Sensational Images of Blazing Cape Town Mountain – Hout Bay Fires moving towards Llandudno Engulf Sandy Bay: It is not everyday that you find yourself living next to a mountain that is on fire. This happened to me yesterday in Cape Town and this report explains what happened using high definition photography to capture some stunning views as the events unfolded. Links to my other similar photographic blogs are also included.
Hout Bay Inferno on its way to the Sandy Bay Beach area
While you read why not listen to my album ‘Electro Baroque‘ (all tracks are also available on iTunes using the link here)? Classical music using modern instruments:
or if you prefer to listen to my electronic music album ‘Studio Valiumm‘ here are the videos (also on iTunes using the link here):
I had hoped my earlier report about the heroic exploits of the Cape Town fire-fighting crews battling against flames around Hout Bay would be my last on that subject (see my detailed report with pics here). Sadly I was proven wrong when explosions in the informal settlement at Imizamo Yethu in Hout Bay (known as Mandela Park) started fires that destroyed an estimated 1000 homes. Figures vary but this disaster is believed to have made around 4000 people homeless.
Between Hout Bay and my roof-top apartment in Llandudno is a rather large mountain – the Karbonkelberg. Very dry vegetation caused by the current drought conditions helped the Hout Bay fires in my previous report to reach my side (the Llandundo side) of the mountain. Fortunately when this happened over a week ago helicopter-borne fire-fighting crews quickly brought the bush fires under control. They were helped by very calm weather conditions followed by some much needed rain a couple of days later.
These fortunate climatic conditions were not in evidence at the time of the explosions this Saturday (11th March 2017). The wind helped the flames to spread rapidly and it was difficult to use helicopters because of both the wind and the risk of injuring people – including firefighters on the ground. The wind was predicted to get even stronger during the day and although the fires were brought under control the bush ignited again towards the evening.
My suspicions arose just before dawn on Sunday 12th March as I tried to take Moon-set photos of the full moon over Sunset Rocks (Llandudno). The moon was a deep red colour and this is often an indication of pollution – particularly that caused by large bush fires. As the moon set and the sun rose I could see smoke billowing over the Karbonkelberg mountain from the direction of Hout Bay. The wind was predicted to reach 100 km an hour (which you really feel on the Cape coast) and the large, well known, Cape Town Cycle Tour (formerly known as Cape Argus) had to be called off.
The winds made it impossible for the chopper crews to perform their dousing magic on the mountain bush fires and it was only a matter of time before flames started to engulf the Sandy Bay/Llandudno side of the Karbonkelberg. They continued to spread round the mountain towards the Sandy Bay beach area as the day progressed (see pictures – click on them for high definition views).
By nightfall the whole of this side of the mountain was engulfed in flames. Ours is one of the first Llandudno properties bordering the Table Mountain National Park where Karbonkelberg is situated. We needed to start preparing ourselves for a potential evacuation. If you have never seen a mountain on fire at night time the pictures here will illustrate how it can be both awe-inspiring and at the same time very frightening – especially if you live next door to it.
In the evening the authorities had placed road blocks at Fishermans Hook – the only road leading to our part of Llandudno (the ‘Sunset Rocks’ area). This was to prevent ‘sightseers’ from blocking the roads in case they were needed for emergency services or residents evacuating in a hurry. Fortunately we didn’t need to evacuate.
The pictures presented above were taken at 9:30 pm. I continued to monitor the flames throughout the night (my regular ‘comfort’ trips during the night provided me with useful ‘mountain viewing’ opportunities). As the night progressed the flames subsided and the spreading appeared to be limited by a fortuitous ‘natural firebreak‘. This was due to a long stretch of sand dunes that reaches from Sandy Bay beach all the way to the town of Hout Bay.
In the past bush fires with larger flames have managed to cross-over this gap but the vegetation has changed in recent years making this less likely. Earlier fires had cleared the area of much larger ‘Alien’ plants and replaced them with the smaller indigenous Fynbos shrubs that are endemic to this part of the Cape.
