Idle cranes.

Idle cranes in Durban harbour are an appropriate picture for today's news.

During this week a shipment of arms destined for Zim was blocked from being offloaded in our port, firstly by harbour staff refusing to do the job, and then legally by the high court. As a result the ship suddenly left Durban. So I guess they'll try another port, and I hope they don't get that one right.

So, why do I care? The reason is the results of what was supposed to be a democratic election in Zimbabwe 3 weeks ago, still have not been released, because it will mean a change of goverment and president, and the outgoing president is not prepared to give up his place after 28 years in power. In my opinion, adding arms to this situation would be a disaster for the country.

Hats off to those who have taken a stand in support of democracy.

The Tunnel under the M13

If you regularly travel this route, you'll instantly recognise this intersection, because you'd have had many opportunities to sit and enjoy the view while waiting for the robots (traffic lights) to change to green.

You'd also have had many opportunities to say nasty words about the taxi's which insist on taking the corner from the left hand lane while the rest of us wait our turn in the right hand lane.

This is the corner of Eden road turning onto Stapleton Road, which goes through the tunnel under the M13 - the old main road between Durban and Johannesburg. For those familiar with Google Earth, my position was 29°49'41.92"S, 30°52'38.85"E.

Yesterday's picture was taken in Eden Road, about 80m to the right of this picture at 29°49'42.97"S, 30°52'41.50"E.

Umbilo River

Each day thousands of cars pass this little stretch of the Umbilo river, but I wonder how many of the occupants even see the beauty that is hiding here.

Sitting in the car after a day at the office, fighting with the traffic at the intersection on the way home, it's not easy to see over the guard-rail to enjoy this bit of paradise.

I wonder how many locals who visit this blog would have any idea where this picture was taken. To be fair, I'll give a hint - its about 15km from Durban's city center. Tomorrow I'll post another clue, and for those who regularly travel this route, you'll recognise it immediately.

The cuckoo hawk.

Another one with the bright yellow eyes. The cuckoo hawk also enjoys snakes, but this time only the little ones (snakes that is), although his preference is grasshoppers.

In this case the young are a lot kinder to each other, and a breeding season can see two, and very rarely three chicks take flight.

This chap is also now living at the African Bird of Prey Sanctuary.

Brown Snake Eagle

According to some documentation on the Brown Eagle Snake, they can tackle snakes of up to 3m. They are also quite happy to tackle venemous snakes as well.

The female will lay on 1 egg per breeding season. The male goes out to hunt and bring the food home for the family.

African Fish Eagle.

The African Fish Eagle has a wingspan of between 2m (male) and 2.4m(female). As the name implies, they dine mainly on fish, and live near freshwater lakes, rivers, reseviors, and even river-mouths.

The female will lay 1 - 3 eggs per season, but the first to hatch will normally kill the siblings which hatch a day or two later.

This photo was taken at the African Bird of Prey Sanctuary.

Out in the country.

It's been a busy and exciting weekend. Today our biker gang headed out into the country, all the way up to Howick, for breakfast near the falls.

In years past I have climbed down to have a picnic at the bottom of the falls, but not today. The weather wasn't so great and we were a little concerned about the theatening clouds along the way.