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Llandudno

Llandudno is a Residential Suburb of Cape Town, in the Western Cape province of South Africa.

To get there: "Follow Victoria Road from Camps Bay and go past Bantry Bay, Following the Twelve Apostles Mountain Range. On the Seaside. The Seaside Suburb is, just before the little Suburb of Mount Rhodes and the Town of Hout Bay!"

There are NO shops or commercial activities, and the Suburb has some of the most expensive Residential Property in South Africa. Llandudno Beach is one of the Cape's most beautiful beaches, surrounded by large granite boulders and overlooked by Mountains. There are Lifeguards but no Cafe! It is a popular surfing spot, but the swimming can be treacherous, with rough seas and extremely cold water!

It is also the access point for the walk to Sandy Bay, an isolated Beach still popular with nudists. Llandudno is named after the North Wales seaside resort of Llandudno, which means "Parish of Saint Tudno" in the Welsh language.

Although this beautiful Cape Town Beach Suburb offers no restaurants or shops, a short 5 minute drive from your accommodation will take you over the hill to the vibrant, lively community of Hout Bay. Hout Bay is a delightful Fishing Village bursting with super Cape Town Restaurants, upmarket Shopping Centres, endless tourist attractions and fun holiday activities.

Geolocation
-34° 32.4", 18° 20' 6"
References
https://www.route-62-info.co.za/routes/town/275/llandudno https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/whats-on/whats-on-news/hidden-beach-incredible-sunsets-90-29001508 https://www.africa.com/cape-town-neighbourhoods-and-how-they-got-their-names/
Further Reading
https://www.western-cape-info.com/provinces/accommodation https://www.timeanddate.com/sun/@3364516 https://www.tripadvisor.co.za/Attraction_Review-g190724-d3491227-Reviews-St_Tudno_s_Church-Llandudno_Conwy_County_North_Wales_Wales.html https://www.sahistory.org.za/place/hout-bay-atlantic-seaboard-western-cape https://secretcapetown.co.za/llandudno-beach/ https://www.capetowncycletour.com/lifecycle-week/ctct/route-information/ https://www.twooceansmarathon.org.za/ https://www.africa.com/cape-town-neighbourhoods-and-how-they-got-their-names/

Umzinto, South Coast

Umzinto is located on the Umdoni Coast, in KwaZulu Natal. The Umdoni Local Municipality is located in Kwazulu-Natal within the Ugu District Municipality. "Umzinto" is said to be derived from the Zulu "umenzi wezinto", meaning "the kraal [or place] of accomplishment". The Planters and Millers started growing Sugar Cane, on the hilly terrain around the Mzinto River from 1857. A Year later, the first public sugar company started up in the Area. Sadly, 7 years later the Mill was struck by lightning which lead to total bankruptcy. Today however, Umzinto remains a busy Town with a mixture of Colonial and Indian Architecture. Umzinto is a Town that has lasted the ages and grown steadily over the many Years of endless trading. Indians that were brought in to work on the cane Farms in 1860 have made a valuable contribution to Economy of the Town! A short ten minute drive out of Umzinto is the: 'Vernon Crooks Nature Reserve'. The Vernon Crookes Nature Reserve boasts breath taking scenery in an eco-system encompassing lush coastal Forests and Grasslands. Bird lovers can look forward to spotting some of the 300 stunning species, which include: 'Raptors'. Wildlife is abundant and includes: 'Impala, Eland and Blue Wildebeest'. (The old Gold Mine which still holds the mine shafts as well as a steam traction machine with the main traction engine and ball mill machine in place.) The Reserve offers superb picnic sites and walks. King Shaka also visited this Area on his travels and within the reserve lays the words: “Umthombo Kashaka” - meaning a well of fresh water, found by his warriors. According to Historians, Shaka relaxed here on his homeward journey in 1828. His warriors sported on the Beach, making mock attacks against the waves that are today enjoyed by holidaymakers. Umzinto’s Beaches are serene and picturesque. Shark nets make for safe swimming, snorkeling and surfing. The warm waters complement the unique beauty of these beaches and boast ample tropical fish and stunning coral reefs. These beaches are also popular fishing destinations.
Geolocation
-30° 18' 43.2", 30° 35' 13.2"
References
https://www.tripadvisor.co.za/Tourism-g4553477-Umzinto_KwaZulu_Natal-Vacations.html https://www.sa-venues.com/attractionskzn/umzinto.php https://www.umdoni.gov.za/ https://showmesa.co.za/umzinto-umdoni-coast-kwazulu-natal/
Further Reading
https://schoolhive.co.za/listing/umzinto-islamic-school-umzinto-admissions-contact-details/ https://www.tripadvisor.co.za/Tourism-g4553477-Umzinto_KwaZulu_Natal-Vacations.html https://www.booking.com/city/za/umzinto.en-gb.html https://showmesa.co.za/umzinto-umdoni-coast-kwazulu-natal/ https://www.umdoni.gov.za/

