Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Largest sounding trumpet

- Hyundai South Africa sets world record

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Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Largest sounding trumpet - Hyundai South Africa sets world record

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CAPE TOWN, South Africa -- Hyundai South Africa has unveiled a sound trompet measuring 114.82 feet (35 meters) in length

and 18.04 feet (5.5 meters) in diameter,

which has been installed on the Cape Town unfinished highway and sets the new world record

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and since thier blowing their horns >>>

Largest vuvuzelas ensemble - South Africa, Guinness World Records ...

Description: The record for the most vuvuzelas blown simultaneously was achieved by 12,511 spectators at the Vodacom Challenge soccer match at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, on 23 July 2009.

Street View cars

Street View trikes

in South Africa

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click here for the   street view  car   info

The Google Street View trikes have been in South Africa since November collecting imagery of historic landmarks, heritage sites, scenic panoramas and sports venues around the country. Google then teamed up with South African Tourism to compile a list of 20 special locations on which the public voted. As a result, the Street View team has been visiting the places that the South African public really wanted us to go, everywhere from Soweto to Kruger National Park, and from Blyde River Canyon to the Kirstenbosch Gardens.

The trikers have been met with excitement from those they've crossed paths with along the way, including tourists who've said how useful they've found Street View for planning their holidays elsewhere. Street View is not always the first thing that comes to mind when seeing the Trikes though...in fact, in Kirstenbosch Gardens, a group of schoolchildren were convinced that the Trikers were actually ice-cream men!

Given the global excitement building around the 2010 FIFA World Cup™, the latest fantastic destinations that our three-wheeled, pedal-powered Trikes have visited include some of the new football stadiums themselves. Check out the Trike in action at the brand new Moses Mabhida Stadium on the You Tube link

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After these images have been collected and processed, Google will be able to show off a full spectrum of South Africa's urban and outdoor landscapes to people all around the world via Google Maps and Street View. Even if you may not be able to watch your favourite team in person, the World Cup stadiums will only be a click away!

Meerkat Man:

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images  click here

info  click here

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This is where the project's expression, "Walk with Wildlife", comes from, because visitors get to accompany the meeries on their breakfast run

A wild time in the Karoo

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uncharacteristically confident, these meerkats boldly criss-cross through sandy plains almost oblivious to a group of onlookers.

Known as the only wild community known to exist outside the Kalahari desert, the playful clan are situated in the near Oudtshoorn, in the Klein Karoo on South Africa's Western Cape.

But for the past four years, they have been joined by nature conservationist Grant M. McIlrath studying and observing this extraordinary group

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for  race car  fans

LMP2 challenger.

Bailey Edwards Cars aims to race prototype

in 2011 Le Mans 24 Hours

South African LMP2 project revealed

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Boksburg classic racing sportscar recreations specialists Bailey Edwards Cars is hoping to become the first South African manufacturer to field a car in the famous Le Mans 24 hour endurance race.

Renowned for its range of classic car recreations that includes Ford GT40, Ferrari P4 and Porsche 917 which have been exported and raced successfully around the world, Bailey Edwards Cars has already completed most of the design work on its new LMP2 challenger.


An idea of the magnitude comes from his constant battle to find suitable materials. “There isn’t anyone in South Africa doing the same type of work with carbon fibre as we are. We have sourced most of what we need and we’ve made our own carbon fibre honeycomb panels which are ready to be tested by the FIA,” he pointed out.

“South Africa has a long association with Le Mans," Bailey pointed out. "Woolf Barnato, son of mining tycoon Barney, won the race three times for Bentley in the late twenties. "We looked at what we’ve got in South Africa and realised how difficult it would be for South African drivers to compete at Le Mans and so the idea of a South African built car came about.”

“It is a true South African Le Mans project. That means it will be designed, manufactured, tested and developed using South African technicians and drivers and using as many local components as possible.”

The original Bailey Edwards GT40 was designed in 2002 and began a close association with the Engineering Faculty of the University of Witwatersrand  which continues to this day.

“From the outset we wanted to be associated with quality so we used top engineering graduates for the initial GT40 design work. Eight years down the line and we are using the Wits wind tunnel for the Le Mans car.”

