Which Way?

The map didn't seem to help.

Big Hair, Big Dreams: The Mini Donald Trump Musical

Two days without a post. That may be a record for me, other than times I've had no Internet access. Work has been . . . well, as my mother used to say, if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all. And I picked up some virus. Didn't last very long but now the rest of the family has it. I know - wah wah wah.

But I'm better today so back to it. Another fringe offering and a hilarious one. Donald Trump, puppets, ladies in red, white and blue outfits, a television and and an electronic keyboard. What could be better? Yes, a one act puppet musical about The Donald (and as my aunts on the Irish side of my family used to say, Jesus, Mary and all the saints protect us).

In the second picture, young Donald meets a wizard who teaches him how to use The Force to lift an X-Wing Fighter out of a lagoon. After that there's no stopping him. Hillary was in the show, too. More of that tomorrow unless the dark side of The Force prevents it.

I gotta get out of here. Sweet relief is in sight. By Monday night, Mrs. C and I will be sitting in a giant 747, where the attendants have charming British accents and offer us gin and tonics. Ahhh.         

Sunset and scenic views at the Valley of Desolation

What is the first thing you think of if I had to ask you to name one thing to see or do if you visited the Karoo Heartland town of Graaff-Reinet?  I don't know about you, but my answer would be the Valley of Desolation in the Camdeboo National Park.  For some reason every time I spend the night in Graaff-Reinet I end up visiting the Valley of Desolation and that reason is that the Valley is one of the Eastern Cape's most iconic must see scenic attractions.

This time around I didn't make my way up to the Valley by myself but was hooked up on a tour led by Oom Buks Marais of Karoo Park Guesthouse in town.  Karoo Park offers tours up to the Valley, historic walks around town as well as night drives in the Camdeboo National Park.  Unfortunately this time around I only had time for one of them though.  Once in the park the road climbs quite drastically up to the escarpment with great views back over the town and adjacent Nqweba Dam before Spandau Kop and ultimately the Valley of Desolation itself is seen.

Once at the parking spot it's about a 200 meter walk to the first of the lookout points with paths and trails taking you further along for to a couple more view sites.  One of the things to keep in mind is to always wear comfortable shoes even if you're only going as far as the first viewpoint.  The path isn't a boardwalk or properly paved path so trying to do it in heals may just lead to a broken ankle. 

At the top of the path the Valley of Desolation lies right in front of you.  It's more a gorge than a valley, but not sure if the name Gorge of Desolation would have worked.  The Valley of Desolation consist of sheer cliffs and precariously balanced columns of Dolerite rising 120 metres up from the valley floor below.  These are the product of volcanic and erosive forces of nature over 100 million years and stands against the backdrop of the vast plains of the Camdeboo which makes for a stunning sight.  

I once heard somebody say that they don't know what the fuss of the view was about.  I stood there looking like I was trying to catch flies with my mouth and just stuck my hands out towards the view and made big eyes.  Some people just don't appreciate true beauty if it slaps them in the face.  

Often it's not just a case of come, see and leave, with a lot of people bringing a picnic basket and sun downers to enjoy while watching the sun go down over the Karoo plains.  All of this means that it can actually be a very romantic spot as well plus it never really gets crowded so it's not like you are competing for your space in the sun(set).  I'm told early mornings are a good time to visit as well although I haven't done that myself yet.

On our visit though the wind was pumping and although we were the only people up there, Oom Buks suggested we go down the mountain a bit to a another slightly more sheltered view site once we had out fill of the Valley itself.  

Once there Oom Buks broke out the cooler box and and it was time to enjoy a cold one while watching the sun go down.  Plus take photos.  Lots and lots of sunset photos to work through later.  

I really like this photo of Oom Buks standing on this rock enjoying the view.  A view he has seen thousands of times and just about every day.  It shows a man who really has a passion for the Karoo.

I may be a forest person and really enjoy the bush, but the vast open spaces of the Karoo stays a very special place and one I always enjoy to experience.  If you've never been to Graaff-Reinet (which means you've never been to the Valley of Desolation either) then I think it's time for a road trip and while there, make sure you take the road up to the Valley late one afternoon to go and enjoy a sunset.  And don't forget to bring your camera... and a picnic basket... and a loved one.

Sunset at the Valley of Desolation

One of my absolute favorite places to enjoy an Eastern Cape sunset is from the Valley of Desolation outside Graaff-Renet.  Other than that, I will let the picture do the talking. #ExperienceEastCape

The Couple

Enjoying the sunshine

Count Time

This one was hard. According to The Fringe website, Count Time "tells the story of Patricia Prewitt’s journey through decades of incarceration for a murder she did not commit. Accused and wrongfully convicted of murdering her husband, Patty has served thirty years of a fifty year sentence with no hope of parole until 2036. Ms. Townsend interviewed Patty Prewitt and all the other living people portrayed in this searing and moving testimony to the enduring spirit of human survival. We hope to convince Governor Nixon to commute her sentence and set her free."

The one act play traces the story of Prewitt's life, from hard childhood to tumultuous marriage to horribly unjust conviction to decades in prison, arising from small-town Missouri egos and politics. It was a gut punch but, in the end, I am glad I experienced it. Actress Elizabeth Ann Townsend's performance was extraordinary.           

Origins of Love

Quotations from Shakespeare about the formation, joys and unraveling of love. Cabaret song, from tender to passionate, about the intensity of the experiences we go through. Chicago-based trio Terrie Carolan, Khnemu Menu-Ra and Antonio Rodriguez expressed these feelings in an hour of gorgeous music.