Bennebroek Wreck, Hamburg

On the 16t of February 1713, the Bennebroek which was an 'East Indiaman'- which is a large sailing vessel. This type of sailing vessel's were built from in the 16th to the 19th Century for the trade between Europe and Southern Asia. The first were Portuguese and Dutch vessel's. English Indiamen appeared late in the 16th Century and eventually came to dominate the trade. The ships varied in size from about 400 to 1,500 tons and more; often they were larger than Men-of-war vessel's. The Man-O-War is a naval ship that was designed for combat and not for merchant service. It was typically heavily armed and often avoided by the pirates. Of course sometimes such ship were used to transport treasure or acted as escort to merchant ships. This Dutch East Indiaman wrecked near the Mtana River near Hamburg in the Eastern Cape. The vessel was disabled in a gale while homeward bound from Ceylon. It ran aground in broad daylight and began to break up immediately. Of the 150 lives on board, only 57 Europeans and 20 enslaved people from Malabar (South-Western India) managed to reach the shore. The survivors started walking to the Cape, but most turned back after reaching an unpassable River. Of those that continued, only one (although some sources suggest up to five) person(s) reached the Cape alive on the 26th of February 1714, more than a Year after the wrecking. Those who turned back lived near the wreck until June 1713, trading iron and copper from the wreck; for food with the local people, who treated the survivors with kindness. When this supply was exhausted the survivors made another attempt to reach the Cape, but after several weeks the survivors, now reportedly only consisting of 7 Europeans, found refuge with another friendly group of local people. On the 4th of September 1714, an English decked boat reached the Cape from Delagoa Bay with 4 of these 7 survivors on board. They had been found living in a local Village near the mouth of a river. A subsequent six-month search by another smaller galley propelled by both sails and oars the: 'Postlooper', continued the searched for the wreck and remaining 3 survivors. They were unsuccessful though. Although there are some reports that claim in 1716 three Englishmen were reported to be living on that coastline with wives and children and it is possible that these three men were those last three survivors. The wreck was excavated in 1985 under a National Monument’s Council permit.
Geolocation
-33° 18' 39.6", 27° 25' 4.8"
References
https://www.britannica.com/technology/East-Indiaman Facebook
Further Reading
https://www.angelfire.com/realm3/caribbeantales/ships_man_o_war.html https://tracks4africa.co.za/listings/item/w178183/4wd-track-ends-against-mtana-river/

Hamburg Village

Hamburg is a small Town, with about 1000 inhabitants, in the Eastern Cape Province. It is located on the coast between the City's of East London and the Town of Port Alfred. It falls under the Ngqushwa Municipality. Hamburg was settled in 1857 by members of the British-German Legion who had fought alongside the British in the Crimean War.

In the early 20th Century it was a typical Holiday Resort comprising two Hotels and a Campsite, with a Pub on the Estuary. Then, in 1972, it was incorporated into Ciskei and fell into disrepair. Title deeds to homes were lost; the Hotels fell over; and most of the Houses lost their roofs, windows and doors.

In the 1980's hotel magnate- Sol Kerzner, paved his way by using the Governments and their ‘approving’ laws for planning a Casino development in Hamburg, intending to replicate his successes in Transkei and Bophuthatswana. Then came 1985 and PW Botha’s infamous Rubicon speech. The development was abandoned and Hamburg remained as it was! 

As the Keiskamma River reaches the Coast it opens into a wide floodplain, bordered by Nature Reserves that are home to hundreds of species of birds. The Estuary, permanently open to the Sea, offers excellent fishing – for years the world-record Cob catch was held here. And between February and May you can feast on Tiger Prawns, that spawn here. Delicious River Crabs are abundant and on the rocks there is an abundance of: Wild Oysters, Mussels and Alikreukel-(Afrikaans for; 'Giant Periwinkle'). There’s also superb canoeing between the Estuarine Islands. Hamburg’s Blue Flag Beach was voted one of SA’s most beautiful secluded seafronts. (as you usually have it all to yourself) A seaside stroll offers up an array of different shells, and you may even find pieces of Qing Dynasty pottery that have been washing up here since the 'Bennebroek' sank South-West of the Keiskamma mouth in 1713 (there were only 77 survivors). Her anchor stood outside the Hamburg Hotel before mysteriously disappearing in 2013.

Hamburg’s ‘fame’ is largely thanks to the 'Keiskamma Trust', a development organisation that offers a range of Community services including; 'Medical support: Early childhood education and Food Gardens.' The Trust’s Music Academy, founded by leading flautist Helen Vosloo. This Trust; teaches 133 disadvantaged youngsters, (some of whom have even performed in England and Germany.) However, what’s gained the Trust its greatest acclaim – and some unlikely fans – is its Art Project. Founder Dr Carol Hofmeyr believed that tackling the HIV/Aids crisis in the community required not only Education and Medical intervention but an initiative that gave people; "a sense of pride, self-worth and the dignity of an income." Today, 150 previously unemployed women craft exquisite fabric artworks that are bought for private collections around the World. Every two years the project undertakes a major work, referencing historical events and making a socio-political statement relevant to our time. Past works include the ‘Keiskamma Tapestry’, which tells the History of the Region from the San to Mandela. At 122 Metres long, it’s one of the largest artworks in the World, and it took 110 artists six Months to complete. It now hangs permanently in the parliament buildings in Cape Town.

