Tag Archives: Amapondo Backpackers

Cremorne Sunrise

December 28, 2015 Andrew Harvard 4 Comments

“Be a lamp to those who have lost their way. Be a doctor and nurse to ailing patients. Be a boat and bridge to those who want to reach the other shore of peace and happiness. Remove sorrow by means of kind and loving words. Make a man smile when he is in despair. Cheer him up when he is afflicted” ~ Sri Swami Sivananda

This one was taken on the same morning that my LDV would not start and I could not get up to the top of the mountain. I ended up on the banks of the mighty Umzimvubu at Port St Johns River Lodge. Cremorne Holiday Resort is seen in the background, Spottedgrunterresort Port St Johns is to my left and Outspan Inn a few clicks down the river to my right.

Canon South Africa 6D, Canon EF 17–40mm lens, F9, 2.5 sec, ISO 50

Port St Johns Tourism Rotary Club of Port St Johns Community of Port St Johns, Wild Coast Cremorne Estate, Port St Johns Amapondo backpackers Port St Johns 5 Star Durban Celebrate Durban!

Photography, Travel

Prince Ankh

November 1, 2015 Andrew Harvard Leave a comment

Give a photographer a cold Hansa after a long day’s work, tell him you don’t have any photos of yourself and… he uses his Samsung South Africa Galaxy Note 4 to take a photo of you

Prince Ankh at Amapondo backpackers

Photography, Travel

Gap Rise

October 8, 2015 Andrew Harvard 2 Comments

“In truth, to attain to interior peace, one must be willing to pass through the contrary to peace. Such is the teaching of the Sages.” – Swami Brahmanada

It was “just another sunrise at 2nd Beach Port St Johns“. A few late night party chaps stopped for a while in their car to shoot selfies, two crayfish salesmen walked past, the receding tide crashed medium waves into the rocks where I was and at The Gap; otherwise the beach was empty and still. Nearby, across the road behind me, Amapondo Backpackers / Amapondo IBackpackers was still asleep.

Canon South Africa 6D, 17-40mm, F11, 2.5, ISO 320

— at Port St John

Photography, Travel

Galaxy Note 4 Pano Mt Thesiger

April 3, 2015 Andrew Harvard Leave a comment

Photos taken with my Samsung mobile phone

Used the pano option in camera; not the sharpest / clear photos but I just drool over the view.

Photography, Travel

Andy on Mt. Thesiger

April 1, 2015 Andrew Harvard 2 Comments

Just to recap: On Tuesday morning, 24 March 2015 I woke up before sunrise and headed alone up the hill to the top of Mt. Thesiger (Port St John’s – South Africa) at around this spot GPS: -31.603330, 29.527454. I spent the night before having a scrumptious seafood feast and filter coffee plus hot chocolate at @amapondobackers. I was photofit!

I set up my Canon South Africa camera (6D & Canon EF 17–40mm lens) and tripod in anticipation of the forthcoming sunrise. The river lodges were some 300 m or more below and I could faintly see their lights through the mist or low clouds.

It was calm, peaceful and dead quiet except for the medium-size predatory birds that were circling the mountain and squawking at each other. Every so often they would fly fairly close and it was amazing to hear their wings “woof – woofing” through the air.

The view across to Mt Sullivan on the other side of the river was glorious to say the least for about three minutes or less at one point of the sunrise. The sun then “disappeared” but not completely, although there was no more golden light forcing through the somewhat thick clouds.

The accompanying photo is a self-shot image using the camera’s 10 second timer.

If I’m looking a little tense and you wonder why I wasn’t doing some classic pose / holding a flashlight, then wonder no more. I sprinted 15 metres across rocks to get to my posing position, all the while trying not to trip and end up 300 metres down to the left. The “woof-woofing” birds flying around me were big enough for me to suspect they might be brave enough to try pecking my eyes out while I’m alive! Community of Port St Johns, Wild Coast

Settings F11, ISO 320 & 1/8 sec (-2 exp. comp.)

