New Link On My Blog

Time flies Sorry not for writing so often but here is a new add-on to my blog. See the link " Indicators" it will take you to my page with News and Economic indicators.

The picture is just something I try to draw if it do lot look good call it Art and then can it represent anything.

Travel by Train in SA

Have you recently travel by train in SA. Well I have in July 2008 and what I thought to be a stress full experience turned out to be relaxing and fun. We were traveling on the Thosholoza Meyl from Johannesburg to Cape Town with 40 children. First to get the tickets for a big group like that was fun. Although it was booked long before the time they still had to print the tickets one by one when I asked for it and nobody seems to be in a hurry. But if you travel this way you must never be in a hurry it takes about 25 hours to get to Cape Town. Make sure you book on the train with the sleeper couches and not the sitter one. That one is like sitting in a bus non stop and I will not suggest it. It cost us R420 return and bedding on the train was in the region of R40 but we were using our own sleeping bags. At first traveling through the stations of  Johannesburg’s suburbs was not very scenic but once you out of the city you see South Africa from a another angle. The route takes you also through the longest railway tunnels in South Africa.

 

The food on the Train is very good and fairly cheap. Sitting in the dinning car having something to eat and drink as the landscape around you change is something I can not explain to you. The sounds on the rails make you sleeping at night so much sweeter. No traffic to worry about you can just relax. Off course with 40 children the fun never stops on the Train.

 

If you want to do it in more style and much more expensive (from R9999 to R17000) and luxuries way, take the Blue Train we past it on the route or shall I say they passed us in the luxury of a five star hotel. Less expensive is the Premier Class at R1380 to R4900 doing the same route.

 

This photo’s was on that fun trip.

                 

                          

Rain in South Africa

South Africa have a summer and winter rainfall regions both of them get moderate rain fall during that season. I stay in the summer rainfall region that is coloured below in the map. The red parts of the map is indicating the winter rainfall regions.

During 2008 we had floods in the Cape regions and I was fortunate or unfortunate to witness it while we tour the Cape with the Highveld Youth and Children's Choir. The Cape can get nasty no wonder it was known as the Cape of Storms by Bartlomias Dias and Sr Vasco Degamas. These photos were taken on that tour and despite the weather we still had lots of fun in Cape Town.

In Mpumalnga we had about 200mm rain in the last two weeks this was taken just after we had a big thunder storm in Secunda on the 18th the small stream running through town looked like a river.

 

Safety During Storms

• Never try to cross a bridge if water is flowing over it.
  
• Never Hide under a tree if the there is lightning keep your feet together and stay away of high objects try not to touch metal objects. The safest place is in a Car.
  
• The place in south Africa with the most lightning is the Highveld and particularly the Amsterdam and Piet Retief regions. This does not mean you must not visit these towns they are beautiful.
  
• Do not go out to sea or a dam if the wheather is not good

You can get more information on weather and Forecasts for South Africa on http://www.weatherphotos.co.za

Eclipse in South Africa

Over the past few years we were very lucky to see once in a lifetime events. Like the full eclipse on 4 Dec 2002 and today 26 Jan 2009 we had a 65% eclipse. There is a lot of tales in Africa based on an eclipse but none of them is true. In 2002 a lot of people visited SA to see the full Eclipse and the ascent path of the moons shadow was clearly seen.

 Unfortunately I have missed it in 2002 because of rain I was on the border of Swaziland at that stage. Today we nearly missed it again with fog clouds covering the sun but in a way it was also beautiful because we could look at the sun for short intervals without special glasses the fog act as a filter. The sad part of it was that I was not able to take photos of it therefore I have tried to draw the turning point for you. The people in Cape Town were at the best spot to see it and you might get nice photos on the web that was taken there

Sunset in Africa

I always say one day I want to go and visit Norway to see the Northern Lights one dream that might come true when I retire one day. Well on the other hand we have the most beautiful sunsets in the world. Someone asked in the comments of my last story if I’m in the tourism business, No I’m a normal middle class worker in SA and I’m working at one of the biggest Petrochemical plants in the world. The company is called SASOL and we make a variety of chemicals from coal, and our main products is Petrol, Diesel, Airplane fuel, Polypropylene and a lot more. Like Wine  this plant is also very special. The plant was build in the apartheids years when SA had sanctions against it and it generate jobs for more then 30000 people. You can read more on the plant on the SASOL web.

 

Now the Sunset: This photo was taken by my wife just outside town (Secunda) looking at the sunset over the factory. You can see about 50% of the Plant sticking out with all its lights. It is a pity we are located on the grass and wetlands of the Highveld and not on the route of overseas tourist therefore they never see this huge plant that generate fuel for the car they driving. The biggest structures you see on the photo are cooling towers that is big enough for a 12 story building to stand in. No it is not smoke it is steam coming out of them.  

The next photo was also taken by my wife on the same evening standing in front of our house.