Safari at Pilanesberg

With this post, I am probably leaving the chronological order. There are two reasons: First, I wanted to get these Safari pictures out. Second, I realized that we didn't take a lot of pictures between Cape Town and Pretoria and none of them are as interesting as African wild life :)

So we went to Pilanesberg National Park, which is about 160 km north-west of Pretoria. It is designed for self-guided tours (which we did) but also offers guided tours with Jeeps (in case you don't want to to take your car through the washed out roads).


We were equipped with a four wheel drive Toyota, which had to go through quite some adventurous roads with us. However, at least for us it was totally worth it!

For one, we saw lots of colourful birds...

... turtles ...

... and various types of deer.

If you looked carefully, you were able to spot many lizards (for those who like them ^^).

Finally, some springboks, the mascots of the South African rugby team.

We also saw many Zebras all around the park. This one was especially brave since it took on with a bunch of gnus and won the claim for the salt. The gnus had to wait for the Zebra to finish...

Two elephants from the distance. We couldn't get closer to them but I think this was the safer distance anyway.

For some reason, Zebras and Giraffes like to stick together. Maybe it is because they do not have to fight each other for food...

Zebras themselves are quite social so they support each other in holding their big heads.

While we only saw elephants from the far distance, we got really close to two rhinos on the way to the exit. They are fascinating and scary at the same time, huge and calm but there is this weird feeling that once they start running after you things will get messy...

Note: I started writing this article many months ago and never managed to get back to it. I might not have a chance to write again about South Africa, there are currently other things that need a lot of attention and interesting stuff will be coming up. However, I still love to think about the great time I had down there...

Cape of Good Hope

On the third day in Cape Town (day 1, day 2), we went down to the Cape of Good Hope, which got its name from the hope that passing this dangerous cape would open a trade route to India.

After entering the large national park area, we first went to the beach take a walk. Near the parking lot, some Antelopes were already waiting for us.

An ostrich walking around in the wild. We were not sure whether he escaped from somewhere.

The cape if known for its many wracks, this was found at Olifantsbos Point.

Not only ships got wrecked in this area, as this whale bone shows.

Finally reaching Cape Point.

Looking back on the Cape national park from the light house standing on top of Cape Point. The actual Cape of Good Hope is the part on the left.

Since the light house on top of Cape Point was too far inland, ships still got wrecked on the stones hidden under the water around Cape Point. Hence, people built a second light house at the southern most point possible to warn ships of the dangers.

Looking back at Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope.

On the way back to Cape Town, we stopped at a colony of Jackass Penguins in the Boulders.

This little guy thought he wants to leave the fenced colony and get some adventure, so he climbed the wall and took off...

He certainly was not the only one trying to go for a little walk.

Table Mountain

After walking through Cape Town on the first day, we decided to spend the second day hiking the Table Mountain, which you can see from almost everywhere in town.

We took the cable car up to the top and starting our hike from there. On the way up we realized that there is a nice path up which should be doable without any gear required.

Looking down on Cape Town gives an amazing view.

It was nice and warm, the lizards seemed to enjoy that too.

Some German with the Table Mountain plateau and Atlantic Ocean in the background.

A beautiful protea, South Africa's national flower. You can find it everyone on the table mountain and in many other places.

A water reserve with the clouds sneaking up over the hills in the background.

One of the few houses to be found on the plateau.

At some point, we found this down path going through a gorge. It looks ok but is surprisingly steep, as we figured out while walking down. Note to ourselves: walk up, not down. That's what the cable car is for!

Finally, after making it down to the lower cable car station, the clouds came rolling over the mountain. This is what people there call the table cloth, it came with a strong and chilly wind.

Cape Town

After coming back from the 2.5 weeks in South Africa, I needed some time to catch up with things and think about the many impressions we've got. Also, I first wanted to sieve the metric ton of pictures that I took on the whole trip. Here are some from Cape Town, all taken on the first day.

This is the town hall in downtown Cape Town, the place where Nelson Mandela gave his first speech after he was freed from Robben Island, with 100,000 people cheering on the Grand Parade.

Reminiscences of "Tata" are everywhere. This was just a foretaste of what was meant to await us. Also, the Table Mountain in the background.

Some nice sense of humor...

We also went through Bo-Kaap, a beautiful part of the town with many colourful small houses it is the center of the muslim life in Cape Town.

Again, the Table Mountain in the background. I guess it is hard to find a place in the city from which you cannot spot this impressive cliff.

A tomb with a view on the harbour.

Watching the sun fall into the Atlantic Ocean...

... and Cape Town at night.

First try: Freelensing

This certainly is on the experimental side of things: Freelensing! How does it work? Take an (preferably cheap) prime lens off your camera, tear it apart, and freely hold it in front of your camera with one hand while shooting with your other hand. Why would you do that? Well, you can get some interesting effects with it, most notably the shifting of the focus plane. But see for yourself:

These are a pick from my first try and I think they show the potential, even though they are certainly not perfect. I will go out and try again once I have some time to spare. It's a fun thing to do, for sure!

P.S.: In case you wonder: the lens is an old 50mm Olympus which was provided to me by friend, already with the mounting ring taken off. Thanks, Andreas!