Manfred Mann: South African Musician
Manfred Mann is a Johannesburg´s music graduate. He started as a jazz pianist before he created the first rock and roll band in South Africa (The Vikings).
Because he strongly rejected apartheid, he moved to the U.K.
Manfred Mann was very succesful in the ´60s and later in the ´70´s under the name of Manfred Mann´s Earth Band seen always behind the keybords.
Jennifer Maestre: South African Artist
Her inspiration is the sea urchin. Jennifer Maestre uses all kinds of pencils which she cuts in 1 inch sections, then they are sewn together after drilling through them.
"Aurora"
Check out her whole portfolio here:
Sunland Baobab
This Baobab is located on Sunland Farm in the Limpopo Province. It´s 22 m high, and around 47 m in circumference. The SA Dendrological Society dates it with aproximately 6000 years oF age and as the biggest of its species!.
In1993 the Van Heerdens cleared out the hollow centre of the tree, uncovering the floor about a meter below ground level, founding evidence of both Bushmen and Voortrekkers.
In
They made a door and installed a railway sleeper pub inside the trunk lodging up to 60 people!. A wine cellar was installed in a second hollow.
African Bushman believe that the god Thora disliked the Baobab growing in his garden, so he threw it to Earth below, but even though the tree landed upside-down it continued to grow...
They believe that any person who plucks the flowers (which bloom at night), will be torn apart by lions, because there are spirits in the flowers.
They also think that if you drink the water in which the Baobab’s pips have been soaked, this serves as protection from crocodiles.
Women living in kraals where Baobabs are abundant have more children than those living outside baobab zones, because they eat soup made from its leaves (rich in vitamins), which compensate for any deficiencies in their diet
Baobabs are also vital to elephants, monkeys and baboons that depend on its fruit (the vitamin C content of one fruit = 4 oranges).
Bats pollinate Baobabs, by crashing into the flowers while chasing insects.
Bush babies or galagos (Otolemur crassicaudatus) also spread the pollen which can be used as glue!
The seeds, rich in protein, calcium, oil and phosphates, can be roasted and grounded like coffee and young leaves are also high in calcium.
The fibrous trunk can be woven into rope mats and paper. Beer and tea can be made from the bark!.
South African Endemic TrapDoor Spider
Honoring former South African President Nelson Mandela, this spider was discovered in the Great Fish River Reserve (Eastern Cape Province) in 2004, by zoologists Brent E. Hendrixson and Jason E Bond.
Watch a TrapDoor spider in action...
GianT SpinY-TaiLed Lizard: South African Endemic
The Giant Girdled Lizard, Sungazer (because it faces the sun while it thermoregulates itself), Giant Spiny-Tailed Lizard or Giant Zonure, is the largest of the Cordylus species.
Afrikaans call it Ouvolk, Zulu people Mvedhla and in Sotho is named Patagaly or Pagataly.
Afrikaans call it Ouvolk, Zulu people Mvedhla and in Sotho is named Patagaly or Pagataly.
It lives in its excavated burrows and reproduces only every two or three years producing just one or two offsprings! It can measure up to 37 cm. Learn more by watching this video...
It was the 2010 South African World Cup and german magazine AIT decided to launch Project "Xhosa" Charity Chair, which consisted on the re-designing of Matthias Weber´s ONO chair, initiative followed by 120 european architects and designers.
The re-designed chairs were sold in an auction in Berlin that year and the profits obtained supported the Guga S´Thebe cultural centre and AIDS orphanage in the Langa Township in Cape Town, South Africa.
The patterns used for the perforations were inspired by those used in traditional Xhosa face painting still widely used.
The chairs were exhibited in a travelling exhibition in Munich, Hamburg, London, Rotterdam and Kortrijk.
The chairs were exhibited in a travelling exhibition in Munich, Hamburg, London, Rotterdam and Kortrijk.
Table Mountain Ghost Frog: S. African Endemic
This indigenous critically endangered frog, is also known as Rose´s Ghost Frog.
It´s got 17 rows of posterior labial teeth and the tadpoles (that can develop for a year) also climb steep wet rock!
The males have several small black spines on the outside of their back, forearms and on the top of the hind legs.
Giant Eagle Owl: South Africa
For Videos and Photos Click:
http://www.arkive.org/giant-eagle-owl/bubo-lacteus/video-01.html and
http://www.biodiversityexplorer.org/birds/strigidae/bubo_lacteus.htm
This is the third heaviest owl in the world and the largest of Africa. It mates for life and can be found in altitudes of up to 3.000 metres (9.800 ft), in dry savannahs, semi deserts and riverine forest!
