Outeniqua Choo-Tjoe, South Africa

Next comes a fantastic train card that Sandra sent me as part of our swap!

The card shows the Outeniqua Choo-Tjoe train which was the last remaining continually-operated passenger steam train in Africa, ending operation in June 2009.
The railway was completed in 1928, linking the towns of George and Knysna in the Western Cape, South Africa. The 3 hour journey also stopped in the towns of Wilderness, Goukamma, and Sedgefield. The scenic 67-kilometre route went along the rugged coastline of the Garden Route before ending by crossing a bridge over the lagoon in Knysna.

In 2007, the train's owners, Transnet Limited, announced that the train was not regarded as part of its core business. Transnet initiated a tender process to dispose of the train to a new owner/operator. However, on August 19, 2010 Transnet announced that, following unsuccessful attempts to find such a new operator, the train would cease operating. Nonetheless, the Western Cape Province's Finance, Economic Development and Tourism Minister, Alan Winde, says he is resolved to keep this heritage tourism asset operational.

well, fingers crossed for that!!

the train card comes with, among else, two fantastic train stamps, issued in 2010 in a set of 10 train stamps, commemorating the 150th Anniversary of South African Railways.
That horse-looking stamp is also from 2010, from a set of 16 Crafts' stamps, while the fish one was issued in 2000 in a set of 11 fish stamps, with this one showing the Blackbar Triggerfish.

Thank you so much Sandra!!

Table Mountain, South Africa

another mountain...this time in South Africa

if you take a good look, you will see Cape Town below the Table Mountain...Megan, the sender, says she can see it from her window! Ahhh, that must be some majestic view!

the back of the card says: Cape Town below Table Mountain - a colourful profusion of flowers frames the mighty profile of one of the world's most famous landmarks...

What I love about this is that it is also somewhat space-related...you see, Table Mountain is the only terrestrial feature to give its name to a constellation: Mensa, meaning The Table (in Latin). The constellation is seen in the Southern Hemisphere, below Orion, around midnight in mid-July. It was named by the French astronomer Nicolas de Lacaille during his stay at the Cape in the mid-18th century

the stamp was issued in 2010 (for an airmail postcard) and shows a Zulu neck piece...looks pretty cool...like something i'd wear :)

Traditional Zulu Kraal, South Africa

well, just one more card for today (coz im dead beat)

this great card shows a typical village in the rural KwaZulu-Natal countryside where dancers rehearse for a tribal ceremony. KwaZulu-Natal prior to 1994



The Zulu term is umuzi and consists of two concentric palisades of thorn trunks. The huts are located inside the outer palisade and the cattle in the inner circle with a smaller enclosure there for the calves.

The kraal is usually built on a slight slope with the main entrance at the lower end. This enables rainwater to clean the cattle kraal, the ground dries quickly and any foe has to fight uphill. Small huts on poles act as storage huts or watchtowers.

The largest hut, opposite the entrance, is that of the chief's mother. The chief's hut is to the right, the first wife is to the right of the chief's mother, the second wife is to the left of the chief's hut, the third wife to the right of the first wife and so on. The unmarried girls live on the left of the entrance, the unmarried boys, to the right. The two elder sons also vet any visitors and man the entrance around the clock. Visitors are either rejected, expected to wait for an appropriate length of time or ushered in immediately depending on their relation to the family. Those that are allowed in experience the siyakuleka ikhaya display where the gatekeeper sings the praises of the chief. The function of gatekeeper is also very useful in another way in that he will assume the role of chief on his father's death and will be familiar with all those who visited his father and their treatment.

to be honest, i couldnt help but laugh at this kind of division...now i just need to memorize it :)

well, wishing you all a great weekend...and more relaxed than mine :)

till next time...

Port Elizabeth, South Africa

Well....having in mind that the World Football Cup is taking part in all its glory (or maybe not) it feels sort of natural to post a card from South Africa during this time.

Well, i am not watching the events taking place, I honestly dont feel drawn to it at all this year and either way, Macedonia is not playing, so even a less reason for me to watch and get glued by the screen for 90 minutes...one more thing which puts me off is that notorious thing called Vuvuzela....that thing makes such an annoying monotonous sound and on top of that, it is claimed that its decibel are very harmful for your hearing.....and as usual, there will be one side who will post warnings and who will complain about this 'anthem' of the WC...and on the other side are the mass of people who will go and have it as the latest trend and as something that is a must-have since its IN.
This is the latest article I came across regarding the so popular and a-match-cant-go-without-it Vuvuzela...

Of course, another perfect business...just makes me wonder, once the WC is over, what you are going to do with your Vuvuzelas?? Where are you going to use them? Will they become an integrated part in every single football match in every single league in every single country??? ¡Por el amor de Dios! ¡Por favor, NO!

This reminds me a lot to prom dresses...you buy that very special outfit for that very special night and in general thats the first and last time you wear it, even though you had spent quite a good fortune.
Same with vuvuzelas in this case...there is this whole euphoria going around them and once the WC is over, they will most probably be catching dust in some of your cardboards....with the only difference...Vuvuzelas are sold for around 5 dollars.....remember the cost of your prom outfit?

This Vuvuzela thing really distracted my attention and i didnt get to say a word about the card, which shows Port Elizabeth and as the back of the card says, Port Elizabeth numbers many wide white beaches, sophisticated shopping malls and good hotels and restaurants.

