Note the mountain pretending to be an elephant - see it's beady eye - known locally as the Elephant's Eye cave.
It's a tough life in Africa... chilling in the midday sun...
Waterblommetjies - water hyacinths, from which we make Malay inspired stews (called bredies - see recipe) and soups.
As fresh as it gets... 
Dr Boomslang (meaning Dr Treesnake) does his thing in the garden...Want to know more about boomslangs?
A riot of colour...
Freshly baked breads, croissants, and pastries from Crocodeli...
It's not just about food... we're an arty and crafty lot too...
Recycle, recycle and watch out for those baboons who are ever-aware of an easy handout - and hence become highly problematical and ultimately aggressive.But they were here before us.
And when you need to wash away the dust and the morning's activities, there's nothing that will blow the top of you head off quite like a cup of "moer koffie" - a traditional country coffee brew - you won't ever be the same again and even the girls will have hair on their chests..."Moer" means to, well... beat up very badly...
Dried meats - biltong is similar to jerky but flavoured with coriander (a Malay influence), droë wors (pronounced "droo-ah vorce") is similar but made from sausages. Beef and game meats are used. Want a recipe?South Africans thrive on "biltong, braaivleis ( i.e. bbq's - the word translates as "barbequed meat"), sunny skies and sport...
Which brings me to...
A keen rugby supporter! Who by this morning will not only be a happy man but will undoubtedly be sporting the mother of all hangovers. Why? Because...WE WON THE RUGBY WORLD CUP!!!
YEAH! HOORAY! VIVA! GO THE BOKKE!
YEAH! HOORAY! VIVA! GO THE BOKKE!
Huge congratulations to the Springbok team, the coach and the management staff!
The Web Ellis Trophy has come home again!
Here's hoping this happy event will act as something of a unifying force in what remains a divided and troubled land. May the power of a team become the power of a nation.
A jubilant Springbok rugby team with their president
Photo courtesy of the South African Sunday Times
The Web Ellis Trophy has come home again!
Here's hoping this happy event will act as something of a unifying force in what remains a divided and troubled land. May the power of a team become the power of a nation.
A jubilant Springbok rugby team with their presidentPhoto courtesy of the South African Sunday Times
34 comments:
so is this market once per week kind of a thing?.
Place looks awesome
Very interesting pics, and congratulations on winning the Rugby World Cup!
If this is your version of Africa, I see where you get your blog name. And it gives me a bit of insight as to the kind of danger you feel there.
Another lovely photo essay,one of so many which I am yet to read.Never knew South Africa was so lively.
Boomslang I have heard about in the Harry Potter series,its skin an ingredient for the Polyjuice Potion.Now only do I know what it means!
Thanks so much for these new gems of knowledge for my mind's treasure box :)
The market takes place every Saturday, Rambler but it only started up a couple of months ago and yesterday was the first nice day for it. There is a going drive towards organic markets which is good too see.
Thanks, Kyklops - on both counts!
South Africa is a complex and troubled place, Gregra&Gar, as I'm sure you're gathering from reading my blog. On one hand we have insane crime and violence and corruption, on the other we have stunning beauty and a magnificent climate. The middle ground is swampy at best.
I loved seeing the way the team swung their president up on their shoulders in sheer jubilation!
I think it may have been a bit dodgy if the England team had followed suit with our larger Gordon!
Glad you enjoyed it , Sameera! And glad to add to your store of knowledge :-) - I'd forgotten about the boomslang skin in the polyjuice potion!
LOL! Yes, Thabo Mbeki isn't very big Jan so getting him up on their shoulders probably wasn't too difficult, though he didn't look entirely sure if he wanted to be up there! :-) Commiserations to English supporters - the team made an amazing comeback considering how they started.
the absolute vanilla people was what I was referring to.
love markets and love market pictures. thanks for bringing us along. always fun to see what folks eat and how markets are organized (or unorganized)
I see the elephant!
dr. boomslang obviously has a wicked sense of humor - can't say I'd be attracted to getting any herbs to cook from which come from a garden named after a snake which can kill you!
an artist friend of mine, karen dewinter has done alot of her paintings of old windows, I love them. interesting to see the medium get played out elsewhere
congrats to the springbok rugby team. we need some sports magic (and runs) today or we are out of it!
congrats of the rugby win!
thanks for the award! :)
Aha, she said, Gregra&Gar, still without the faintest clue.