Fynbos Shrubs – Endemic to the region around Cape Town
By the time the sun was just about to rise on Monday 13th March (today) I was up again trying to catch the full moon setting over the rocks in front of my apartment.
Today there was not the red colouration I had witnessed the previous morning – as the sun rose I could see the mountain had stopped burning apart from an occasional ‘pre-breakfast’ smoke. The pictures here illustrate how the fire has caused most of the green vegetation to be replaced by grey, charred remains. I understand however that these shrubs are very hardy and their evolution has been closely intertwined with bush fires – the indigenous vegetation of the area should regenerate before too long.
I took this photo before the recent bush fires – Note the strong green vegetation
Fortunately on this side of the mountain no homes were destroyed – sadly this was not the case for about 1000 shacks on Hout Bay side. However I understand the authorities, acknowledging that this is a disaster area, will provide funding to ensure more secure accommodation can replace the shacks. The challenge is on for the authorities to help regenerate the homes long before nature regenerates the vegetation.
Cling Film Condom Gets Stuck – i.Con the Smart Wearable Sex Ring in Beta Testing: This week I would like to share with you how my over-enthusiasm for developing new applications for plastics additives almost caused a condom disaster in ‘Accident and Emergency‘. I also provide a quick update on the beta testing for the new nano-packed, downloadable smart condom i.Con and discuss how it could warn you about syphilis and chlamydia.
In my early career I worked tirelessly with my technical team to perfect the perfect condom
As I am getting on a bit I think now is the time to come clean about some of the secrets from my early career in developing new chemical products. Last week I described my job in making mutants and their role in the UK’s erection of the year (more on that in the link here). Well, following my attempts to make mutants of the bacterium ‘Psodomy‘ I decided it was time for a career change and moved into additives for plastics and rubber.
Following my attempts at solving world hunger by making mutants I decided it was time to move on to new challenges
In my new role, working for the UK’s largest Oil company, I was responsible for sales and development of these products in the South of England. One of the products was a very viscous (= ‘like treacle’) product that was also quite tacky (= ‘sticky’) called Polybutene. These properties made it useful in things like sealants and adhesives (because of the stickiness) and high performance motor oils (as a viscosity index improver). It was also used in cling film (plastic- or cling-wrap) as the ingredient that made it ‘cling’.
Although I had already earned some street cred with the blokes at the pub with my stories about helping to develop Formula 1 motor oils – clearly for the girls I needed something a bit more sensual. My sales region included the well known ‘London Rubber Company‘ whose major product ‘Durex‘ was famous among all my friends. I decided to see if I could use my Polybutenes’ skills to develop the perfect condom for this potential client.
Anyone who has had the good fortune to use a condom will appreciate that something you do not want it to do is fall off in the middle of use. I realised that my tacky additive could be just the product to help this rubber wearable item ‘stay on’. Clearly we had the technology – I already sold to one of the UK’s largest producers of cling film. One potential problem with our polybutene was that its viscosity (thickness) reduced when it was exposed to increased ‘shear‘ (e.g. rubbing against it). This was actually a desirable property in some products – like adhesives – it would help you to adjust the surfaces you were trying to stick before the joint was fixed.
I decided to dedicate myself to safer sex
In a condom we didn’t want the stickiness to reduce as you increase the shear rate because this would make it easier for the sleeve to ‘come off’ during action. However we had a special ‘2000’ grade that was super thick and I was certain that if you put this into the condom material it would not slip off. Yes I was on the brink off producing the ‘condom that never falls off‘. Chris’s solution to the problem of global over population.
Field trials were a natural next stage. However we did run into a snag – as well as being very thick our 2000 grade was also the most tacky product in the range. Great if you are making glue or rodent traps! A condom containing this additive would certainly not come off during action – however, it had a slight drawback. After you have finished your period of ‘passion’ it was impossible to remove the condom from your appendage. My manager pointed out to me the potential brand damage to Durex of having lines of people at the hospital ‘Accident and Emergency‘ departments – all with condoms stuck on their Willies.