I bow down to the postal worker who had put the airmail label OVER the stamp! *Clap clap clap*
I really dont get it how it is possible for postal workers to be so careless about the items they are handling...shouldnt they actually be aware about philately and that these stamps are valuable to someone? To me they often appear as people who have absolutely no interest in the thing which is actually a part of their job...i dont say all postmen and all postal workers should be philatelists...but they SHOULD treat cards and letters with care...they SHOULD put nice postmarks and cancellations...they should know that you DONT put airmail stickers over stamps...they should know that you DONT write with a pen over the stamp...they MUST use stamps instead those plain white/red stickers...they shouldnt bend/twist/bite the mail they are carrying....but seems like im living in a postal world where things are the total opposite.
btw, its from a set of 4 stamps issued in 2009 representing Gemstones of Africa - this is the Rodochrosite

South Africa

The last card today comes from South Africa....showing something called an "Informal Settlement"

This informal settlement is also known as the "township" and is said to be a side of South Africa that tourists arent told about. These houses are usually made of tin and usually consist of one room and are very small. And as you can see, its a very crowded settlment as well.
Reminds me a lot of the gypsy settlements we have here, where some are located very near to where I live...ok, many of them are made of stone, but they still dont have the basic conditions for living, and are small and are not protected against the rain or the strong winds...but these settlements here are something that you will have to see, coz wherever you need to go, the chances that you have to pass by one are rather big.

this stamp comes from a set of 4, issued in July this year, in a series called Gemstones of South Africa, and here is the Sugilite...one characteristic about these stamps is their Airmail Postcard Rate...

thanks everyone for still reading and dropping by!

Roben Island, South Africa

Its been a while since i posted a South African card...and actually this is the first view card from there...the others were maps and a flag.

And apart from being a viewcard its also a UNESCO :)
From the back of the card: Roben Island lies 9/678 km from Tabie Bay Harbour and 7.03 km from Bloubergstrand. It was here that Nelson Mandela was incarcerated for 18 years with many of his comrades . Today the island is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
When you look at the island (the small picture at the bottom left corner) you would think its one of those Paradise called islands and not something that used to be such a torment. However, i dont know who took the pictures, but they seem soooo beautiful and have such a lovely tone, that you cant at a single moment grasp the idea that this is a prison, even when you take a look at the high fence and that small poor "room".

and here come two nice stamps. the one on the left is from a set of definitives issued in 2000 from the "colourful species" series, showing birds, fish and butterflies...and the other one...arrgh, i hate it when i end up being unable to find info about a certain stamp...i really need to gather a number of useful philately links....whats more surprising, the stamp was issued in 2009...so its not like coming from prehistoric times...yet, i just couldnt "locate" it

South Africa

Yeaaah!! A map card again! A lovely one! Thanks to Gisela!
Wow, its soo blueish that it gives me a real thrill!

Apart from South Africa you can as well catch a glimpse of Lesotho, Namibia, Botswana, Swaziland, and something else for which i need high-diopter binoculars coz i recognize letters properly.
I used to think that Johannesburg is its capital, but actually its only the largest city...while the capital is Pretoria (an executive one), then you have Bloemfontein (as a judicial capital) and Cape Town (as a legislative capital).
I guess due to the position of Lesotho and Swaziland it would be impossible to have a South Africa map card only...but then again, i cant count this card as both Swaziland and Lesotho, even though i would love to...coz i actually want a real card from there, not something 'mentioned' somewhere else...

before you get all the question marks around your head, the stamp is actually upside down...sorry if your neck hurts from bending...i just would need some help with finding info about this stamp....my effort was unsuccessful...so anyone, philately wise, any help would be appreciated...and right now the only person i can think of who is especially interested in aircraft, is Glenn...so Glenn, if you are reading this, please, help! :)

South Africa (02)

Ok, i think that this card is pretty self-explanatory

It sounds more like a gang-slang to me than as an official language.

South African English has a flavour all its own, borrowing freely from Afrikaans - which is similar to Dutch and Flemish - as well as from the country's many African languages, with some words coming from colonial-era Malay and Portuguese immigrants.

South Africa

Well, this is my new country for today...number...hmmm..78 if i am counting correctly...

 

I received 3 cards from South Aftica, and here is one of them....it was a tough decision indeed which one to show first and after some negotioations with myself and changing my decision several times, eventually i went for the flag card....hehehehehe....yay, i flag card!!!!
I was actually asked if i maybe wont like it coz of the country name written on the card.....but no...i dont...its from THAT country.....if maybe something totally unrelated was written, then yes, it would have spoilt the feeling and i wouldnt have gone for it, but like this, its just perfect...and covers the whole card as well :)

The colours of the South African flag do not really have symbolic meanings in themselves.  People do sometimes assign meanings to the colours (such as red for blood, yellow for mineral wealth etc.) but this is not the case with the current South African flag.  According to Mr. Frederick Brownell, the former State Herald who played a large role in the original design, while the colours of the flag do not have any official symbolism, they do represent a synopsis of the country's flag history.  The design in turn, represents a converging of paths, the merging of both the past and the present.

Black, gold and green, which were first incorporated into South African national flags in the 19^th century, also feature prominently in the flags of the liberation movements, particularly the African National Congress, the Pan African Congress and Inkatha. These colours can thus be said to broadly represent the country's black population.
Blue, white, red and green reflect the British and Dutch (later Boer) influence, as shown in the earliest flags flown in South Africa, and also featured prominently in the old South African National Flag and thus represent the white population of South Africa.

The green pall (the Y-shape) is commonly interpreted to mean the unification of the various ethnic groups and the moving forward into a new united South Africa.

The South African flag is the only national flag to contain six colours as part of its primary design (excluding those flags which contain various colour shades as part of the detail of coats of arms or other charges etc.).