As Peter points out, “It is a South African project that will put South African engineering in the hi-tech world motorsport arena.”

"Tour the Universe"

from Africa's largest Scifest

video   click on   see science through different eyes

-    click here

WHEN:                  23 – 29 March 2011

WHAT:                  South Africa’s National Science Festival

WHERE:                Grahamstown, Eastern Cape

In 2011, Scifest Africa celebrates fifteen years of bringing science to life for South Africans. “Science across Cultures” will pay tribute to the multi-cultural roots of science and technology and highlight the importance that indigenous knowledge systems and modern science have made to human kind.

We know that to remain globally competitive, we need more scientists in our country, that's why we continue to pursue our mission to enhance and deepen young South Africans’ passion for the sciences – encompassing Physical Science, Natural Science, Mathematics, Engineering, Technology, Chemistry and Innovation.

We achieve that by creating real-world learning experiences for youngsters, providing the spark that will ignite their passion and give them the energy to take it further....and to achieve beyond their wildest dreams, not just for themselves but for their community and our country.

Scifest Africa is seven days of exploration and satisfying your curiosity. Marvel at the wonders of scientific advancement by visiting the exhibitions, attend the lectures and workshops and meet the scientists - many of them started out just like you, talk to them and ask questions - use your visit to ask and find out more.

Space engineer and science role model Maggie Aderin is on her way to South Africa's popular national science festival, Sasol SciFest, which draws crowds of 40 000 to Grahamstown in the Eastern Cape every year.

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HEADS  YOU WIN TAILS YOU WIN

The Largest Fresh Water Lake of South Africa – LAKE SIBAYA

18 Mar 2010 ... What makes it the largest fresh water lake in South Africa

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The Largest Fresh Water Lake In South Africa “LAKE CHRISSIE”

15 Feb 2010 ... The largest lake is Lake Chrissie also the largest “Fresh Water Lake” in South Africa

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TRACKERS

List of Qualified Trackers

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CLICK HERE

Animal Tracker in Kruger National Park, SA

VIDEO OF A TRACKER SPEAKING

GAME RANGER COURSE KRUGER  NAT. PARK

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MORE TRACKER  INFO    CLICK HERE

Judas’s story is one of courage and determination.

He grew up in Mozambique during a time of political instability and civil war. In 1982, Judas walked as a refugee through the thick and wild bushveld into the Kruger Park and South Africa – a promising land.

The journey required the jumping of fences, walking by the light of the moon at night, and sleeping during the day so as not to be seen by police officials. Over the years, Judas was to do this trip on a number of occasions guiding groups of 12 – 30 other Mozambicans from their war torn land, into South Africa.

Judas became an expect tracker from these excursions through the bushveld. He studied the tracks of different animals both for protection and hunting purposes and learnt how to disguise his own tracks. Judas has these tracking skills on a daily basis since joining the Londolozi team in the early ninties.

Over the years his favourite sightings of animals have been watching a python catch a small leopard, and witness numerous leopard fights.

While one would think a tracker has a particular interest in one or two animals, Judas maintains that “in my heart, there is no difference – all animals are the same”.

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Mudbrick

A mudbrick is a firefree brick made of clay,

or mud mixed with a binding material such as rice husks or straw.

1. Step 1

   Collect enough soil to make the necessary number of bricks.

2. Step 2

   Sift the soil through a mesh screen to eliminate any rocks that might weaken the strength of the brick.

3. step 3

Mix the soil with water and a strengthening agent such as straw or manure. Mix it evenly and thoroughly with a shovel, by hand or with your feet. Thicker mud works better than a soupy consistenc

4 step four

Put the mud mixture into a wooden mold. Pack it tightly into the mold to push out air bubbles and excess water. This ensures the bricks dry as sturdy as possible

5 step five

Take the bricks out of the mold and let them dry in the sun for at least two weeks. If the bricks don't dry all the way through, they'll crumble when you try to build with them.