Shortly after this the oil company sent me to become their Sales Manager in Japan – a country where we did not have any existing customers. It was felt that my enthusiasm for innovative product development would be less damaging there (…remind me, one day, to explain how I nearly developed the chop-stick that will stick to rice – sadly it also stuck to diners’ lips).
i.Con the Smart Condom (Ring)
Recently, I was reminded of my early days in condom research, when I heard about another new UK sex innovation. The company ‘British Condoms’ has developed a smart wearable penis ring that you place over a condom. This nanochip based smart device measures loads of useful data to help you analyse your sexual performance. As part of a holistic exercise regime it could help to keep you fit and even lose weight (it measures calories expended in sex).
The product is currently undergoing beta testing to develop its systems for analysing and counting the type and number of positions you use. It should also be able to measure STIs (Sexually Transmitted Infections) like Chlamydia and Syphilis although I am not sure quite how it will tell you about this (I suspect it will be too small for a loudspeaker…just imagine the scene – passions arise and a little voice shouts out: ‘Don’t touch her she’s got pox!‘).
Perhaps your STI information, like the other stats, can be downloaded straight to your smart phone to share on Facebook? Rather than duplicate my in-depth evaluation of this new smart product here why don’t you take a look at my detailed review of this exciting new product on the page using the link here).
I wonder if they have ever considered developing a cock ring that is a bit more sticky and doesn’t slide off? Better polish off my C.V.!!! Sadly some gentlemen are so worried about rings slipping off that they actually use more than one on their penis (for my article about how the German fire brigade carries out training to practice removing such devices – in one case 13 on one Willy – use the link here).
So that is enough for today’s action packed ‘health-special’ edition of the blog. If you are interested in such exciting reports like this one you might like to subscribe to my blog – yes it is free!).
Chris Duggleby
Is that an alarm going off in your trouser pocket?
If you found this article interesting please consider taking a look at some of my other recent reports on similar subjects.
UK Chemical Giant Used Psodomy to Make Mutants and Produced Erection of the Year: As a young bacterial geneticist I was privileged in my early career to be invited to work on a secret project in the North of England. Here I was expected to use Psodomy to produce mutants – one of our local creations even got the erection of the year award. I share these early adventures below.
These days the media is full of news about how genetic engineering is being harnessed to create new ‘designer’ medicines and how we will soon be able to conquer certain genetic diseases. Do you really understand what this involves? Do you know precisely what a mutant is or how it is made? What is DNA and what is it about DNA that causes mutations and genetic diseases? In this article I hope to provide answers to some of these questions.
First of all let me explain my credentials. My first job in industry as a research scientist required me to create mutant bacteria for the UK’s largest chemical company. My degree was in Bacteriology and Virology so I was quite at home growing bugs. The bacteria I used in industry lived off methanol – a simple alcohol made from natural gas. My bugs used this methanol as their source of energy and food.
Methanol The Alcohol Used to Provide Energy for Psodomy
The bug had a rather long name (Pseudomonas methylotrophus) which, for ease of communication, I shortened to ‘Psodomy‘. I tried to make mutants that manufactured ‘essential‘ amino acids. We need amino acids to make protein and humans can make lots of amino acids themselves. However we can’t make a few amino acids and therefore we need them in our diet – these are the essential amino acids. The strategy was to use Psodomy to turn natural gas into essential amino acids – my chance to help solve World hunger.
We grew Psodomy in a large fermentation vessel – this meant we could put methanol in one end and drain off our protein (called ‘single cell protein‘) using a tap at the other end. Actually our fermentation vessel (see photo below) was so large it received the ‘Erection of the Year‘ award when it was installed near our labs in Billingham (North of England). This was in 1979 – not surprisingly erections have got bigger since then (here’s the link to the mega erection story in New Scientist magazine – its on page 840 at the bottom).
