Hiking is one of the most relaxing and rewarding of all outdoor activities. Without question, one of the best experiences a person can have is finishing a two to five mile hike. Especially when that hike ends at the top of a mountain. The feeling of accomplishment that comes from a good hike is a better feeling than any drug can produce for you. The scenery that can be experienced on a hike is a thousand times better than any tour bus can show you as well.

It is imperative that you remember your camera on your next hike. A camera is the perfect way to capture the “feeling” that the scenery provides you. In this day and age, digital cameras have become so small and lightweight that they can easily be carried in a fanny pack for easy access.

While on a hike, it’s not uncommon to stumble across wildlife. Wildlife that you probably don’t get the opportunity to see in the wild very often. A camera is obviously the perfect way to chronicle any wildlife that you come across. What if you stumbled across something extremely rare? Such as a mountain lion. It would be nice to be able to take a picture of the mountain lion and share it with your friends and colleagues. What if you stumbled across a Yeti? It would sure be nice to get a good picture of that, right?

Hiking is one of the best ways to enjoy nature. Aristotle said of nature: “In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous.” One of the best ways to find the marvelous is by going for a hike. And to capture a piece of the marvelous you must remember your camera. I suggest that you get your hands on a small camera and just leave it in your fanny pack. Then when you need it, it will always be there.

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The landscape of the Eastern Cape is diverse, from arid desolate Karoo to lush green Tsitsikamma Forest, the fertile Lankloof and Sundays River Valleys and magnificent beaches on the Wild Coast. This was true frontier country in the early 1800s. Various peoples met along the coastal migration routes and as a result many battles were fought here. White settlers clashed with the Xhosa, Pondo, Zulu and Sotho tribes.

The unique architecture of the towns and cities reflects the mixed heritage of the people and the many museums narrate the turbulent history of the area.

The Eastern Cape is an agricultural region producing mainly grains and fruits, though there are some cattle and sheep ranches. The main public game reserve in the Eastern Cape is the Addo Elephant Park, not far from Port Elizabeth. There are also numerous private game reserves, all of which are in malaria-free areas.

Addo Elephant National Park

Addo Elephant National Park is part of the South African National Parks and is a delightful reserve near Port Elizabeth. The elephants used to be tightly packed in this park but it has recently been expanded so that these large but quiet pachyderms have a wider area in which to roam.

As a result it is slightly harder to see the elephants, but the animals aren’t in short supply and evidence is all around. An elephant produces 150 kilograms of dung every day so the precious flightless dung beetles have quite a job to do.

You will see many signs in this park asking you to take care not to run over dung beetles, which are vital to the fragile ecology.

Accommodation is in basic but attractive chalets, which overlook a well-trodden path to the waterhole in front of the main lodge. You can eat at the basic restaurant or take your own barbeque food and cook it on your patio while watching elephants pass by. Just after dusk the silver-backed jackals often start howling, an eerie serenade in the otherwise silent evening.

Port Elizabeth

Port Elizabeth is known as ‘The Friendly City’, with its sandy beaches, pleasant parks and a thriving nightlife. Settlers Park includes 54 hectares of cultivated and natural gardens in the valley of the Baakens River, with the many native plants and flowers attracting many colourful birds.

Known to South Africans as ‘P.E.’, Port Elizabeth is a major water-sports venue and hosted the 1995 World Windsurfing Championships. There is a public pool in St George’s Park and a tidal swimming pool at MacArthur Baths on Kings Beach Promenade.

Port Elizabeth is also a city for animal lovers, with dolphins performing at the Oceanarium, a snake park, and even a Horse Monument in town commemorating horses that suffered and died during the Boer War.

A reminder of a different, short-lived war is Fort Frederick, built in 1799. It was intended to defend the original harbour at the mouth of the river against the French, who wanted to colonise the remote eastern regions of the Cape. They found it was too much trouble and no shot was ever fired from here.

Wild Coast

This sunny stretch of coastline offers some of the best angling, hiking, diving and scenic beauty in South Africa. The surroundings here are magnificent and the cultural diversity alone makes the Wild Coast well worth visiting.

The swimming is safe and the water is warm and undisturbed along this peaceful and glorious stretch of coast. The area is not extensively developed, which adds to its rustic and unspoilt appeal.

Settler Country

Slightly inland from the Wild Coast, is an area in which a fair number of English immigrants settled in the 1820s. At the time, it was a conflict-torn region where Boer and Xhosa communities were constantly at each other’s throats over cattle and land.

The English Settlers landed in the middle of this tension and several wars were fought. Towns like Cradock, Hogsback, Queenstown, Fort Beaufort and Somerset East sprung up to buffer the conflict and supply garrisons with provisions.

Many of these towns benefited from the strong English influence and these influences can still be seen today. There are a number of historic buildings to be seen as well as beautiful areas of indigenous forest, especially around Hogsback.

Karoo

The hot dry Karoo overlaps the Eastern Cape and the Western Cape. It has a sparse barren landscape, where the main economic activity is wool and meat from hardy Karoo sheep.

