Category: Cape Town

Monday Geology Picture: Snowy South African Mountains

Snowy mountains 1.
A snowy mountain landscape along the N2 highway in the Western Cape, South Africa.

This past winter was fairly cold here in South Africa. Somewhat unusually, many of the tops of the mountains in the Western Cape were periodically dusted with snow. There was even snow on Table Mountain in Cape Town.

During a recent backpacking trip along the Tsitsikamma Trail, my friends and I experienced some cold night-time temperatures although there was no snow in the Tsitsikamma region. However, when we were driving back to Cape Town after the hike, we noticed several snowy peaks in the distance. The picture above was taken a couple of hours outside of Cape Town along the N2 highway. I’ve seen snow before in the Western Cape, but this year’s snow was more impressive than what I saw previously.

The weather has been warmer recently, so hopefully that means that spring has finally arrived here in the Western Cape!

Monday Geology Picture: A Lovely, Geological View in Stellenbosch

A lovely view on a lovely wine farm on a lovely day.
A lovely view on a lovely wine farm on a lovely day.

Yesterday my husband and I joined our good friends Patrick and Nia for lunch at the renowned Terroir Restaurant located on the Kleine Zalze wine farm in beautiful Stellenbosch, South Africa. The food was delicious, and we also enjoyed stunning views of the Cape Fold Belt, such as the view in this week’s “Monday Geology Picture.”

Speaking of Patrick and Nia, they’ve kindly sent through some pictures from their recent vacation in Greece. I’m looking forward to sharing some of those pictures with you here as part of future “Monday Geology Picture” posts. You may remember that last year I shared some geological pictures from Patrick and Nia’s 2012 vacation to the Seychelles, where one can see, among other things, Gondwana granites.

Monday Geology Picture(s): Some Views from the Cape Fold Belt, South Africa

Continuing with my recent South Africa theme for the “Monday Geology Picture” posts, here are a few views from the Cape Fold Belt. These pictures were all taken in late June 2013. Enjoy!

CapeFoldBelt1
Approaching the Cape Fold Belt from the Cape Town side. The mountains are pink the late afternoon light.
CapeFoldBelt2
Another view of the Cape Fold Belt.
CapeFoldBelt3
Beautiful sandstone mountains.
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The toll booth for the tunnel that goes through the mountains. There are also two beautiful passes over the mountains, but the tunnel is quicker and easier– and less stressful for those scared of heights!
CapeFoldBelt5
Entering the tunnel.
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Sunset, looking back towards Cape Town.

Monday Geology Picture: Snow in South Africa

Snow way on the top of mountains in South Africa's Cape Fold Belt, June 2013.
Snow way on the top of mountains in South Africa’s Cape Fold Belt, June 2013. Click to enlarge the picture for a better view of the snow.

Here’s something you don’t see every day: snow in South Africa! In late June my husband and I drove from Cape Town to Robertson, South Africa to visit my husband’s grandmother. It had been fairly cold and rainy in Cape Town for much of June. As we were driving through the mountains of the Cape Fold Belt, we noticed that there was snow on the tops of some of the mountains. We snapped a couple of pictures, including the one above, as we drove past the snow-capped South African peaks.

Monday Geology Picture: A Stripe of Sunlight on Table Mountain, South Africa

A sunlight stripe falls on Table Mountain one morning in Cape Town.
A stripe of sunlight falls on Table Mountain one morning in Cape Town.

A few weeks ago my husband and I were driving to work one morning in Cape Town, South Africa. As always, we had a stunning view of Table Mountain. However, that morning the mountain looked particularly stunning since it was illuminated by a thick strip of sunlight, which was streaming through some clouds on the overcast day.

Monday Geology Picture: Table Mountain and Lion’s Head

Mountain sunset along one of my walking / running routes.

For this week’s geology picture, I thought I’d share a picture that I took during one of my regular evening walks / runs here in Cape Town, South Africa. This picture shows Table Mountain and Lion’s Head, one of our local inselbergs, at sunset. I feel very fortunate to live in a city with such impressive and beautiful geology.

Monday Geology Picture: A View from Judas Peak, Hout Bay, South Africa

A view from near the top of Judas Peak, October 2012.

