February 14 is Valentine’s Day so save yourself time and money and get on over to valentine.co.za for lots and lots of great virtual cards to send – courtesy of cards.co.za.

she loves me... she loves me not...

Yes… unlike some card sites, all our cards are free to send – romantic, sad, funny… we have lots of options.

We have quotes, poetry, history, recipes and more.

We have cards for all the significant people in your life – from your wife, husband, lover, mistress and partner to your doctor, dentist and even your pets!

So if the only poetry you can think of is ‘roses are red and violets are blue’… this year ‘let Valentine.co.za do it all for you!!!’

Dora the Explorer is a well-known educational children’s television series about a young girl and her friends. Dora goes on adventures outdoors to help other people, to learn and to teach. Of course, when a series becomes very popular, many spin-off games soon appear on the internet, and Dora the Explorer is no exception. Read more to find out where you can play the best free Dora games online.

Who’s Dora?
Dora the Explorer is a very successful American cartoon series created by Valerie Walsh, Chris Gifford, and Eric Weiner. The series has been translated into many languages and is aired in many different countries all over the world. Dora the Explorer is about an 8-year-old girl called Dora who likes to spend time outdoors with her best friend Boots the Monkey, and Dora’s many other friends including Isa the Iguana, Benny the Bull, and Tico the Squirrel.

Dora also has a magical map that helps Dora get to all the places she wants to go, so she is well-prepared for her travels. However, sometimes Swiper the Fox tries to ruin Dora’s adventures. Swiper likes to steal things from Dora and Dora’s friends. Not because Swiper wants to keep those things for himself, but just to tease the others and because he likes taking things and hiding them! Then Dora has to find the swiped items back first before she can reach her destination.

The pacing of the Dora cartoons is designed so that young children can follow everything that goes on. Dora will frequently also stop and ask the children watching to help her find a hidden object, sing along a song, or repeat new words she is learning. The shows are made to encourage viewer interaction. For instance, Swiper has a signature whisking sound that always plays shortly before he appears, so sometimes the viewers and Dora see him coming before he can swipe anything. Dora can stop Swiper by saying “Swiper, don’t swipe!” three times.

Dora Games
Online there are many fun Dora the explorer games to play that have much of the pacing and plot in common with the cartoon series. Play a lot of fun Dora the Explorer games at Games.co.za. You can find back a swiped pirate treasure with Dora and Boots, or help Dora find Boots in a game of hide-and-seek. Help some friendly aliens find their way back home, or play a Dora the Explorer jigsaw puzzle. Play these and many more fun Dora games at Games.co.za!

Usually, when you think of online video games featuring cars, the first thing that comes to mind is games that feature car races. But there are many more casual games featuring cars, such as car designing games, and games in which you have to park your car in all kinds of difficult set ups. Read on to find out more about these games and where to play the best ones!

When it comes to video games featuring cars, car racing is by far the most well known genre. But take a look at the types of online casual games out there and you’ll find a number of other popular categories alongside the Formula 1 and Nascar games. Among these categories are parking games and car design (or “pimp my ride” after the famous TV show) games.

Parking Games
Parking a car is usually one of the parts of a driving exam that many people feel least confident about. And maybe rightly so, because it’s also a part of the exam that a lot of people fail. Parking a car is more than just stopping it someplace off the road. You need to know how to use your mirrors and avoid scraping the curb. There’s parallel parking, perpendicular and angle parking. Can you manage all of these things?

In parking games you will have to park one car or a number of them in quick succession. It’ll get harder as the parking spaces in the lot fill up, people and animals start showing up and walking in your way, and more obstacles appear. Can you park your car without causing any damage and/or injuries? Give it your best try and park your car(s) as quickly and accurately in the free spaces as you can. Is parking a car too easy for you? Then try parking a caravan or a cruise ship instead. There’s plenty to do in this collection of parking games.

Other Car Games
There are many other casual games for the fan of cars aside from parking a car. There are games in which you get to customize or “pimp” your car by choosing the colour you want to paint it, selecting a different chassis, and trying to fit your ideal car out with different bumper guards, fenders, headlights, wheels and hubcaps to name but a few options.

Then there are games in which you have to do stunts on four wheels, crash your car, or prevent it from crashing along a dangerous trail or mountain road. There are plenty of fun car games to try out at Games.co.za!

Do you like jigsaw puzzles? We love them. Did you know that the jigsaw puzzle was initially developed as an educational tool? Mapmaker John Spilsbury stuck one of the maps he made to a hardwood board and cut around the continents. This way children could use the puzzle to learn geography. For over half a century the jigsaw puzzle remained mainly an educational tool for children, but gradually, as technologies to create more intricate puzzles developed, adults came to realize that piecing together jigsaw puzzle pieces can be very relaxing as well as a fun challenge.

Of course, there is always the cleanup involved afterwards, and clearing enough space beforehand. Not to mention lost or mangled pieces! Of course, there are also online versions of jigsaw puzzles where cleaning up is never an issue, and no pieces will ever run the risk of getting lost or damaged. And these puzzles are completely free! You can try out some of these fun online jigsaw puzzles and other puzzle games at Games.co.za!

