A challenge set by Sonel seemed to be so easy, jumped on the computer hard drive and struggled to find a few that I could post… any way here’s my entry…
This is hard…………………….
Black and White Photo Challenge : Nature 59 comments
Kuruman.. A town in the Kalahari. 46 comments
Kuruman is a town with 12 000 odd inhabitants in Northern Cape province of South Africa, famous for the Eye of Kuruman, a geological feature bringing water from deep underground to the surface in the Kalahari Desert.
The Eye is the largest known natural spring in the southern hemisphere. Who says arid areas have no water.??
Kuruman is vastly known as the ‘the fountain of Christianity’ in Africa due to the flowing springs of the ‘Die Oog’ and its missionary history of the ‘Moffatt Mission’.
Kuruman is also known for the Moffat Mission where Robert Moffat, a Scottish missionary, was the first person to translate and print the entire Bible into the Setswana African language.
Robert Moffatt helped build the Moffatt Church which was completed in 1838. Kuruman was a London Missionary Society mission station founded by Robert Moffat in 1821 and the place where David Livingstone arrived for his first position as a missionary in 1841.
Now David Livingstone I’m sure you all know for his meeting with H. M. Stanley on 10 November 1871 which gave rise to the popular quotation "Dr. Livingstone, I presume?" He was also reputed to be the first White discoverer to see the world famous Victoria Falls.. Now my knowledge of local history has been awakened as I never knew he started his career of expeditions from Kuruman..
But this photographic post is about the famous Eye of Kuruman… I will let the first photo speak further for me..
Now when they say this water is crystal clear the following photos will convince you of that fact…
and all this water bubbles out of this “EYE”…
The Kuruman River (which is dry except for flash floods after heavy rain), is named after the town. But with all this water bubbling out of the ground.. 20 000 000 litres per day (4 500 000 gallons per day) why would the river be a dry river.?? Ummm interesting, will have to study up a bit more on this… Okay the water is used to supply 71 000 people in the area.. lucky people, such crystal clear water, I wonder now if they need to purify it.???
Kalahari Gemsbok Park. 33 comments
How did this area become a protected park for animals?
It all started with the First World War. In 1914 the Government of the Union of South Africa drilled a series of boreholes in the Auob River. The country now known as Namibia was then South West Africa and occupied by the Germans.
These boreholes were to supply troops moving against SWA with water. It never happened, and this area was surveyed into farms by Roger “Malkop” Duke Jackson. Now for those not familiar with Afrikaans “Malkop” means “mad-head”, if you refer to someone as “mal in die kop” you would be saying “mad in the head”.
Malkop was Scottish and this probably explains the many Gaelic names were given to the boreholes.
After WW1 these farms were given to white people and a little later coloured people.
One such farm house still stands with a little of the history that goes with it…
In 1931 the land was proclaimed a National Park by the Minister of Lands Piet Grobbler and the occupants were given land south of the park on the Kuruman River. The borehole guards and farmers merely abandoned their properties and this one site is now what’s left of an operating farm.
The sheep and cattle kraal….
400 Posts, How time flies. 104 comments
As I searched for a post today I discovered this post will be my 400th.. who knew I would ever reach this stage .?.. not I.
Have I sniffed around for enough material..???
Have I tried to hide my face..??
Have I been brave in my commentary and strong in my posts.?
Have I covered the birds and the bees.?? (well the baby birds and the butterflies)…
Have I slaked the thirst for knowledge of some of my followers.?? I hope so…
Have I looked West and then gone East.??
Have I had the strength of my convictions.??
Have I looked everyone in the face and communicated my true feelings in my comments.?
Well all I can say is I hope I’ve been a friend to all that follow me and all that I follow. May the sun never sink on our friendship that stretches across such vast distances of the world, and may God give me the grace and opportunity to continue posting new posts for years to come…
“At the setting of the sun, may we all continue to entertain each other in such diverse ways.”
Giraffe in the Kalahari Gemsbok Park. 45 comments
Giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis)
More photos and odd facts about the long stretch of an animal;
It is the tallest animal and ruminant. and the name is derived from its almost camel look.
Giraffe see in colour, according to the experts, I always wonder about such statements as how the hell do they know, and do some suffer from colour blindness.??
This I do know, it only has 7 neck bones and have ball and socket joints.. and the top vertebra is unique in that it allows the head to tilt directly upward.. the young are born with shorter necks, that develop quickly to give it length… can you imagine being a Giraffe mother giving birth to young that’s neck was full length… the neck muscles are extremely strong.. having to be able to hold the neck up and if you ever see them fighting, it’s all in the neck…
One other interesting fact, the mother gives the final birth of her young standing… so little giraffe fall into the world and surprisingly stand up very quickly, staggering a lot, but not long after birth, it’s ready to run with Mom to escape predators…
As the Giraffe is a ruminant, it has to regurgitate its feed from the stomach back to the mouth for rumination… firstly all that way down.. then back up for a re chew… fascinating…
Blood pressure seems controlled with tighter and thicker skin on the legs restricting too big a build up… much like a G flight suit for pilots…
Too Good not to share… 54 comments
MAN RULES
AT LAST A GUY HAS TAKEN THE TIME TO WRITE THIS ALL DOWN
FINALLY, the guys’ side of the story. ( I MUST ADMIT, IT’S PRETTY GOOD.)
