Gqeberha.. . For Me, Always PE

Gqeberha is the new name of Port Elizabeth… I haven’t met anyone yet who is enthusiastic about this. It is apparently originally a khoisan word, now written in Xhosa… But they say it doesn’t mean anything. Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan now consists of Gqeberha (PE), Kariega (Uitenhage) and Despatch (I think nobody cared what Despatch is called🤣). But anyway, what’s in a name? A whole lot more than we thought… But thankfully our time in PE was still very sweet.

Our activities centered around the kids and we all enjoyed it. We had great weather and the wind did blow less than what it usually does which was nice because we could walk on the beach. There are so many more starfish and other little creatures around… Maybe because of the beach restrictions during December last year?

Addo Elephant Park did not disappoint! We saw so many elephants. Unfortunately Natey was feeling sick so we didn’t stay as long as what we planned to. We saw huge elephants and baby elephants and a lot of kudo.

We went to Bay World Museum… The kids loved the dinosaurs and snakes. Tommy demonstrated the sound the dinosaurs made for us… and everyone else around us. “Roooaaaar!” The museum is clean but a bit run down… They were busy with renovations and construction work so that’s hopefully a positive sign.

It was the first time any of us went to the South African Air Force Museum… Very cool! I am really impressed with the place and can see someone or a few people really spent a lot of time and effort in making the place nice. There was no entrance fee… They just asked for a donation. The kids really enjoyed seeing all the different aeroplanes.

We also went to Cape Recife light house and the seabird rehabilitation center close to it. It was so cute to see two of the staff members feeding the penguins… Every penguin had a different name.

It was windy and sandy when we went to the lighthouse so not much fun… But Leo enjoyed jumping down the sand dunes.

The best part about our trip was spending time with the family. We were spoilt with yummy food and babysitting. (and lashes!😊) Ouma Jane was woking up at 5am every morning. One morning I woke up at 4am and saw Natey was not in our room and found him already next to Ouma Jane. 🤣

Gqeberha or eBayi or Port Elizabeth… For me it will always be PE… A place that warms my heart. xxx

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