Happy New Year from Brisbane Australia

I've been terrible at blogging I realize. In fact the all the picture I have taken are still on the camera memory cards (what ever they are called).

Right now I am in Brisbane, Australia. Once I get blogging again I will be able to show you some stuff from China and Malaysia, especially Tioman Island which was awesome.

In the mean time Happy New Year!

I am in Malaysia right now at B's place and departing for southern China in 2 days.
KL is a big city, very Asian and nice and warm. Today we had a high of 33C with high humidity. As long as you do not have to work outside it is quite nice.

As I was wondering what was going on in Africa so I went to my usual BBC world news and had a look at this. Why do they (the mysterious "they") always represent Africa as a place of sadness and chaos?

Brief stop at Changi, Singapore airport

I always blog when I go through Changi. first because there is easy access to free internet all over the airport. Second, I think, is because this is usually my first stop leaving South Africa and I am usually on my way somewhere nice. third, after Changi access to the internet usually gets more difficult, so it is sort a last chace for a while.
This time I am on my way to Malaysia, where I have never been before to visit B, S and the Cs.
Soon I will then fly to southern China, train northern China (if Chengdu can be considered northern) and fly back to Malaysia. I will take 3 weeks to do it just so I do it slowly.

Swaziland, some birds

Ok, we all know that I have a crappy little camera and taking photos of birds usually ends up in fuzzy pictures. Just the same here are some bird photos from my last trip to Swaziland.

First the bee-eaters which I have already shown you, but I think that this time the pictures are a bit better. They are beautiful creatures and honestly quite interesting to watch.

This one is a fly-catcher....bee-eater and fly-catchers!!!

And a couple of different kinds of sunbirds on a stunning tree, a weeping-boer-bean tree. I so want one of those tree in my garden...what garden you ask? I don't know.

Travel news

I admit I am feeling under-motivated to blog the photos I took in Swaziland because crossing back into South Africa I was given a one moth visa with no possibility of renewal so I am packing madly, running around to meetings etc and generally getting ready to go to Malaysia, Australia and then Canada.

I am looking forward to visiting friends but honestly totally not into the spirit of packing and getting going again.
I am still recuperating from something and I am quite tired.

Swaziland, more animals

I am back from Swaziland... I have been for a while really. This trip was great. It was warmer than last time, in fact quite warm. I was better organized and stayed in a quieter, more isolated spot (still in Mlilwane) and it was great. I think this time I noticed plants more, possibly because since it was the start of summer there was more blooms etc. First though let me show you more pictures of animals.

That's a blesbok. They are plentiful in Mlilwane. They are actually difficult to take picture off with a regular camera because they tend to be quite shy. They do this "snorting thing" when they see somebody. I am not sure if it is a warning sounds for the others, a threatening sound to the person approaching or what, but they snort. I call them The Snorters.

This is a male nyala, probably my favourite antelop. The male in particular has a very weird look.

This is a Nile Monitor Lizard. They are pretty big and quite nice I think. they live in or near water and are quite shy. I felt lucky to see one and I even ended up seeing two!

And here are a few shots of warthogs, just because I like them.

Of course South Africa is also making it to the news

In a situation not half as confusing but not as simple as it appears either, South Africa is making the news with miners strike going bad, police shooting and politicians using the situation to pay back other politicians for past actions.
It had potential for turning very bad when J. Malema went to the military and a state of emergency was declared before he managed to start a riot within the military....but then again on this continent, maybe more than anywhere else, anything has a potential to turn bad quickly.

The world has gone crazy.....or is it: the world is staying crazy

Ok, this time I am seriously confused!
US, German and UK embassies!?!?!?! what do they have to do with anything?!?!

It is actually hard to figure who is manipulating and who is being manipulated in this all thing.

I know my last visit to Swaziland was a few months back but I am thinking about it because I am planning another trip to Swazi.

So here are a few photos, a summary of a sort of why I want to go back.

At night there is a spot where you can get really close to the hippos in the evening. This is what it looks like with a small, old digital camera. but when you are there and can hear them breath etc it is pretty cool. A lot cooler than it looks in these photos. They really are about 5 metres away from where you can stand and there is just a little stone wall between you and then. However they cannot climb walls so you are safe.

Sunsets! And now it is thunder-storm time of the year so there should be some spectacular clouds.

Feel good piece of news

How often do you read the news and feel good about it. I tell you, it does not happen to me very often, but here is a bit of "feel good" news.

Arts Alive Festival 2012 in Johannesburg

From Saturday 1st to today Sunday 9th Johannesburg had the Arts Alive Festival. It included Jazz on the Lake which every year takes place at Zoo Lake. The Festival had some great shows, music, theater, dance etc. Unfortunately I was way busy with "stuff" but today I did catch a show.
I caught a dance show at Museum Africa called "Afternoon at a Foehn". Honestly the title has nothing to do with anything that I could tell but it was a FABULOUS show. It was clever, funny, poetic, imaginative etc etc. I loved it.
Here is a photo from the Arts Alive site.

