The Jacaranda is one of South Africa's best known trees, but it is an invasive exotic that was originally introduced from Brazil and Argentina.
Pretoria is also known as the 'Jacaranda City' because of the prevalence of these trees on the city's streets and parklands. The jacaranda is most noticeable in spring when it flowers in bright displays of purple-blue.
The name jacaranda is derived from Portuguese meaning "to have a hard core, hard branch".
Although the purple-blue is the most well know, Jacarandas are found in 4 different colours, including white, yellow and pink. Pink Jacarandas are found further north in Zimbabwe.
They are also a popular tree in Florida, California and Australia.
These are some of the formal gardens from which I took some of the above photographs.
Even here in the distance are Jacaranda trees.
During the early part of South African history, a group of pioneers were camped on the banks of a river and the men went off to hunt. They did not return for more than a month and the women came to the conclusion that they had either been killed or got lost and decided to pack up and leave their camp and move on.
They named the river Truer River (river of sadness as they had lost their menfolk). A couple of days later they were camped on yet another river and their men eventually caught up with them so they named it the Blyde River (river of happiness).
Bourke’s Luck Potholes was named after a gold prospector who never found any in the region but maintained that there WAS gold in the area. It turned out to be true and was once a thriving business for miners. Some say that there is still some gold to be found there.
Where the rivers meet, water erosion has formed one of the most remarkable natural geological formations of potholes.
Over thousands of years, surreal cylindrical rock sculptures created by whirling water, when the once rapid river carried masses of sand and debris, have formed a series of dark pools which contrast artfully with the streaked white and yellow lichen covered rocks.
Definition: Pothole (or kettle-hole) is also a term for a formation in rivers caused by a whirlpool eroding a hole into rock. The abrasion is mainly caused by the circular motion of small sediments such as small stones in the river. The interiors of potholes tend to be smooth and regular.
