South Africa our Land

Bikers love twisty corners and this was a really good one

Manmade but-by-now-almost-natural landmark of Johannesburg: the ubiquitous mine dump

While riding through Johannesburg on Sunday, I was fascinated to see how the city centre had been upgraded since we'd last been there in December 2008.  The World Cup Soccer, 2010 which was held with great success in our country, certainly had a positive impact.

Johannesburg, also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, city of gold is the largest city in South Africa. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa  The city is one of the 40 largest metropolitan areas in the world, and is also the world's largest city not situated on a river, lake, or coastline.  While Johannesburg is not officially one of South Africa's three capital cities, it does house the Constitutional Court – South Africa's highest court. The city is the source of a large-scale gold and and diamond trade due to its location on the mineral-rich Witwatersrand range of hills. Johannesburg is served by OR Tambo International airport, the largest and busiest airportt in Africa and a gateway for international air travel to and from the rest of Africa .

Arrogance or confidence? Telkom is South Africa's largest integrated communications company, providing [integrated] communications solutions to an entire range of customers. Telkom's passion is to become world-class. Although thousands of South Africans use cell/mobile phones, thousands more still have landlines (I do;  I've been associated with this telephone company since the sixties when my parents had their first telephone installed in our home) and use Telkom ADSL or dial-up Internet connections

The Sunday Times is a popular South African Sunday newspaper. It has an audited circulation of 504 000 and a weekly readership of 3,2 million, making it the largest weekly newspaper in South Africa. The newspaper was founded in 1906. South Africa has 13 daily and 20 weekly newspapers. (http://www.southafrica.info.com/) As with the other photos in this post (except the egret below), I took this photo from the back of the motorbike as we were riding through the city. I'm not sure what the paintings in the foreground are as the description is cut off; it seems like part of an art exibition. Perhaps there are other South African readers out there who can tell us?

South Africa has had its share of ups and downs. I grew up in the apartheid era and was forty-something when the New South Africa emerged under the presidency of our first black leader, beloved and internationally known Nelson Mandela. There are still many issues which need resolving. There is still grandscale fraud and white-collar crime in the highest offices. This has a detrimental effect on the national health, transport and, municipal systems, to name a few.  Unemployment is a major problem and spills over into crime and violence in our streets.  However, South Africa is still the best country in the world as the giant wall poster declares above

Sounds the call to come together,
And united we shall stand,
Let us live and strive for freedom
In South Africa our land - From the National Anthem of South Africa

On Sunday I posted a pastoral scene of horses. I realised that I'd also captured a photo of a "white bird" which some of my readers queried. It's an egret.  I've downloaded a photo from the Internet showing a clearer and closer photo of this bird which is native to Africa and Western Europe. They were imported to the US in 1940 so readers from that part of the world, will also know these birds. They are also called "tick birds" in South Africa, for what reason, I'm not sure. They definitely don't eat ticks off the animals; rather they're always found with livestock and cattle or behind farming implements as they eat the insects (their primary diet) which are disturbed by these activities.

Cattle egrets are associated with cattle or other livestock, following the animals (or tractors or other farm equipment) and feeding on any insects that are disturbed.  Cattle Egrets are often found in mixed breeding colonies with other egrets and herons