One of the main towns in the Eastern Cape Karoo is Graaff-Reinet. The wide streets of Graaff-Reinet have more National Monument buildings than any other town in South Africa and it is a delightful oasis in the scrubland.

Nearby is a spectacular natural wonder known as the ‘Valley of Desolation’, where the ground falls away dramatically, and strange dolomite pinnacles rise like rockets from a launching pad.

Nieu-Bethesda is a quirky little town and home to the strange Owl House. The Owl House is an unusual collection of cement and glass sculptures and is the life’s work of an eccentric artist named Helen Martins.

It may seem vast and empty but the Karoo is full of delightful eccentricities waiting to be discovered.

Gerald Crawford was born in South Africa, studied electronics, telecommunication, eco-travel and african travel concepts. He taught responsible tourism in South Africa. If you have any questions or comments please e-mail me on. E-mail Address: mailto:southafricantravelarticles@12234455.co.za southafricantravelarticles@12234455.co.za Website Address: 12234455.co.za 12234455.co.za

The other day I had an interesting conversation with an aerospace engineer and he was telling me that he and his colleagues in the UK were working on some revolutionary aircraft designs. Then recently I had another conversation with a gentleman about the structure, strength and flexibility of an insect wing, in particular an African Killer Bee. He said he had contacted a professional engineer on the subject, then I thought to myself about our aerospace engineers and their accomplishments and most recently their failures too.

So I said; “Oh and your professional engineers? Yah, those SOBs built the Osprey remember? And remind me to get into a helicopter with no tail rotor, which blows air out the side as it comes into land making a right turn at under 75% power? I guess those professional engineers just forgot to mention these things. Should I go on with examples? I can for about 100 pages off the top of my head too.”

You see the word professional brings out the worst in me. First the best aerospace engineers are not professional at all. Take Burt Rutan for instance, not professional, but he may as well be God when it comes to aerospace designs. So, I told my friend;

“Professional Engineers, dump the chip on your shoulder. I’d like to see them design half the stuff I have that works and gets the job done efficiently in my industry. And let’s look at facts take the Lockheed JSF with titanium bulkheads that crack? Oh isn’t that special; real good for the Taxpayer on that? Could I do better, hell yes. The design is flawed and the costs are too high and it took too long and everything was done so professional. But no one wants to buy them do they?

The Saudis, UAE, Japanese, India are buyers perhaps and only because we are holding their hands to the fire and what about the British and Australians? Only if the price comes down after the US pays all the R and D? And professional engineers; speaking of which where are my nano-carbon tube materials? Huh? Professional engineers? Oh they are working on it? They can build something with one pound that would take anyone else ten pounds? Yah, sure, I’ve heard it all. Show me; no show me the money.

I am not impressed with mediocrity, weakness, or those who fall back on professional titles because they cannot get it done. Show me. I want results not pigeon heads who think they know everything that keep producing crap that does not work. So there is a little insight for you. His comments; well he said; “No, Lance tell me how you really feel!”

“Lance Winslow” – Online WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs/ Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance in the Online Think Tank and solve the problems of the World; WorldThinkTank.net www.WorldThinkTank.net/

Adventurer Ponce de Leon and fellow Spanish chronicler Antonio de Herrera discovered Florida Keys on May 15,1530. Key West has a party atmosphere. The bars and clubs are visited by a large number of tourists every year. The weather conditions and the beaches are a big part of the Florida Keys attractiveness as a Spring Break destination. Beautiful beaches that face waters and stretch miles across the coast line and a subtropical climate are perfect for diving, kayaking, sailing, wave running and swimming.

Being a spot of such great tourist interest, real estate in the Keys is very expensive. While the housing market along the shoreline of the Keys is tight, properties in outlying areas are quite affordable. One-bedroom condominiums start at $245,000. Small single-family homes start at $300,000 and run into the millions. Larger estates with ocean frontage and spectacular views can go for $3 million or more.

Million-dollar properties are quite commonplace in Florida Keys. Land cost for new development has tripled in many cases, and density has gone from 25 to 20 units per acre. The population of retirees, baby boomers and second-home buyers are making strong demands for properties on or near the water in the Florida Keys. This boom in demand has allowed sellers to name their own prices and terms.

The housing areas of the Keys are emerging as a more upscale market than ever before. The supply of homes for sale is increasing. The hurricane is responsible for the buying frenzy of residential lots that are zoned multi-family for purposes of condo development. The landowners are still undecided, as to whether they will rebuild or sell the properties damaged during the hurricane. However, in both cases, prices will be higher than ever when the waterfront properties are put up for sale.

The months of August and September saw a slight fall in the real estate sales. Nevertheless the market is bouncing back now.

e-FloridaKeys.com Florida Keys provides detailed information on Florida Keys, Key West Florida, Key Largo Florida, Florida Keys Vacations and more. Florida Keys is affiliated with e-KeyWest.com Key West Real Estate.