, , past participle came , cum or cummed)

1. (slang) To have an orgasm; to ejaculate or to feel the sensation of an orgasm.

Regardless of the actual history of the naming of this store, imagining the board in charge of name selection is just an image that will continue to bring endless amusement.  Oh, its the small things…

Contact  CUM at: cum@cum.co.za for all your Christian book requirements.  This is just never going to get old.

South African cartoonist Anthony Shapiro, who publishes under the pen name Zapiro, has been sued for defamation by South African President Jacob Zuma several times. His shower-head depictions of the president are in reference to the Zuma’s sage advice on the role of showering after unprotected sex in preventing the spread of HIV.  These comments were made as part of his defense in his rape trial.  Zuma has thankfully put all that behind him now, and has just celebrated the birth of his 20th child to girlfriend Sonono Khosa, daughter of soccer exec the “iron duke”.  This comes just months after his fifth polygamist marriage.