The ‘Keiskamma Altarpiece’ is the Art Project’s most celebrated accomplishment. This multi-layered work, measuring more than 100-square-metres, has toured Canada, the USA, England and Germany. The Keiskamma Trust counsellor- Eunice Manganye gained notoriety for taking Hollywood actor; Richard Gere aside at a showing of the ‘Altarpiece’ in Toronto. When informed that he was a famous actor, Eunice said, ‘So? I don’t care. He was blocking people’s view!’ After that, the two got talking and Impressed by Eunice’s no-nonsense approach, Richard’s brother, Professor David Gere, invited her to take the ‘Altarpiece’ to UCLA, where he heads the Department of World Arts and Cultures. Eunice became, according to David, ‘something of a minor rock star’ in Los Angeles, inter alia advising the gay community on fashion and press-ganging UCLA students into an impromptu choir to sing in isiXhosa for the unveiling of the artwork.

When not on tour, Eunice and the ‘Altarpiece’ are at home in Hamburg. It’s the Art Project that also lures a regular but unusual visitor to Hamburg. Richard Walter John Montagu Douglas Scott, the Duke of Buccleuch and Queensbury, and the largest private land-owner in the United Kingdom, comes to commission tapestries for his collection. That’s how artworks stitched to the sound of isiXhosa harmonies in this crazy little Village of Hamburg, came to hang in one of the World’s finest private art collections, in a Scottish Castle, alongside works by Da Vinci, Rembrandt, Holbein and Gainsborough!

The Village has only a handful of cars, so most transport is provided by donkey carts that ferry everything from preschool children, to firewood, to furniture … to brides. a few Years ago, to the delight of the Community it was selected as an Urban Regeneration Project. The government consulted with the community to establish their needs. They needed better roads, they needed houses, a new clinic … jobs. What did they get? A R50-millon artist’s Residence with Apartments and Dance Studios. (It stood empty for several Years, but is now a B&B.)

("Fill up your tank; we got no petrol. Bring cash; we got no ATM. Shop on the way; we got no supermarkets and the trading store has only the basics.")

Geolocation
-33° 17' 20.4", 27° 23' 24"
References
https://www.getaway.co.za/destinations/hamburg-one-crazy-little-village/
Further Reading
https://www.getaway.co.za/destinations/hamburg-one-crazy-little-village/ https://keiskamma.org/ https://ngqushwamun.gov.za/download/documents/spatial-development-framework/Draft-Hamburg-LSDF-Precinct-Plan.pdf http://fishwrecked.com/forum/another-monster-cob-mulloway-caught-south-africa https://www.pantsdownapronson.com/how-to-cook-alikreukel/ https://www.britannica.com/art/Chinese-pottery/The-Qing-dynasty-1644-1911-12 https://books.google.co.za/books/about/The_Peter_Sachs_Wreck_Believed_to_be_the.html?id=jpOCmwEACAAJ&redir_esc=y https://fundingsolutions.co.za/our-experience/ https://artway.eu/content.php?id=1978&lang=en&action=show

Ubuhlebezwe Municipality (previously Sisonke District Municipality), Highflats

Ubuhlebezwe Municipality is a local Municipality within the Harry Gwala District Municipality, in the KwaZulu-Natal Province. Ubuhlebezwe is an isiZulu word meaning: "the beauty of the land". The name is derived from Alan Paton's novel:' Cry, The Beloved Country'.

Highflats, is a small Settlement in the Midlands of KwaZulu-Natal, surrounded by Forestry and Sugar Farms.

Himmelberg Mission between Umzinto and Jolivet is one of the more than twenty missions built by the Mariannhill monks. The Mission Station, built in the 1890's had the original wood from the Local Forests and an iron Church. The brick Church built later in 1933 and is also home to the Himmelberg Intermediate School. There is also a Convent and nuns accommodation about 500m to the North of the Mission Complex.

Geolocation
-30° 13' 33.6", 30° 11' 20.4"
References
https://www.mindat.org/feature-996609.html https://www.scross.co.za/2023/04/mariannhill-on-a-motorbike/ https://www.voaafrica.com/straight-talk https://kznpr.co.za/churches-missions-monastries/
Further Reading
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HxPgpzWRha0 https://kznpr.co.za/otting-trappist-mission-highflats/ https://www.scross.co.za/2023/04/mariannhill-on-a-motorbike/ https://www.voaafrica.com/straight-talk