We have some really cool markets, Kimy - loads of arts and crafts markets, lifestyle markets and more recently food markets. Makes such a nice change from malls and supermarkets!
I really liked those window frame pictures - was thinking I could do something with them and some of my photos! ;-)
Thanks for the congratulations - I went down to a kite festival just now and loads of people are walking around carrying South African flags and wearing Springbok rugby jerseys - so nice to see.
Thanks, CS - and it's my pleasure! :-)
Congratulations on the rugby win, Vanilla & I like the fact that you said, "chilling in the midday sun." What an interesting contradiction!
Hey Vanilla, cool shots. I'd also like to congratulate you on your win, which I suspected you would get. What I didn't know was that a guy called PERCY would be helping you get it! Tee Hee! ( :
It will come to you. Or not.
Thanks, Suzan, with everyone's congratulations I'm beginning to feel I was running up and down the field myself instead of just sitting on the edge of the couch yelling my head off!
And yes, we do a lot of chilling in the midday sun :-)
Thanks, V - so you didn't know about Perce - as in "Percy you beauty!" Percy is a treat, pretty to look at, can kick a ball something wicked but can't spell his own name, as an ex colleague of mine who knew him well used to say. Anyway, he'll be keeping company out your way soon - no doubt if you keep your eyes peeled you'll see much more of him! ;-)
Probably "or not", Gregra&Gar. It's that kind of day.
congratulations on the Rugby Cup! :)
and I loved the pics.. it must be quite interesting to go to these events..we dont have those where we live.
I love growers markets although always a bit shy of buying meat but great fruit, veg and bread. Baboons! Not a fan so I'm glad they'd gone. As for the cup . . . no sour grapes,well done SA.
First, CONGRATULATIONS on the world cup! YAY!!!!!!!
I can feel that excitement clear over here!
(Our pro-baseball team, The Colorado Rockies, will be playing in the world series this week; 7 games to see who the champs are -it's us, btw)... so I am ear-deep in the same kind of pumped up buzz that fills even the air... hopefully, we will be celebrating too! Glad your team got it!
Farmers markets are wonderful things, aren't they? I very much enjoy strolling through them, and it looks like you do too. Super strong coffee huh? Someone should tell Starbucks... *kidding*!!!
What a fascinating place! Ostrich and everything... wow. The sign warning against feeding baboons was kind of a surprise, glad I saw that here first, when I make it to Africa I'll be kind of prepped!
Thanks for the delightful meandering!
Scarlett & Viaggiatore
Not a rugby fan myself, I too got taken in. And the roads were dead today with everyone recovering from last night's celebrations. Great pics. Sounds like just your kinda place ;-)
What a wonderful day you must've spent there, Vanilla! Oh, I love markets - and those vegetables... mmmmm, I couldn't resist them. (The arts and crafts too!) Lovely pictures!
Do you speak Afrikaans?
And congratulations on winning the Rugby World Cup!
The market looks lush! :-)
And, OK, I suppose I do have to say congratulations for the win ... but let's not talk about NZ or Ireland or even the French for that matter (I can back one of the three at any given time) :-(
Vanilla,
The elephant mountain, makes me think of Sesame Steet, and snuffleofogus (not right spelling), looks neat.
I forgot about boomslang in polyjuice! How did Sameera remember that?
Thank you so much for recording this and sharing it with us, I really enjoyed it. Looks very interesting, all these names and stuff I never heard of before. I think I will go back now, and look at all the pics again.