CAMAROON   SOUTH AFRICA

In warm regions with very little timber available to fuel a kiln, bricks were generally sun dried. This had the result that their useful lifespan is reduced to around thirty years.

Once a building collapsed, new bricks would have to be made and the new structure rebuilt on top of the rubble of the decayed old brick

. This phenomenon is the primary factor behind the mounds or tells on which many ancient cities stand.

Adobe is a type of mudbrick also used today to save energy and is an environmentally safe way to insulate a house.

The Great Mosque of Djenné, in central Mali, is the world's largest mudbrick structure.

South Africa

introduces world's largest AIDS treatment plan

While President Thabo Mbeki was out of the country a long awaited cabinet meeting on 19 November agreed to a plan to introduce the treatment throughout the public health system.

President Mbeki is credited with being the main obstacle to having appropriate treatment offered to South Africa's five million people who have tested positive for HIV.

The shift came after a combination of intense pressure from AIDS activists in the country, leadership from former president Nelson Mandela, and pressure from prospective donors outside the country,

who were becoming increasingly reluctant to back the country's HIV/AIDS programmes while its political leadership was seen to be prevaricating on the question of treatment.

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JOHANNESBURG, 25 April 2010 – President Zuma today launched an ambitious campaign that could alter the face of the AIDS epidemic, in South Africa and globally. The campaign aims to test 15 million people for HIV by the year 2011, up from 2.5 million in 2009 – a six-fold increase in just two years. Through the campaign, 1.5 million people will receive antiretroviral treatment by June 2011, up from about 1 million in 2009.

“South Africa can break the trajectory of the HIV epidemic,” said UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé, who attended the national launch event in Gauteng with South African leaders. “This campaign promises to be the equivalent of ‘Truth and Reconciliation’ for the country’s AIDS response.”

South Africa has the world's largest population of people living with HIV; an estimated 5.7 million people in the country are living with HIV, representing nearly one sixth of the global disease burden. Some 18% of adults in South Africa are infected with HIV.

HIV testing provides a critical entry point for conversations around a range of difficult issues, including sexuality, violence against women and intergenerational sex. Through the campaign, for example, each individual tested for HIV will also receive 100 condoms, opening a new dialogue about HIV prevention and safer sex across communities.

Prices for most antiretroviral drugs in South Africa are at least 25-30% higher than the average international prices for these medicines – a key challenge in the country’s efforts to expand treatment. UNAIDS welcomes a recent shift in policy by the Government of South Africa that aims to reduce the cost of providing antiretroviral treatment.

“This is the first time any one country plans to scale up HIV prevention and treatment so quickly for so many people,” said UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé. “I congratulate South Africa on this courageous initiative.”

South Africa funds more than two thirds of its AIDS response. In 2010, South African leaders committed $1 billion US dollars to the AIDS response – a 30% increase over the previous year

AND NOW FOR SOME     *trivia *

ON SOME OF THE SOUTH AFRICA FIRST

METHODS OF DELIVERING THE MAIL

1805

Khoikhoi runners are employed to deliver letters from Cape Town to drostdies (offices of magistrates) in the various districts of the Colony

In 1806, Sir David Baird ruled that Khoi, enslaved indigenous people of the Cape, would be used to convey letters and small packages.

They are swift runners that can outpace a horse or a pack of African hunting dogs

A large group of Khoikhoi, deserting slaves, San, people of mixed ancestry and some who have problems integrating into the Cape colonial society trek from the Cape and settle at Klaarwater north of the Orange River. They are called “Basters” by the colonial authorities but name themselves Griqua, a name which has its possible origins in an old Khoikhoi clan, the Guriqua and which is recommended to them by the missionaries of the London Missionary Society who work amongst them

The Mail Coach Post wagons and post carts

By 1805 there was a regular inland mail service in the Cape, using farmers on horseback.

A mail wagon ran twice a week between Cape Town and the town of Stellenbosch

1857
First mail contract with Union Steamship Company for regular mail service between Britain and South Africa

The Union Steam Ship Company's Royal Mail Steamer 'Phoebe' 613 tons. 120 horse power

1883. The mail train was commissioned. Railroad coaches train possibly like the one below