Life is a journey. Travel safely. Eat Well. Take a camera.
A trip down some of the highways and byways of a journey through life, with an enjoyment of good Food and normally with a camera in hand.
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Nyangombe Swimming Pool – Old Photos
Nyangombe Swimming Pool
Taken in 1994, these photos show the Nyangombe Swimming Pool, located in the Nyanga National Park in Zimbabwe. Few places in Zimbabwe can generate more memories for me. I have seen three generations of my family enjoy this pool on our frequent visits to Nyanga, starting in the late 1960’s, until we emigrated the “noughties”
Where is it?
The Nyanga National Park is in the Eastern Highlands of Zimbabwe, a mountainous area and home to Mount Nyangani, the highest mountain in Zimbabwe. Nyanga is less than three hours drive from Harare, the capital city. The area offrs a range of accomodation, from camp sites to to top class hotels, with many private cottages. The Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority also offers decent accomodation in the form of cottages and lodges. A number of dams offer fly fishing for trout, being stocked from a local hatchery. The area is great for its peace, hiking, horse riding and views. One way or another, all of our visits always seemed to end at the Nyangombe Swimming Pool at some point.
Memories
Sitting with my Dad on the rocks at the waterfall. Noticing many small (harmless) leeches gathering on our legs. I must have been 9 or 10 years old.
Sliding down the rocks, then swimming back and doing it again. That’s a mountain stream, so that water is COLD.
Braais with friends on the beach – meat and beer.
The pool becomng a torrent of water after rains. Jumping in with a boogie board and being swept down the river.
That bridge used to be the main access road to Nyanga Village. Lying on the rocks with a friend and hearing a lot of banging and crashing on the bridge. Looking up to see the bottom of a large heavy vehicle. The heavy had collided with another vehicle on the bridge. We left. Fast. And many more memories. Truly a special place in my past.
Enjoying the swimming pool with my own teen and pre-teen children.
Great memories, with many more to fill a book!
Here’s another view of the pool, with the water catching the sunlight.
This is an update of a post, first published on 25 August 2013.
Hunting a Grey Heron at the Lake
© 2013 hairy1travels.com
That grey heron at Brackley’s St James Lake! He eluded me for a long time. Indeed I still have few photos of him, though I have to admit that I spend much less time at the lake these days.
All of my efforts to take a photo had, so far, proved reasonably fruitless. The excellent weather on this particular morning seemed like a good opportunity to take the camera for a walk and track down this elusive bird.
Well, this morning’s visit proved to be a bit more productive. First off, I grabbed a shot or two of the heron, until he flew away. At which point I realised that there were in fact two of them!
The (second) grey heron parked himself on a temporary fence, put in place to protect some vegetation. He and and I sat and stared at each other for a while. He clearly was aware of me.
Eventually his need for breakfast caused him to reach into the water and grab a fish, providing me with a great shot of the bird and a reflection (at the top of the page).
Of course the time waiting for the grey heron to move was not wasted. Although I missed the landing of a flock of Canada geese, a white goose just happened to fly by.
Footnote
This is a refresh of a post originally posted on 6 August 2013. I still like the photo, but the post was looking a bit dated!
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