Carolan's voice kept a perfect balance between sweetness and power. Menu-Ra's tenor carried intensity from pianissimo to forte. Rodriguez had a high, sweet tenor tone that reminded me some of Art Garfunkel. Beautiful singers, beautiful art. One of my favorites from the Fringe Festival.        

Grand Forks Airport Sunday Aug 28 2016

I told the kids to leave those planes at home today, but Nooo

Ted is typecast

Microtheater

So many pictures, so little time.  One of the productions I shot at the St. Louis Fringe last night was a series of five brief acts, all 20 minutes or less, performed in a tiny space, in rotation throughout the evening. 

The first and third photos are from a play with choreography about a woman who became a dancer, despite much pain in her life. (The first one makes me think of Canio in I Paggliacci.) The second picture is from a one-woman play about a very intelligent and morbidly obese woman called The Imaginary Boyfriend. I have no idea what the fourth one is about. This young man was bouncing and tumbling around the small room with The Who's Cobwebs And Strange playing very loudly. The last one is from a dance piece done nearly in the dark, lit only by strips of LEDs and flashlights.

Final shows this afternoon and tonight. Still time  to get over there and see some great work. Closing party at KDHX on Washington at 9 PM.

Cyclist in Pink

A busy street corner.

Cody's Roadhouse Grille, Lake Sumter Landing, The Villages

Colourful Women

Hare Krishna dancing along Oxford St.

Lou The Flamingo

The St. Louis Fringe has a new mascot this year, Lou the Flamingo. I'm not going to try to figure out the significance. The bird is not native to our area. Citygarden already uses the flamingo as a sort of a mascot. But, hey, it's cute and funny and gets your attention. And it's not nearly as dorky as Fredbird. 

Back shooting the last two days of the festival starting tonight. Lots still to see. Locals, check out the schedule and buy tickets here.           

Rap-Off

So one of the variations on the Fringe's Midsummer Night's Dream parody was what you might call a rap-off. Cast members wearing oversized baseball caps, including the traditional New York Yankees' hat (although the one in the third picture says Pickleman's Cafe - just a little extra joke), assume the identity of a character in the play, hurling rhymed insults at one another. Demetrius calls out Lysander's momma. Oberon and Titania diss each other over Pucks tricks. And so on. Pretty clever.

It's been a really bad week at work and I had a couple of thousand pictures from last weekend. Tough doing sorting, editing and getting posts written. I'll plod ahead as I can. More to come this Friday and Saturday.   

A quick fire Panorama Route tour - just enough to make me want to visit again

We all have our travel bucket lists.  In actual fact, I have three.  One for South Africa, one for Africa and the other for international travel.  I have never been to Mpumalanga so both Kruger National Park and the Panorama Route were very high on my South African travel bucket list until I got the chance to tick one of them off recently.  A trip to White River for the SATSA conference meant I had a morning for a pre-conference outing and both a half day Panorama Route tour and a morning game drive in Kruger were on the program.  I knew whichever one I chose would just be a taste of the full experience and because I've done many game drives before I opted for the Panorama Roue. 

 Thursday morning and I barely had my coffee when Vusi Khowane of Place of Rock Tours pulled up at the hotel for our Panorama Route tour.  Now usually a Panorama Route tour is a full day tour with stops at all the prominent view sites and waterfalls along the route as well as the town of Pilgrims Rest.  As a half day tour we basically had time to see the three main sights and to get a taste of what the route has to offer.

We headed north from White River via Hazyview and Graskop towards the Blyde River Canyon.  Along the way we passed commercial wood plantations, macadamia nut farms, bananas and other fruits, beautiful views and lots of villages.  Our first stop was at the Blyde River Canyon view site.  The Blyde River Canyon is said to be the third largest canyon on Earth (after the Grand Canyon in the USA and the Fish River Canyon in Namibia) and the largest "green canyon" due to its lush subtropical foliage. 

 

From the view site you get to see one (or rather three) of the Panorama Route's more famous landmarks, the "Three Rondavels".  The Three Rondavels are three huge, round buttresses, thought to look like the huts of the indigenous people, known as rondavels.

The next stop on out whirlwind tour was the famous Bourkes Luck Potholes.  This curious geological feature of natural rock formations and pools are caused by particles of sand and rock that gets washed into hollow areas by the swirling streams and have worn cylindrical potholes into the sandstone bedrock over centuries.  The Potholes, named after a prospector, Tom Bourke, who hoped to find gold at this site but never did, can be viewed from walkways and bridges crisscrossing the area.    

I've seen many photos of the Bourkes Luck Potholes but seeing it first hand was something special.  It's really wow and hard to explain to somebody who has never been there so make a plan to get there if you've never been.

Our last stop was at God's Window.  As time was starting to press and we had to get back, we opted for the Wonderview view site rather than the main God's Window stop purely because of the time constraint.  God's Window offers astonishing views over the Lowveld, named so because it is a good 700 meters lower than the high escarpment along which the Panorama Route runs.  On a clear day you can see over theKruger National Park towards the Lebombo Mountains on South Africa’s border with Mozambique.  It was a little hazy on my visit but even so it was clear that this must be one of the most beautiful views in South Africa.

Having seen these three Panorama Route landmarks have really wet my appetite to see the rest of the route as well and that is even more reason for me to bring the Damselfly and KidZ some day on a holiday to show them these wonderful attractions... and obviously visit Kruger.