1979 ‘Erection of the Year‘: ICI Billingham’s Single Cell Protein (Pruteen) Fermentation Reactor
Let me now explain some basic facts that will help you to understand what mutants are and how we can make them. Put very simply a mutant is a living thing that has a mutation. A mutation is a change in the DNA of the organism. DNA is what our genes are made of – it is passed down from generation to generation. Things that can change this DNA can cause mutations (and therefore make mutants). These things are called mutagens. So what is this DNA?
DNA is simply a very, very, very long molecule. If you didn’t do chemistry at school all you need to know is that everything in the world is made up of atoms (think of these as incredibly small bits of ‘stuff’). These atoms can join together to make molecules – for example plastics are very long molecules or chains of the same repeating group of atoms. Although we think we are clever because we can make plastics evolution beat us to it – all living things contain lots of very long chains of atoms joined into molecules.
Repeating units in a typical (rather boring) man-made plastic Polyethylene
Whereas plastics have identical repeating units of atoms along their chains living things build much more variety into their molecular chains. If you think of plastics as chains of identical glass beads – then the molecules in living things would be made up of beads of many different colours, sizes and shapes. A typical living molecular chain is a proteinand by combining its ‘beads’ (called amino-acids) in different ways each protein has a unique shape which helps it do some very useful jobs. This is why proteins make up the machinery used by every cell in our body. For example they help us break down foods (enzymes), carry oxygen in the blood (haemoglobin), cause muscle cells to contract, transmit electrical signals down nerves and identifying harmful microbes (antibodies).
The (much more exciting) natural protein haemoglobin – In this GIF it is changing its shape as it captures oxygen in the body
DNA is also a living long chain molecule but its shape is more fixed than most proteins. If we could see a DNA molecule (we can’t – it is too small) we would see what looks like a twisted ladder – each leg of the ladder is a long molecular chain of DNA. This structure is referred to as a double helix (‘double’ because it involves two very long chains of DNA). This structure is very important because each rung on this ladder contains the ‘letters‘ of DNA’s simple 4 letter alphabet.
Moving GIF showing DNA’s twisted ladder (double helix) structure. The letters/words of the genetic instruction manual are written along each leg of the ladder (one letter on each side of every rung).
Why does DNA need an alphabet? This is because DNA is the instruction manual for everything that goes on in a living organism. It doesn’t matter whether you are a bacteria, a plant or an animal – the instructions for making everything you need to live is stored in this DNA instruction manual. The instructions are written using DNA’s simple 4 letter alphabet – and every word in the manual is precisely 3 letters long (the DNA letters are called ‘bases‘).
Guanine one of the bases or ‘letters’ used by DNA to write your body’s instruction manual
Evolution was much more organised than humans when it designed its language – humans have loads of languages, loads of alphabets and our words can be almost any number of letters long. In nature all instructions are written on DNA using the same alphabet of only 4 letters and the same vocabulary of 3 letter words. No need for Google Translate here! This means we can put DNA words from humans into bacteria and they can be read by the bacteria to make human proteins (…and viruses can insert their words into human cells and these cells read them and make the ‘virus’ proteins – by using the same language the viruses ‘hack‘ into the cell’s software and hardware systems).
So what do these 3 letter DNA words mean? Well I mentioned above that proteins are made from amino acids (the ‘beads‘). There are over 20 amino acids – and this same pool of amino acid beads is used in all living things. Each of DNA’s 3 letter words signifies one amino acid. Going back to the description of a protein being a chain of many different kinds of beads (amino acids) – the precise names and order of these amino acids is written in the DNA instruction manual (along the ladder) using the 3 letter words. For example:
DNA word TAC instructs a cell to add amino-acid Tyrosine when it makes a protein (in TAC the T, A, and C are abbreviations for the DNA letters, or bases, Thymine, Adenine and Cytosine).