Wow - that looks fantastic, our local organic farmer's market is very colourless in comparison! I developed a taste for biltong whilst visiting Durban (one of the big shopping centres had a shop selling it) a couple of years ago ~ hard to find in the UK though. Thanks for sharing the pics.
Thanks, Mystic! :-) We have loads of markets here - I think it's a kind of need to be free of malls - and they are fun - very laid back and just a good morning out.
Yeah, I know what you mean Baino - there was a guy selling meat and although it looked really nice I though nah, not taking any chances with that - perhaps if I'd arrived with the sparrows it would have been different. As for the baboons, we-ell, they live on the mountain and in the surrounding forest and as more of their habitat is destroyed so they're more inclined to forage in suburbia. They're fine so long as you don't feed them which always results in them getting confident and then aggressive.
Sorry about that cup ;-) Next time, maybe?
Thanks, Scarlett - there's nothing quite like having a team in any kind of world cup final to really get the excitement going. Good luck with the baseball series will keep fingers crossed for your team! :-)
Yep, it's very much an allsorts and colourful market. It was the first time I'd been - it's a fairly new market - but I'll be going back again next Saturday - there is a guy who sells salami made by a Tuscan in the Tuscan style - took me all the way back to those hills and that light - all that was missing was the chianti! ;-)
It was great, wasn't it, Saaleha :-) It was very quiet around here yesterday too - I went down to a kite flying festival and although there were loads of people sporting their Springbok jerseys and waving the SA flag, they all looked a little jaded! ;-)
Thanks on both counts, Vesper! It was a fun place to take the pictures - though I figured everyone thought I was a tourist! :-)
Yes, I do speak some Afrikaans. It was compulsory when I was at school that we learn it - I used to be pretty much bilingual but since I seldom have to speak the language now I've gone very rusty.
It's a great little market, Shameless!
Ah the cup, next time, next time. You're playing a home game and I think it's long overdue that the All Blacks carried off the trophy :-)
It's funny you know, Taffiny, I thought of taking pics of some more of the names of the stalls and stuff but then figured I'd focus on the produce instead! Glad you like the photos. Good of Sameera to remember the polyjuice potion, wasn't it! ;-)
Thanks! Well then, Le Laquet, I'd better make the most of all this colour then if I'm planning on shifting over to colourless ol' Blighty :-)
There are more and more places to buy biltong in the UK - if you go online and do a search, you'll find a host of suppliers - with a couple in and around London. And I know for sure there's a biltong shop on Brighton Pier! ;-)
Hi vanilla!
I love the pics and the information to go with them. Congratulations on the big rugby cup win. Having lived in Australia for nearly 11 years I cheered for Australia but they left the cup so soon, it made me sad. I am glad to see another southern hemisphere team win though.
One of my best friends is from South Africa (last name Boer heh).
Cheers, I will be back to read more.
Gx
Hi Gaye, nice to "meet" you! :-)
I think us southern hemisphere lots have to stick together in these world cup things! And yeah, us South Africans get around, even with some unfortunate names ;-) - we're not really a bad lot!
Nice to meet you, too. :)
I don't know many countries that do not have that very complex nature you mentioned, with it's good and the bad, to put it simply. Can't do anyone good to dwell around the undesirable. I think in any situation for anyone hope only exists if we can not only see the beautiful and the good but also focus on it.
Cheers and best wishes!
Gx
Oh bother, bloggers been eating my comments again.
Gaye, I replied saying something like, I think it's all about the world being in balance, while it doesn't cheer us up much to dwell on the undesirable, we also wouldn't know the bright and light and happy stuff without appreciated the dark stuff. I guess those kind of realisations simply make humanity a bit of a complex experience at times! :-)
I love open air markets but have yet to visit one in Africa. Your pictures and words transported me --I felt giddy just pronouncing waterblommetjies.
Well, I'm not really sure this one could be termed an "african" market in the strictest sense, Matthew but it is probably a little different from one elsewhere.
By the way, waterblommetjies is pronounced "varter blom eh kiss" ;-)
Post a Comment