The Gem-studded Puff-ball (Lycoperdon perlatum) grows up to 50 millimeters high and can be found either in clusters or on its own. The mushroom is covered in tiny wards leaving depressions and are normally found in late summer to autumn among fallen leaves of broadleaved trees.

I wanted to get a very artistic picture for my Christmas post, but just ran out of time before we had to pack for our holiday. I decided to rather post this one of what Santa should look like when visiting our shores over Christmas. As it is summer he is wearing shorts and a funky short sleeve shirt and is having a party on the beach. Drama Princess decided to pose with him for me.

MERRY CHRISTMAS everybody. May the day bring happiness and goodness in all of your lives.

The Red Hartebeest is usually found in grasslands and savanna in the drier central parts of South Africa. They are grazers which means that you would find them in the open grazing on grass, although they are known to browse as well when grass is in short supply. The Red Hartebeest is said to be the second fastest antelope in Africa after the Tsessebe.

The name Red Hartebeest comes from the fact the

Red: They are reddish in colour;

Harte: When you look at them straight on from the front, their horns form the shape of a heart; and

Beest: Either from the fact that they are beasts or because they graze like cattle and in Afrikaans (or Dutch) a cow is a bees.

The Black Wattle is an invader specie that was introduced to South Africa from Australia. The first Black Wattle was planted in 1928 and it was hoped that it would provide fuel, building materials, and shade In the early days the Black Wattles were also grown in a controlled environment to harvest its tannin. Unfortunately in later years they were allowed to spread through South Africa like wild fire.

Sedge photograped next to the Maitlands River. I was checking my The Wildlife of Southern Africa book and it seems that this may be Cyperus dives.

The Spotted Dikkop (Burhinus capensis) must be one of my favorite birds. I was surprised to find this pair and their chick (picture below) at the bottom of the Donkin Reserve. The Dikkop is a fairly big bird with a height of 34-43cm. The are normally found in pairs and prefer walking over flying. When they do fly is usually during dusk when they are in search of water. They are also a lot more noisy in the dark than in daylight hours.

Situated next to the German Settler Memorial in East London is The Symbol of Multiculturalism. With Wednesday 16 December being Day or Reconsiliation, I thought that this is actually a very relevant post.

The Symbol of Multiculturalism was created by Francesco Perilli and was donated by the Nereto Municipality in Italy to the people of the Eastern Cape Province and for the African continent.

On the Esplanade in East London visitors to the city will find the German Settlers Memorial. It was erected in remembrance of the than 2000 German settlers (men, women and children) who arrived in East London in 1858 as part of the colonial government's plan to try and introduce the black Xhosa speaking people of the Eastern Cape to a European type of society.

Originally the British Government offered the colonial government the services of the British German Legion who was recruited for the Crimean war but never saw and action. After their arrival in 1857 it was found that their settlement was unsuccessful as soldiers didn't make very good farmers although they were ideally suited to defend the area from Xhosa attack if necessary.

I spent a couple of days in the city of East London, 300 kilometers east of Port Elizabeth, the other day. I didn't have much free time, but I did get to visit the East London Aquarium.

The East London Aquarium is by no means a very big facility. It was officially opened on 2 December 1931 which makes it the oldest public aquarium in Southern Africa. The aquarium has a number of large fish tank displays that feature most of the fish population found in the oceans around East London.

I found this flower out walking a couple of weekends ago and it looks like some kind of wild orchid. Unfortunately I can't find it in my book, although you don't need to know exactly what something is to be able to photograph it.

On a recent camping trip one of the folk in the group encountered this little guy behind the tents. I have never had the opportunity to take a picture of a scorpion, so I was on him like a rash. It is a Cape Rock Scorpion from the family Liochelidae.

Not too long ago I did a series of posts regarding the International Mohair Summit in the town of Graaff Reinet. I just realised that there was still one post on it that I didn't do although I uploaded the photos.

During the summit the Mohair Meander was launched. Its basically a route map that takes visitors through the Karoo region and points mohair related places. One of the main features of the route is the newly launched Mohair Experience Museum in Jansenville. On my way home to Port Elizabeth I stopped at the museum to have a look.

A couple of weeks ago we spent a weekend camping next to the Gamtoos River west of Port Elizabeth. The word Gamtoos comes from the Khoisan language and means "Place of the Roaring Lion". Its unsure if it was called that because of the wild lions that was found in this area or if there was a Khoisan tribe that lived in the area with such a name. A third explanation could be that when the river comes down in flood, it literally roars down to the ocean.

Mud prawns are abundant in estuaries around the low tide level where burrows are easily visible. They are filter feeders who feed from their U-shaped burrows. Mud prawns are very popular for bait fishermen are often seen on sandbanks with prawn pumps collecting them. I have to admit that they are ugly buggers and I wasn't too keen picking one up the first time I was given one, but it wasn't that bad.

Farm workers houses in the early morning light on a Karoo farm. Check out the full moon in the background.

Note: I don't know if there are actually somebody living in these, cause in the two days I was on the farm I never saw anybody there.

Sunset over the Gamtoos River Valley to the west of Port Elizabeth. The Gamtoos River Valley is prime farming area. This lower part of the valley is ideal for dairy farming while higher up in the valley they farm with citrus (mostly oranges) and vegetables (mostly potatoes). The Kouga Dam, one of Port Elizabeth's main water supply dams, are also situated higher up in the river.

For more breathtaking pictures of the sky, visit Skywatch.

Ever heard of a place called Melon? No? Well, the other day I discovered such a place. Melon is a siding on the narrow gauge line between the Gamtoos Valley and the Langkloof. Its basically a farming area and Melon itself is nothing more than two small buildings next to the railway line, a general dealer and two houses.

Its been a while since I've climbed to the top of the Campanile. Last weekends I had to keep Chaos Boy busy for the morning while the girls went shopping and we decided to go and climb to the top of the tower.

The Campanile was built and completed in 1923 in commemoration of the centenary of the arrival of the British Settlers in 1820. The site on which it stands used to be the landing beach where the settlers were offloaded before their long journey to the Grahamstown district.



At the top of the tower there are windows looking out to each of the four directions. East (above) you look across the Port Elizabeth Harbour which now separate the old landing beach from the ocean. South looks towards the beachfront while West looks across the freeway which separates the Campanile and harbour from the rest of the city. Looking North one can see the new Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium and the mountains beyond Uitenhage in the distance.

The Karoo is well known for its many different succulent species. Driving through some parts of the Karoo, specially around the Jansenville area, one will find a variety of euphorbia plants. One in particular stands out. The local euphorbia are smallish, thorny plants with a milky sap and are known as noors, giving the region its name of Noorsveld.

It is uncertain where the word noors comes from. The plant with its yellow flowers reminded the British of gorse and it is thought the gorse was evolved to noors by the Dutch settlers settling in the area.

The Karoo can be a dry and lonely if it hasn't rained for a while. Farmers are very dependent on water and most farms have boreholes and windpumps to get the water for their farms to be able to function. But when it does rain, the Karoo and its inhabitents rejoice. Specially if a thunderstorm approaches after a hot day and cools everything off.

One of the things the people of the Karoo loves most is seeing water in puddles and dams after the rain

I have a number of succulents and plants in pots around my pool and the other day I noticed that one of the small succulents had a couple of flowers in bloom.

I liked the little "frog" peeking at me from below the flower