First thunder storm of the year, it should be summer in Johannesburg

I know it is just the weather but still.
Johannesburg has dry winters and "wet" summers. Don't go picturing gentle rainy summer days. What is meant by "wet summers" is summers with fabulous thunder storms which build up from early afternoon and burst in the late afternoon.

Temperature wise it surely has been spring for a while now with warm days but cool nights.

Yesterday we had our first thunder storm, so surely this mean it is summer but somehow it does feel like summer since it is cold rain and last night we even had a serious hail storm.

I haven't look at the garden at the back of the cottage yet, but at the front the flowers have taken a beating. Listening to the hail stones pounding my metal roof last night I was thinking about the garden. I have been getting into gardening for the last 3 weeks. At the back of the cottage I have cherry tomatoes and basil. I have to leave for the day soon. I'll be back in the early afternoon. Since really there is nothing I can do, and it is still raining and thundering outside, I'll wait till I get back to go and see how they survived.

Proteas

Ok, I have to say something about proteas which I saw in the wild for the first time during my trip to Nature's Valley.
Note that this is not meant to be a throughout representation of proteas, these are just the one I saw and decided to photograph during my short trip to Nature's Valley.

First of all I have to say that what is called "proteas" now is a much larger group that what it used to be.
As it turns out the International Protea Association (whomever they might be with their seriously disappointing website) has ruled that the term does not only apply to members of the Protea genus but to any members of the Proteaceae Family. This is a very large family of 73 genera of which one is Protea.
The members of the genus Protea are now often referred to as "sugarbush proteas" to differentiate them from the rest.
Weirdly enough under this new all-encompassing rule bottle-brushes, banksias and macadamias are also proteas. Weird!

Anyway, let's use the new convention and talk about the Family, and not the genus.
The Proteaceae Family has 42 genera and 800+ species in Australia; 14 genera and 300+ species in Africa, 330 of those species are in the Southwestern Cape of South Africa. Other genera are present in South America, Eastern Asia, Malaysia, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Polynesia and Malagasy.
The genus Protea itself has 130 species of which about 100 occur in South Africa.

So first of all the sugarbush proteas, the "original" proteas:

Then, in no particular order, the Leucospermum genus, also known as "pincushions". These smell nice, very sweet. None of the other proteas I have photographed were scented, or at least I couldn't smell anything :

Then the last genus of proteas I saw; the Leucodendrons:

At the risk of getting REALLY boring I want to add something about taxonomy.
The Proteaceae Family is broken into 2 subfamilies:
-The Proteideae which occurs mainly in Southern Africa but also in Australia and New Zealand
-The Grevilleoideae which is present in Australia, South America and Southwestern Pacific Islands and has one single specie (cannot find which) in Africa.
Thinking: plate tectonic, splitting of continents, relative timing etc I cannot help but find this very interesting.

South African Airways shocking new luggage policy

Passing the time looking around the internet I stumbled upon South African Airways new baggage policy. It covers weight, which is normal enough, number of pieces of luggage and more shocking it includes size restriction. It goes as follow:

This is copied from their website.
"Excess baggage, ie. additional items, or where the baggage exceeds the weight and or size allowance, will be charged at a flat rate per piece of luggage. This is a change from the current policy where excess baggage is charged per kilogram

Under the piece concept, excess baggage charges will apply for:

• Each piece of baggage over and above the passenger’s baggage allowance
• Each piece of overweight baggage
• Each piece of oversize baggage

The excess baggage will be charged at a flat rate per rule broken, per piece. This means that if a piece of baggage is both overweight and oversize, two excess baggage charges will apply. Weight/size restrictions apply to all baggage pieces, including additional pieces over and above the baggage allowance.

 

Excess baggage rule – weight

An excess baggage charge will apply for each Economy Class bag weighing over 23 kg, but less than 32 kg. The one exception is for travel to/from South America, where an Economy Class passenger is permitted to take two pieces of baggage that each weigh no more than 32 kg.

SAA cannot check in any bag weighing more than 32 kg, for both Economy and Business Class passengers. This is due to baggage handling restrictions at airports, and as such is beyond our control. Any piece of baggage weighing more than 32 kg will either have to be repacked (in order to weigh 32 kg or less) or will have to be taken to the SAA Cargo counter and checked in as cargo. Cargo rates will apply.

Excess baggage rule – size

An excess baggage charge will apply for each piece of baggage that exceeds the maximum dimensions as stipulated in SAA’s baggage policy. The maximum dimensions are 80 cm x 60 cm x 18 cm = 158 cm (62 inches).

Excess baggage rule – number of pieces

An excess baggage charge will apply for each piece of baggage over and above a passenger’s baggage allowance. These additional pieces must still adhere to SAA’s weight and size restrictions. An additional excess baggage charge will apply for any additional piece of baggage that does not comply with these restrictions."