Protein Building Block: Amino Acid Tyrosine which is coded for by the DNA ‘word’ TAC
We think we are clever because we have made computers with software (instruction manuals) using a binary (2 letter) code which can produce useful programmes for word processing, spread sheets, graphics etc. Well evolution has gone much further – it goes straight from the software (written on the DNA) to making 3 dimensional machinery parts (proteins). DNA also stores the instructions for putting these machinery parts together and controls when to turn the machines on and off and how quickly they need to run.
You will appreciate from this that the precise instructions contained along the DNA molecule are very important. Any mistakes in how these instructions are written could really mess up our ‘living’ machinery and all the processes that control it. These mistakes are what we call ‘mutations’ and a typical result of a mistake in the DNA’s instruction manual can totally screw-up a cell’s control system and lead to uncontrolled cell growth or cancer (and a huge number of other diseases).
As I explained above the first word in the DNA word TAC is the base Thymine:
DNA Base Thymine (the ‘T‘ in the DNA word TAC which signals for amino acid Tyrosine to be put into a protein)
Using the example above if we change the word TAC into GAC the wrong amino acid is added to the protein. This happens when the letter T (DNA base Thymine) is replaced by the letter G (DNA base Guanine).
TAC = amino acid Tyrosine
GAC = Aspartic Acid – A very different kind of Amino Acid
As a result of this single letter ‘spelling mistake’ the protein will have a different shape and different chemical properties. The machine may not work well, it may not work at all or it may do something completely different. Think of a cog in a piece of clockwork if one of its teeth is bent it will probably not perform properly. In our day to day life we see many results of mutations in DNA (and therefore in the operation of proteins) – one common example is colourblindness:
Can you see the number? This is a common test for colourblindness which can by due to a mutation on the X chromosome.
To make a mutant you change the words on the DNA molecule. This can be done as above by just changing single letters or by changing several words. The changes can be replacements with different letters or words or they can be deletions – a bit like when you cut and paste or delete in your word processing programme. The body has its own very sophisticated repair systems which it uses to fix mistakes when they occur in DNA. These mistakes may happen at random, or be caused by chemicals(mutagens/carcinogens), radiation (like when we lie out in the sun) or viruses. Viruses take over the cell’s systems when they infect it and sometimes they can ‘insert’ their own DNA into our DNA. This happens, for example, in some cancers.
When we try to make mutants of bugs in the lab we use the same kind of approaches. We can, for example, use mutation causing chemicals, radiation or even viruses (there are special viruses called bacteriophages that attack bacteria). When I worked with Psodomy I used UV radiation – effectively forcing the bugs to lie under a very powerful sun lamp. The idea was to create so many mutations that the bugs’ own DNA repair systems couldn’t fix the damage.
The rather crude strategy was to take a load of mutants and then grow them in a food bath that didn’t contain a specific essential amino acid. If the bug could grow in this bath it meant it could make the amino acid itself and then we tried to find the ones that produced even larger quantities of the essential amino acid. Once we had a bug that made lots of the amino acid we could grow it in our fermentor (our famous ‘erection of the year’ vessel) and hey-presto you turn on the tap and out comes a broth containing the essential amino acid (clearly I have simplified things a bit!).
Bacteriophage – A virus used by molecular biologists to inject genes into bacteria
Today’s scientists are much more sophisticated. They use (for example) viruses into which new genes (=DNA words) have been cut and pasted (instructions to make new proteins). These viruses inject the new genes into the bacteria’s DNA and with lots of technical wizardry the bacteria can be made to produce the new products (including things like drugs/antibiotics and chemicals that are essential to health like insulin and other hormones).
You will hear lots in the press about the CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing system. This is a very powerful genome cut and paste system that was discovered recently in bugs and has been harnessed as the go-to DNA editing system for genetic engineers (more info about that and how it is used in Gene Drives in my article here).
So that, in a nutshell, is a summary of how mutants can be made. If you wish you can make some mutants of your own – just lie out in the strong sunlight and the radiation will create mutants from your own body’s cells. Some of these mutants may overcome the systems the body uses to control the cells. For example a mutation may damage a control protein that stops your cells from growing and multiplying uncontrollably.