Cremorne Estate, Port St Johns Amapondo Backpackers Port St Johns Amapondo backpackers Port St Johns Port St John Port Saint John’S, Eastern Cape, South Africa
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Photography, Travel

Beyond the Gates of Port St John’s

March 30, 2015 Andrew Harvard 2 Comments

On Tuesday morning, 24 March 2015 I woke up before sunrise and headed up the hill to the top of Mt. Thesiger at around this spot GPS: -31.603330, 29.527454 Port St John’s.

I set up my Canon South Africa camera from Orms (6D & 17-40mm L lens) and tripod in anticipation of the forthcoming sunrise. The river lodges were some 300 m or more below and could faintly see their lights through the mist or low clouds.

The accompanying photo is a panoramic-stitch of two separate photos, which takes one’s eyes in a westerly direction or so up the mighty Umzimvubu River, which I traced on a map all the way up to the Lesotho border.

The photo was originally going to be called Phillips’ View but was then changed to “Beyond the Gates of Port St John’s”. Settings F11, ISO 320 & 0.4 sec. Stitching done via LR export into PS. Outspan Inn
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Photography, Travel

Behind the Gates

March 25, 2015 Andrew Harvard 5 Comments

“The setting of Port St Johns is possibly the most dramatic in the country and the drive from Umtata to Port St Johns is one of the best journeys on the Wild Coast. The Umzimvubu River cuts a huge gorge right to the sea where it then squeezes between the river’s edge and the red stone cliffs of the gorge. Twin mountains, the Thesiger and Sullivan, lie on either side of the river mouth like bastions and are regarded as the gates of Port St Johns” ~ SA Venues

After the great seafood feast (prawn & calamari combo with chips and salad ZAR 85.00!!) and filter coffee at Amapondo Backpackers the previous evening, it was easy to get up before sunrise the next day for this photo shoot. PS – the hot chocolate is also super at Amapondo backpackers Port St Johns.

Canon South Africa 6D from Orms, 17-40mm, F11, 0.6 sec, ISO 320, 2 image pano stitch

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Port St John South Africa

Photography

The beach across from Amapondo Backpackers and their cat

February 4, 2015 Andrew Harvard Leave a comment

Photography

Pondo Mornings

November 13, 2014 Andrew Harvard 2 Comments

Wikipedia “The Pondo or Phondo^[1] are a Xhosa speaking ethnic group who have given their name to Pondoland, a sub-region comprising much of the northern seaboard of the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. The Pondo comprise several tribal groups, and after years of assimilation, are usually classed as a sub-group of the amaXhosa.

Their territory was annexed peacefully to the Cape Colony in 1884: missionary work had already begun in 1873 on the initiative of Henry Callaway, Bishop of St John’s Kaffraria.^[2]

The Pondo Revolt (1960–1962) was the result of the resistance of the Pondo people against the implementation of the Bantu Authorities Act, part of the Apartheid legislation. Under the Apartheid ideology, separate development of the various ethnic groups of South Africa was proposed and part of that was to segregate black Africans into ‘homelands’ that were granted independence from South Africa.

Transkei was the homeland that incorporated all of Pondoland and its people, in addition to other Xhosa tribes such as the Gcaleka, in what used to be the eastern reaches of the then Cape Province”.

Photography, Travel

Mind The Gap

October 20, 2014 Andrew Harvard 1 Comment

I was lucky enough to have some time after work late afternoon on Mon the 22nd of September to have a grand filter coffee at Amapondo Backpackers and then head onto 2nd Beach at Port St Johns (Transkei – South Africa) with my camera. I was not that lucky as the wind was howling, gusting 30 km/h perhaps, and blowing onto the lens. So it was hold onto your tripod and wipe your filter all the time stuff. At least I managed to get a photo of The Gap. The photo turned out fairly sharp with minimal spots to spot heal. I promised the barman some photos; a few more will follow. BTW: it was not as bright and colourful that afternoon as the photo shows 🙂