WE ALWAYS HEAR ‘THE RULES’ FROM THE FEMALE SIDE
NOW HERE ARE THE RULES FROM THE MALE SIDE
THESE ARE OUR RULES!
PLEASE NOTE. THESE ARE ALL NUMBERED #1 ON PURPOSE!
1. MEN ARE NOT MIND READERS.
1. LEARN TO WORK THE TOILET SEAT. YOU’RE A BIG GIRL. IF IT’S UP, PUT IT DOWN. WE NEED IT UP, YOU NEED IT DOWN. YOU DON’T HEAR US COMPLAINING ABOUT YOU LEAVING IT DOWN.
1. CRYING IS BLACKMAIL.
1. ASK FOR WHAT YOU WANT. LET US BE CLEAR ON THIS ONE:
SUBTLE HINTS DO NOT WORK!
STRONG HINTS DO NOT WORK!
OBVIOUS HINTS DO NOT WORK!
JUST SAY IT!
1. YES AND NO ARE PERFECTLY ACCEPTABLE ANSWERS TO ALMOST EVERY QUESTION.
1.. COME TO US WITH A PROBLEM ONLY IF YOU WANT HELP SOLVING IT. THAT’S WHAT WE DO. SYMPATHY IS WHAT YOUR GIRLFRIENDS ARE FOR.
1. ANYTHING WE SAID 6 MONTHS AGO IS INADMISSIBLE IN AN ARGUMENT. IN FACT, ALL COMMENTS BECOME NULL AND VOID AFTER 7 DAYS.
1. IF YOU THINK YOU’RE FAT, YOU PROBABLY ARE. DON’T ASK US.
1. IF SOMETHING WE SAID CAN BE INTERPRETED TWO WAYS AND ONE OF THE WAYS MAKES YOU SAD OR ANGRY, WE MEANT THE OTHER ONE.
1. YOU CAN EITHER ASK US TO DO SOMETHING OR TELL US HOW YOU WANT IT DONE. NOT BOTH. IF YOU ALREADY KNOW BEST HOW TO DO IT, JUST DO IT YOURSELF.
1. WHENEVER POSSIBLE, PLEASE SAY WHATEVER YOU HAVE TO SAY DURING COMMERCIALS.
1. CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS DID NOT NEED DIRECTIONS AND NEITHER DO WE…
1. ALL MEN SEE IN ONLY 16 COLOURS, LIKE WINDOWS DEFAULT SETTINGS.. PEACH, FOR EXAMPLE, IS A FRUIT, NOT A COLOUR. PUMPKIN IS ALSO A FRUIT. WE HAVE NO IDEA WHAT MAUVE IS.
1. IF WE ASK WHAT IS WRONG AND YOU SAY ‘NOTHING,’ WE WILL ACT LIKE NOTHING’S WRONG. WE KNOW YOU ARE LYING, BUT IT IS JUST NOT WORTH THE HASSLE.
1. IF YOU ASK A QUESTION YOU DON’T WANT AN ANSWER TO, EXPECT AN ANSWER YOU DON’T WANT TO HEAR..
1. WHEN WE HAVE TO GO SOMEWHERE, ABSOLUTELY ANYTHING YOU WEAR IS FINE…REALLY.
1.. DON’T ASK US WHAT WE’RE THINKING ABOUT UNLESS YOU ARE PREPARED TO DISCUSS SUCH TOPICS AS FOOTBALL OR MOTOR SPORTS.
1. YOU HAVE ENOUGH CLOTHES.
1 .. YOU HAVE TOO MANY SHOES.
1. I AM IN SHAPE. ROUND IS A SHAPE!
1.. THANK YOU FOR READING THIS. YES, I KNOW, I HAVE TO SLEEP ON THE COUCH TONIGHT.. BUT DID YOU KNOW MEN REALLY DON’T MIND THAT? IT’S LIKE CAMPING…
The Mountain Reedbuck. 47 comments
Mountain reedbuck (Redunca fulvorufula)
Mountain Reedbuck..? sounds a bit of an oxymoron, how often do you see reeds in the mountains of South Africa.?? Not often if ever. So where did this name come from.? Who knows.
The Mountain Reedbuck is a medium-sized, graceful and shy antelope. Rams attain a mass of about 32 Kg and measures 750mm at shoulder. Ewes are smaller at 30 Kg. It has a fluffy white tail and striking white under-parts. Forward curved horns are only found on rams.
The Mountain Reedbuck is a grazer and needs an adequate supply of fresh water. Well that I can go with, our mountains do have water reserves stored in areas… there must be reeds there then… Ah Ha … we have the answer…
Their natural habitat is, as their name suggests, mountainous terrain and they can be seen on mountain slopes feeding or resting in the shade and camouflage of the thick bush. Distribution is restricted to the mountain slopes of Gauteng, the Drakensberg, as well as the Karoo koppies (hills) along the upper Orange River. The Mountain Reedbuck is quite common in a suitable habitat.
Well I have only ever seen them once before todays capture, which I must admit was a lucky one, specially as there was not a mountain to be seen where I was…