Squamous Cell Carcinoma
Such a cell will then divide many times and could develop into a carcinoma/melanoma and – with help from the sun – you have made mutants and given yourself skin cancer. It could take many years to get this result. Alternatively you might try to be careful about over exposing yourself to the sun – just get enough sunlight to produce the vitamin D you need (or take a supplement). Interestingly vitamin D helps to protect us from cancer so as always with health advice – it is best to avoid extremes in either direction (not too much and not too little sun exposure). I have a simple rule of thumb – I ask myself: “Would my ancestors in the caves have done this?” If the answer is ‘yes’ – it is probably OK (I suggest you don’t ask me about using man made detergents – just read my article here).
Keep healthy!
Chris Duggleby
If you are interested in reading my other health focused articles try the following
Cape Town Whale Spotting Tips – Secret Bait – Sandy Bay Beach Excitement as Big Willy Comes: Some people spend a fortune on whale spotting expeditions but struggle to capture a glimpse of one of these glorious mammals. Others sit at home sipping coffee and the whales simply ‘pop-by’ from time to time. I have been lucky enough to be in the latter category. In this article I share some of my experiences and tips about whale watching near Cape Town
Big Willy the Whale passes Sunset Rocks (Llandudno, S.A.) on his way to Sandy Bay
As I was enjoying my chocolate and coffee on the balcony yesterday I noticed a familiar movement around the rocks below me and a rather loud squirting sound. Yes Big Willy had decided to come. Needless to say I quickly reached for my camera and took the following pics to capture the occasion (just double-click on the photos to see High Definition versions that you can then enlarge):
Sunset Rocks – Here Comes Big WillyHow about a dive?A little wave to your friends on the shore…Just to size things up – compare Big Willy with the ship on the background
I want to use this article to share with you some tips that I have found useful when trying to spot whales around the coast of Cape Town. I have been a regular visitor here for 10 years and since I got a camera with a long bit on the front 5 years ago I have managed to catch pictures of whales on a regular basis (see some evidence below).
Tip number 1: Location, location, location.
I always come to the same place (Sunset Rocks in Llandudno, not far from Camps Bay and Cape Town). I think the whales like coming close to the shore here because we are next to the Table Mountain National Park. This means there are not lots of tall buildings to worry them – in fact Llandudno doesn’t even allow any shops or restaurants to open in the village. The following pic illustrates the remoteness of the location:
Cape Town Whale Spotting Tips – Chose a remote location like Sunset Rocks
Tip Number 2: Whales like to be entertained
Whales are highly intelligent creatures. Just imagine what is it like to spend all your time swimming about in the sea looking for your next meal – and occasionally your next mate (more on this below). Fortunately Sandy Bay, next door to my pad, is Cape Town’s ‘almost official’ gay, nudist, beach. You can probably imagine that lots of interesting things happen on the secluded rocks facing the ocean.
Whales are very curious animals and I am sure they consider Sandy Bay to be a kind of human zoo where they can watch the chappies frolicking around on the rocks. This certainly draws them in closer to see what these strange land based mammals are up to. As the whales get closer I start to click with my rather large zoom lens.
Avoid built-up areas and provide the whales with entertainment like the Sandy Bay gay nudist beach
Tip Number 3: The secret whale bait.
Until about 5 years ago I did not have much luck trying to photograph whales. Then in 2012 I started eating 85% cocoa dark chocolate on the balcony during my mid-morning coffee break. From that time onward the whales started to appear and most importantly they came closer to the rocks where I live. OK this is hardly irrefutable scientific evidence that whales like the smell of chocolate but I have had sightings every year since 2012 (I was a scientist – but chocolate and whales were not my speciality – I made mutants).
Obviously the bait doesn’t always attract a whale but on the days when you are not successful you can eat the chocolate yourself. A rather pleasant consolation!