It feeds mainly on the Helmeted Guinea Fowl (Numida meleagris),
The Scrub Hare (Lepus saxatilis),
and the Vervet Monkey (Chlorocebus pygerythrus) amongst others...
http://www.arkive.org/giant-eagle-owl/bubo-lacteus/video-01.html and
http://www.biodiversityexplorer.org/birds/strigidae/bubo_lacteus.htm
This is the third heaviest owl in the world and the largest of Africa. It mates for life and can be found in altitudes of up to 3.000 metres (9.800 ft), in dry savannahs, semi deserts and riverine forest!
It feeds mainly on the Helmeted Guinea Fowl (Numida meleagris),
The Scrub Hare (Lepus saxatilis),
and the Vervet Monkey (Chlorocebus pygerythrus) amongst others...
Vladimir Tretchikoff: Triumph in S. Africa
"Express your passion, do whatever you love, take action, no matter what".
That was the motto of a self taught russian artist with an amazing life: He fled Siberia and went to China escaping the Russian 1917 revolution.
During World War II he was on a boat for three weeks without food, after his ship was bombed and then he was imprisoned by the japanese.
He lost contact with his wife and daughter and thinking they were dead he took a lover, but they weren't dead... they got back together again in Cape Town!
The First Wife of a Zulu Chief
The Herb Seller
(£50,000 - 80,000 - US$ 76,000 - 120,000)
.jpg)
Thanks to his work in South Africa he captivated the american and english public of his time, becoming hugely successful in spite of his critics who nicknamed him "The King of Kitsch".
After his death the Tretchikoff Trust was established which provides workshops for teenagers throughout South Africa.
That was the motto of a self taught russian artist with an amazing life: He fled Siberia and went to China escaping the Russian 1917 revolution.
During World War II he was on a boat for three weeks without food, after his ship was bombed and then he was imprisoned by the japanese.
He lost contact with his wife and daughter and thinking they were dead he took a lover, but they weren't dead... they got back together again in Cape Town!
Lady of Ndebele
The First Wife of a Zulu Chief
The Herb Seller
(£50,000 - 80,000 - US$ 76,000 - 120,000)
.jpg)
Thanks to his work in South Africa he captivated the american and english public of his time, becoming hugely successful in spite of his critics who nicknamed him "
After his death the Tretchikoff Trust was established which provides workshops for teenagers throughout South Africa.
South African Giniel de Villiers: 2009 Dakar Rally Winner
Through Giniel de Villiers Eyes...
2nd in the Dakar Rally 2013
South African Padlopers
Here are the tiny "path-walkers" or padlopers indigenous to South Africa. They are diurnal terrestrial species which breed in the rainy season. Females bury 1-3 eggs only and can take between 11-30 years to reach maturity!
Southern Tent Tortoise: (Psammobates tentorius tentorius). In Southern and Eastern Karoo.
Western Tent Tortoise: (Psammobates tentorius trimeni). In South Africa, beyond the Orange river in Great Namaqualand and extreme Western Cape Provinces.
Northern Tent Tortoise: (Psammobates tentorius verroxii). Found in Great Namaqualand and Northern Cape Province
Karoo Cape Tortoise (Homopus femoralis): It´s endemic to the rocky areas of the Karoo region in South Africa. It is just 10 cm long (the largest of the padlopers!) and has only 4 toes in its front feet.
Beaked Cape Tortoise (Homopus areolatus): It is endemic to the Western Cape Province and it has only four toes on its front feet like the Karoo Cape Tortoise.
It´s got a sharp, hooked beak and the noses of the males turn bright orange or red in the mating season.
Speckled Cape Tortoise: South African Endemic
Measuring between 6 and 8 centimeters (males are smaller than the female) this is the smallest Chelonian in the world.
These tortoises are categorised as
It´s found only in an arid region in the West of South Africa named Little Namaqualand along with
Phalaborwa Copper Mine: South Africa
Measuring 1.5 km by 2.4 km and 550 meters in deep, it is visible from space.
The Phalaborwa copper mine is the largest hand-made hole in Africa.
The bottom of the oppencast pit is presently around 230 metres below sea level and its diameter, nearly 2,000 meters.
Cape COBRA: South Africa´s Endemic
It is very agressive and its neurotoxic venom, more potent than in other cobra species...
If bitten and antivenom is not applied, death occurs in less than 10 hours.
If bitten and antivenom is not applied, death occurs in less than 10 hours.
The Cape Cobra is diurnal and about 1.2 to 1.4 metres (3.9 - 4.6 ft) long.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)