 

SAA’s new baggage policy

	Business Class	Economy Class
Domestic (Within South Africa)	1piece at a maximum of 32 kg (70 lb)	1 piece at a maximum of 23 kg (50 lb)
Worldwide – USA / Canada	2 pieces at a maximum of 32 kg (70 lb) each	2 pieces at a maximum of 23 kg (50 lb) each
Between Africa and South America	2 pieces at a maximum of 32 kg (70 lb) each	2 pieces at a maximum of 32 kg (70 lb) each
Between Africa and Europe / UK	2 pieces at a maximum of 32 kg (70 lb) each	1 piece at a maximum of 23 kg (50 lb)
From Blantyre / Lilongwe to London	2 pieces at a maximum of 32 kg (70 lb) each	2 pieces at a maximum of 23 kg (50 lb) each
Between Africa and Asia / Japan	2 pieces at a maximum of 32 kg (70 lb) each	2 pieces at a maximum of 23 kg (50 lb) each
Between Africa and Australia / New Zealand	2 pieces at a maximum of 32 kg (70 lb) each	1 piece at a maximum of 23 kg (50 lb)
Between Africa and Africa: except Libreville / Douala and Lagos	2 pieces at a maximum of 32kg (70lb) each	2 pieces at a maximum of 23kg (50lb) each
Between Africa and Libreville / Douala	1 piece at a maximum of 32kg (70lb)	1 piece at a maximum of 23kg (50lb)
Between Africa and Lagos	3 pieces at a maximum of 32 kg (70 lb) each	3 pieces at a maximum of 23 kg (50lb) each
Between South America and Australia/ NZ	2 pieces at a maximum of 32 kg (70 lb) each	2 pieces at a maximum of 23 kg (50 lb) each
Between South America and Asia / Africa	2 pieces at a maximum of 32 kg (70 lb) each	2 pieces at a maximum of 32 kg (70 lb) each

Interestingly (also from their website):
"The excess baggage will be charged at a flat rate per rule broken, per piece. This means that if a piece of baggage is both overweight and oversize, two excess baggage charges will apply. Weight/size restrictions apply to all baggage pieces, including additional pieces over and above the baggage allowance."  nomention of amounts concerned though.

I actually think that my good old duffle bag, with which I have been traveling for over 8 years will be too long! I honestly think that it is just a money grabbing move.
I wonder what they will do with all the wooden giraffes you usually see on the flights out of South Africa.

Snow in Johannesburg

Now that is not something you see very often but it snowed in Johannesburg yesterday.
In my neighborhood there is a large school and they let the children out to play in the snow. You could hear the kids play from far they were so exited.
I had an appointment at somebody's office and when the snow started everybody stopped work and went outside to take photos on their cell phones and generally stand out in the snow and experience it. Some people from other parts of Africa who were there too had never seen snow before.
Everybody came back in saying how pretty it was. As a Canadian I was totally underwhelmed by the few flakes and less than an inch of snow on the ground at the end but it was great to see how exited people got.

To put things into perspective, according to South African Weather Service records, it has only snowed in Johannesburg on 22 other days in the last 103 years and newspapers report that: " Snow is a rare occurrence in Gauteng (the tiny province of seven thousand square miles, which consists of Johannesburg, Pretoria and their "suburbs"), with snowfall having been experienced in May 1956, August 1962, June 1964, September 1981 and on June 27 2007. September 1981 has the greatest snowfall on record, with statistics showing snowfall accumulating up to 10 centimetres across the province."

As it happens the morning of June 27th I was landing in Johannesburg and a driver from work was meant to pick me up to take me to the office to work right away and he was very very late because he wasn't sure what to use to shovel the full one centimeter of snow in his driveway. As a Canadian I couldn't help but feel totally unsympathetic about it...not that I said anything at the time.

Nature's Valley - South Africa

On my last trip I went to Nature's Valley in South Africa, along the Garden Route.

obviously from google Maps

It was nice to see the ocean, I hadn't been to the ocean in quite a while, and Nature's Valley is a great spot.

This is the valley view from the road at the top of the escarpment.

From the part of the valley where the houses are back towards the spot where the first photo was taken.

But most of all for me Nature's Valley and that part of the country is a Fynbos vegetation area and even this time of year (when flowers are at their minimum I was told) you can see amazing plants. I will post about the Fynbos next.

Roosting birds at the gas station

I am back after a few days at the ocean. It was great. The weather was quite wet, in fact there was floods but since the rest of South Africa had one of its rare snow spells I thought it was pretty good.

On the way there (I drove) at the first gas station where I stopped hundreds of birds were roosting in the trees by the lights. It was an amazing sight ...and sound.

Swaziland, a nice looking lizard

A nice looking lizard from Swaziland.

these guys are not small.

Johannesburg - Thorn Tree

A while back I blogged about a tree I like which I called "mystery thorn tree" but was really a Chorisa Speciosa.

Here are some more pictures of those trees. This one does not have any thorns but is wonderful and tall and when in bloom can be seen quite a ways away. It is in the huge garden of a super fancy house and since it is quite far from the fence I asked the gardener if I could go in to take photos of the tree. He couldn't let me in so I had to "buzz" the main house from the gate and asked to be let in. Nicely enough them did let me in.

Just the wall you see next to the tree trunk is taller than me, to give you a sense of how tall the tree is.

Further along another of those trees is already bearing fruits...also a very tall tree so I cannot get a close up, but this is what the fruits look like.