Perhaps not as famous as the lighthouse in front of
The Oyster Box near Durban, but it performs a similar service never the less.
The concrete blocks were designed by an engineer from Port Elizabeth,
and are now used world wide.
The sea along this stretch of our coast line can be extremely treacherous
and often unpredictable.
Looking towards the East London Beachfront.
This area has several hotels as well as the East London Convention Centre.
It seems that this city has established itself as a conference destination,
now it needs to bring their tourism offering to the attention of the public
The East London Aquarium is billed as the oldest in South Africa.
And it shows…it seems that it has been a long time since major
renovations have been undertaken.
Situated as it is, in front of Hero’s Park,
it could easily become a show-piece tourist destination.
Bringing much needed holiday “spend” to this attraction.
I think about how the the Oceanarium in Port Elizabeth,
and U’Shaka in Durban have given those attractions a
“must visit” destination status.
“Multi-cultural Man”
by Francesco Perilli.
This statue is directly across the road from the Aquarium.
Unveiled in 2006, it was a gift from the village of Nereto and the Italian people.
It represents the common humanity of all people.
German settlers played a big part in the history of this area.
This statue, together with a series of murals
on the wall behind this plinth, pay homage to their input.
The East London city hall.
Since my last visit, it has had a facelift
and is in much better condition.
A step in the right direction for the revitalization of the city centre?
This statue commemorates Black activist Steve Biko.
Although born and buried near East London,
most people believe that he was from Port Elizabeth.
As it was from there that he took his final journey to Johannesburg
in the back of a police van .
He later died of injuries sustained both before and during the journey.
A visit to the Steve Biko museum should be a must for all visitors.
It tells of both his history
and that of the “struggle” in pre 1994 South Africa
If it is the Eastern Cape, then there HAS to be a British soldier
on a horse…
This one can be found outside the city hall.
As part of the media tour that I was with,
we visited the village of Mlaka-Laka near King William’s Town
This young man showed us some of the community projects
that his village is currently involved with.
This should be cast in bronze and erected as a statue to
the Spirit of Africa.
No matter how poor or impoverished an area might be,
there is ALWAYS a soccer field.
Many of us have dogs and cats in our yards…
but a cow?
And this was one of several that were grazing in this garden.
The mural on the wall also caught my attention
Made of cast off corrugated sheeting and salvaged window frames,
yet is does have a Dstv satellite dish.
Have YOU ever had part of your breakfast stare at you?
One of the villagers explaining the garden
to the media group that I was with.
Considering the quality of the soil,
and the lack of water for irrigation,
the vegetables that are being produced are top class
One of the media trying her hand at hoeing…
She was not that good, but at least she tried.
We were served lunch at the Sinomonde Old Age home
which is to be found in the middle of the village.
Here we were warmly welcomed that the residents singing and dancing.
Facebook is filled with images of food on plates,
but not many pictures of said food being eaten.
This is part of the media group tucking into their lunch.
And this was lunch.
Home cooked with vegetables that the community had produced.
It was a wonderful way to end our brief tour of the village.
Hard at work?
I have been asked to speak at this conference in Cape Town
Very excited as it is a first for me.