Try To Act Natural

Today, I bought a hat. A very dapper hat. The sun is intense here. It doesn't feel particularly hot, but the sun will quickly burn you. Thus, a very fine hat for me and my nose.

After our hat shopping we had the taxi take us to the lighthouse at Donkin Reserve. This is an historic neighbourhood that was the centre for development during the 2010 World Cup. They turned a fine old lighthouse into a visitors centre and leading off from it, in two directions, there are self guided tours highlighting the various points of interest in the old city centre.

Sir Rufane Donkin was sent out to be governor in 1820. He named the new city for his wife, Elizabeth, who had died in India. He constructed a stone pyramid beside the lighthouse in memory of his wife and forbid construction of any other building that would block the view of the harbour from that point.

For the World Cup celebration they made a colourful mosaic with pictures and symbols of South African life. They erected the largest flag in all of Africa. It's the size of a tennis court. The first one was stolen. Quite a feat since it's flying on the tallest flagpole in Africa. Since then, soldiers take it down and put it up daily.

We went on the Route 67 walk. It has a wonderful sculpture of Nelson Mandela at the head of the voting line, commemorating the first democratic election open to all South Africans in 1994.

There are X's on the walkway that we followed down the hill. They stand for the different races that voted in that election. White for Whites, yellow for Blacks, and green for other races.





There are 67 art pieces along the trail. One for each year Mr Mandela was involved in politics.

"The walk of words" with words that reveal the heart of man.

We ended Route 67 at the Campanile Tower that was built in the 1920's to commemorate the arrival of the British. It turns out that we didn't take a picture of it. But it was a red brick tower 7 stories high. Each level had art or technology displays.

We were taken for our walk by a young Tourist Ambassador.

The really sad part is, it is impossible for visitors to do these walks themselves, for safety sake. Everyone tells you do not go out on the streets alone. The streets of Port Elizabeth Old Town are not safe. 

I asked the taxi driver, who took us to our lunch restaurant, if it was safe for us to walk the 4 blocks to our guesthouse. He paused, thought about it, and said, " Oh I think, so at this time of the day. Just keep your wallet in your pocket and try to act natural."

Good advise any time.

We head off to see the elephants tomorrow! There is no wifi as we are communing with nature. In a few days, we hope to be sharing some amazing pictures.