South Africa – Page 5 – Notes from the Cape

Published December 21, 2011

On fire

We have mountain fires in Cape Town every summer. Usually they happen when it is hot and windy, and mostly they are started by cigarette butts being thrown out of car windows.

This year is no exception. On Saturday the mountain just above Boyes Drive was on fire, and the fire-crews were using two helicopters to dump water onto the fire. Because it was so close to my house and I live right next to the vlei, I watched the choppers collecting the water out of the lake before dumping it onto the fire.

It was pretty amazing watching the choppers, incredible skill in dropping down to grab the water, and then dumping it right on the hot-spots. This is in the cross-winds and flying through all the smoke. These are amazing pilots.

Thankfully, they managed to put this one out quite quickly, and there didn’t seem to be any major damage. We have had some pretty major fires in the past.

Here are the rest of the pics.

Cape Town News South Africa

cape town fire helicopters lakeside muizenberg water

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Published October 24, 2011

Kalk Bay Harbour (watercolour)

Lots of people have said that my recent Kalk Bay Harbour shot would make a nice painting, well with a little help from a friend (PhotoShop), here is the watercolour :-) Which version do you prefer?

Cape Town South Africa

boats cape town harbour kalk bay sea

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Published October 23, 2011

Cape Town Kite Festival

Rainbow Kite

Today is the Cape Town International Kite Festival in Lakeside. I shot through this morning to take a few shots. There are some amazing kites on display, from simple kites you can fly in your back garden, to huge cartoon characters. Entrance is only R15, and proceeds go to Cape Mental Health.

Tweetie

The festival finishes tonight at 7pm, so there is still plenty of time to get down there and have a look at the kites. It is a great outing for children, and small kites are for sale for the little people to fly themselves.

Even the SA flag was (literally) flying

Cape Town South Africa

cape town festival flag lakeside

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Published October 22, 2011

Kalk Bay Harbour

Fishing boats in Kalk Bay Harbour

I shot this picture on the way to dinner at the Harbour House Restaurant last night, where I had a fantastic piece of yellow-tail for dinner. This is one of the most photographed places in Cape Town, and even though I have taken hundreds of pictures here, I still cannot resist taking another few pictures every time that I come here.

Cape Town South Africa

boats cape town fishing harbour kalk bay

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Published October 3, 2011

African statue

This lovely yet somewhat strange statue was in the garden of the conference venue where we had our recent Toastmasters conference, in Vanderbijlpark just South of Johannesburg. While this type of status is very typical of African art, I still find such large and lifelike statues somewhat intimidating, almost as if they are watching your every move. Having said that, the detail is amazing, and it is a true craftsman that can carve this face out of a solid piece of wood.

Bu the way, no HDR here in case you were wondering.

South Africa

africa johannesburg statues

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Published September 19, 2011

Ducklings

I happened to see these ducklings on the vlei as I was driving past. As I grabbed my camera, they hopped into the water and swam off with mom (or dad) in tow.

Cape Town South Africa

cape town ducks lakeside zandvlei

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Published June 30, 2011

The soaring Eagabbit

About 2 months ago, I posted a picture of a white Rabbit. I was slightly startled yesterday to receive an email from Jesusdragon737, telling me that he had used the photo as a basis for some serious photoshopping. And the picture placed 3rd in a photo manipulation contest.

Above is Eagabbit, and below my original picture.

Amazing what you can do with digital manipulation.

South Africa

abstract johannesburg rabbit

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Published June 29, 2011

Caught in Flight

I caught this shot of the bird just as he was lauching himself into the air. I don’t know what type of bird he (or she) is, but that long beak looks ideal for finding yummy worms in the ground (that is yummy from the bird’s perspective, not from mine).

Cape Town South Africa

birds cape town

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Published May 18, 2011

Sunrise on election day

Even though today is election day and a public holiday, the city council are still working, and our garbage is being collected. I forgot to leave my bin outside last night, so this morning when I heard the truck at the bottom of the road I had to rush out of bed and leave my bin outside.

This is a good thing because I saw this wonderful sunrise. So of course I rushed back in, grabbed my camera and tripod and snapped this shot (7 shots merged in photoshop). I think that it came out really well. There are absolutely no tonal adjustments to the colour, this is literally how it came out.

Cape Town South Africa

cape town lakeside scenery sunrise zandvlei

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Published April 22, 2011

C’est La Vie

C’est La Vie bakery, Rosmead Road, Kalk Bay. They have wonderful French baguettes and other interesting breads. I read about them in the BA airline magazine on Sunday, and today I went to find them. They are a little out of the way but quite easy to fine. They also have a few tables outside where you can order sit-down meals, but we brought the baguettes home for lunch, and they are wonderfully fresh and chewy, just like a real baguette should be.

Cape Town Food and Drink South Africa

bread cape town food and drink kalk bay

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Category: <span>South Africa</span>