Yesterday (Sunday) I went on a hike up Judas Peak, one peaks in the Twelve Apostles range, which flanks Table Mountain and overlooks beautiful Hout Bay. On clear days, there is a gorgeous 360 degree view from the top of Judas Peak. The picture above shows the inselberg of Lion’s Head,which is another great peak to hike. I feel very fortunate to live in such a beautiful part of the world and to have a group of friends who enjoy hiking and other outdoor activities. Now that I’m in South Africa more-or-less full time, my husband and I are going to try to hike with friends at least one weekend a month. So, I’ll probably share more pictures from our hikes in the future.

Monday Geology Picture: A Geologist at the Opera

Travertine building stone at the Artscape Theatre in Cape Town, South Africa.

Several months ago, my husband and I went to the opera. Specifically, we went to see a South African production of “The Phantom of the Opera” at the Artscape Opera House in our home city of Cape Town. I had never visited the Opera House before, and I was impressed with the beautiful building. In this week’s geology picture, I am enthusiastically pointing out some travertine building stone in the Opera House. The opera was excellent– very enjoyable, particularly since I’d never seen a live production of “The Phantom of the Opera” before. I had the opera music stuck in my head for weeks!

Monday Geology Picture: Boulder at Sea Point, Cape Town, South Africa

A boulder resting on some rocks at Sea Point, Cape Town, South Africa. This picture was taken during my first visit to Sea Point in January 2008.

For this week’s geology picture, here is an image of a boulder resting on some rocks at Sea Point here in Cape Town, South Africa. I took this picture back in 2008, but I’ve visited Sea Point numerous times since then. Fairly recently, my husband and I brought Callan and his wife Lily to Sea Point back in December 2011.

I’m enjoying being back home in Cape Town. I spent much of my first week at home sorting out immigration matters (I now have my residency permit! Hooray!) and unpacking and recovering from a cold (still a bit sick, unfortunately), but hopefully I’ll be back to some more blogging soon.

The “Peace in Africa” in Port

The M/V Peace in Africa is an enormous mining vessel that mines alluvial diamonds off the coast of Namibia (and which used to mine off the coast of South Africa as well). The ship dredges up large amounts of diamond-bearing sediment, which is processed on the ship to concentrate the diamonds. The ship is owned and operated by De Beers.

The M/V Peace in Africa spends most of its time out at sea. However, when I was in Cape Town just over a week ago, I was lucky enough to catch sight of the M/V Peace in Africa in port. The M/V Peace in Africa is an extraordinary, very unique mining ship and is an impressive feat of engineering design and ship manufacture. I was excited to catch a glimpse of her, if only from a distance.

Here are a few pictures of the M/V Peace in Africa viewed from Signal Hill: 

Port from Signal Hill, Cape Town, South Africa, May 2011.
Label showing location of M/V Peace in Africa.
M/V Peace in Africa compared with a cruise ship (about the same size),
Cape Town, South Africa, May 2011.
Labels showing locations of cruise ship and M/V Peace in Africa.
A closer view of the M/V Peace in Africa in port, Cape Town,
South Africa, May 2011.
Even closer view- slightly blurry. I really must invest in a better camera
with a good zoom lens. Cape Town, South Africa, May 2011.

Here’s a better close-up picture of the M/V Peace in Africa (from the De Beers website):

M/V Peace in Africa.

If you want to learn more about the M/V Peace in Africa, I highly recommend watching the episode of the Discovery Channel’s “Mighty Ships” show about the M/V Peace in Africa.

Here are a couple of websites that have information about the M/V Peace in Africa:
The Art of Dredging
Ubergizmo

And here are a few more pictures taken from Signal Hill, which has spectacular views not only of the harbor but also of downtown Cape Town and Table Mountain:

View from Signal Hill showing the new stadium built for the 2010 World Cup.
Cape Town, South Africa, May 2011.
Downtown Cape Town, South Africa, May 2011.
View of Table Mountain and Lion’s Head from Signal Hill,
Cape Town, South Africa, May 2011.
Guineafowl visitors. These are found all over the city. Cape Town,
South Africa, May 2011.
Closer view of two guineafowl. Cape Town, South Africa, May 2011.
My gorgeous soon-to-be sister and I, with Table Mountain and downtown
Cape Town in the background. South Africa, May 2011.
My fiance (his eyes are closed, alas) and I, Cape Town, South Africa, May 2011.