Chris’s Secret 85% Strength Whale Bait
Tip Number 4: Be discrete!
You will notice that in front of my balcony (behind the chocolate above) there are bushes. If you want to take pictures of someone going about their normal daily activities it is best not to advertise the fact. Otherwise they will either start to pose or run away. So I surreptitiously position myself behind the bushes holding the ‘magic’ in my hands and if I am lucky – Billy Willy comes (or perhaps one of his pals like Wilf).
I guess anyone can simply claim to have tips on whale spotting (just ask one of the folk offering boat tours from the Cape Town Waterfront). So let me share with you the pics I have taken since 2012 by simply staying on my balcony with a piece of chocolate (and a camera with a long bit on the front).
2012 Pics:
2012 Whale Picture 1 Taken at Llandudno Cape Town2012 Whale Picture 2 Taken at Llandudno Cape Town
2014 Pics and Tip Number 5:
Try and include a frame of reference in your photos. Sea can get pretty boring (just ask a whale) and it is rather hard for viewers to understand the size of your subject if there is no reference apart from ocean. Therefore many of my photos include either the rocks or perhaps a passing ship. This helps to reinforce the magnitude of the beast you are dealing with.
2014 Pic of Wilf the whale taken from Sunset Rocks2014 pic of Wilf showing the chaps on Sandy Bay rocks what his left flipper is for2014 Pic of Wilf – one last wave before he heads off in the direction of Sandy Bay
2015 Pics:
Feb 28th 2015 Whale Pic 1Feb 28th 2015 Whale Pic – Sometimes the visitors come as a couple!
As well as whales we also get large numbers of dolphins – but because they are smaller and a lot more nimble they can be rather to difficult to capture at a distance. They often accompany the whales – no doubt attracted by the same food sources (not sure about the chocolate though). Here are a couple of examples:
Pic 1 of Dolphins around the rocks at Sunset Rocks, LlandudnoPic 2 (enlarged) of Dolphins around the rocks at Sunset Rocks, LlandudnoPic 2 of Dolphins around the rocks at Sunset Rocks, Llandudno
It is not only whales and dolphins that like to play around the rocks in front of my South African apartment. From time to time some of the local Lycra clad girls like to go onto the rocks for a quick jump (more jumping pics here). In this case I think another picture will help to explain what I mean…
When the local girls go onto Sunset Rocks for a quick jump they need to be careful not to land on Big WillyBig Willy here I come….
Interestingly on the other side of the rocks is a sunken ship wreck – another feature of this locality. You can see more pictures of wrecks using the link here. Here are a couple of examples…
July 28th 1977 the MV Romelia was being towed from Greece to a scrap yard in Asia when it ran aground on Sunset Rocks during a storm (picture courtesy of Ian Mc Pherson)Wreck near Sandy Bay beach, Llandudno, MV Bos 400
So as you can see there is a lot going on at Sunset Rocks – if you want to read about even more excitement try my article from last weekend about what the firefighters got up to with their choppers on Sandy Bay rocks – the link is here.
Time for a chocolate break!
Chris Duggleby
STOP PRESS: 5th March 10:00 Cape Town time Whale stranded on Sandy Bay beach – pic below…
2017 5th March 10:00 Cape Town time Whale stranded on Sandy Bay beach
Here are some more pics of the excellent emergency services from today’s (5th March 2017) beached whale at Sandy Bay, Llandudno, Cape Town (note – it was not Big Willy):
Sandy Bay Beached Whale Update 6th March 2017 8am:
The badly injured, beached, whale at Sandy Bay was finally ‘put to rest’ at 6:30 pm with a big explosion yesterday evening. I understand it was later towed by sea to Hout Bay for land-fill disposal (there is no road to Sandy Bay). The beach certainly looked clear this morning – Pics below from approx 8:00 am (and one of another undesirable body on the beach!)…
If you are interested in reading my other health focused articles try the following
Chris Duggleby 