Eight-ball pool is the most widely played cue sport in the world, but did you know that our modern indoor cue sports are actually derived from outdoor lawn sports like croquet and golf? In fact, early billiards cues from a couple of centuries ago look far more like golf clubs than our modern cue. And these early versions of billiards even included hoops and pins, just like croquet. When pockets were first introduced to these lawn-green tables, they weren’t a target to aim a ball into, but rather an obstacle to avoid!

Variations of cue sports such as snooker, carom billiards and pool have, over the years, developed in more than just appearance. They have evolved from pastime activities into professional competitive sports, and are played world-wide. Online, especially pool games enjoy great popularity, with many variations such as ten- seven- and nine-ball games, and top view perspectives as well as 3D versions where you can really get behind your shots with the cue. There are single player versions where you can practice by yourself against the computer, or multiplayer games in which you can play pool against people from all over the world! Head over to Games.co.za and discover your new favourite online pool game!

Ever since he sprang nimbly from the brain of video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto, Nintendo mascot Mario has had a busy life. He has transformed from a gorilla-owner of doubtful virtue named Jumpman, to the happy heroic plumber we know today. Mario’s look has also undergone considerable change as video game technology has advanced over the years. In the course of the more than two hundred official Mario games and spin-offs that have been produced, the cast has expanded from a small handful of characters to hundreds and hundreds of species, creatures and characters, including the famous Princess Peach, Bowser, Yoshi and Peach’s attendant mushroom, Toad.

There are a lot of great Mario games available online. At Games.co.za you can find over 60 of the best online Mario games! You can play these games directly in your browser, no need to download anything. You can go on an adventure in Mario land, but also in various other strange and new fan-made worlds. Go kart racing, dress up your favourite heroes, and much more. Head over to Games.co.za

Bejeweled is one of the most popular games online. Even though it’s been around for over 10 years by now, it’s popularity is still going strong. As a web browser game, Bejeweled was initially created by a company called PopCap. It did extraordinarily well: The game has been downloaded more than 500 million times since it was launched in 2001.

The object of the game will no doubt be familiar to you: You have a grid filled with colorful gems. The player can switch adjacent gems, but only if the switch results in a combination of three or more gems of the same color in a row or column. These will then pop and new gems will tumble down to take their place.

Many variations of bejeweled have since appeared on the net. Not just version in which the gems are replaced with other objects, colorful butterflies of fish for instance, but also quest style bejeweled games. In these games you have to work your way through levels of increasing difficulty by popping the gems to make artifacts tumble to the bottom of the grid, where you can collect them.

Games.co.za now has well over 100 great bejeweled games for you to play. Check it out!

ANIMALS ARE NOT COMMODITIES OR DISPOSABLE ENTERTAINMENT is the message from the National Council of SPCAs as more issues come to light that indicate a callous, uncaring and reckless attitude towards animals.

“Animals are sentiment creatures,” affirms Christine Kuch, spokesperson of the NSPCA. There is no question that they feel pain and can suffer, including fish. Yet we continue to come across matters that clearly indicate a total disrespect and disregard for living creatures.”

Rodeo is inherently cruel. The NSPCA considers it blatant animal exploitation and has been working tremendously hard to curb this activity within our own country. There have been fatalities, including the death of one rider. Yet starting on 31 December, Channel 172 on DSTV features “Rodeo : Life on the Circuit”. The enthusiastic review in DISH magazine states that, “In this brand-new series, follow 14 cowboys and cowgirls as they embark on a gruelling tour of over 60 rodeos in the hope of proving their prowess and winning the opportunity to attend the Canadian Finals Rodeo Discovery HD Showcase.”

this is not fun for me...

Dog racing is illegal in South Africa. Yet the SABC 2 FOKUS programme featured footage of illegal racing. When producer Danie Hefers returned the calls to the NSPCA subsequent to the material being broadcast nationally, his response was defensive. He stated to Christine Kuch that FOKUS had been invited to have exclusive footage and exclusive use of that footage on how illegal dog racing events are organised. He added that it was not intended to be balanced and stressed that how FOKUS runs their programme is their right and that “nothing forces us as a broadcaster to include different groupings in one programme.”

We ask if such an attitude would have been demonstrated if footage of any other illegal activity had been given to them.

Whilst the giving of live animals as gifts is an ongoing problem area, it seems to be compounding as new ideas are promoted, to the detriment of living creatures. Live fish in glass bricks are not suitable gifts and severely compromise the welfare of the living creature inside. These “novelty” items are being promoted as corporate gifts or as wedding or party centre-pieces.

don't buy a real fish, buy one like me instead!

It is heartening that outraged members of the public are now coming forward to lodge complaints relating to these items. People who have contacted the NSPCA include individuals who have had Christmas gifts delivered to their door only to discover the “gift” is a live fish in a small container.

Given the size and the fact that the fish excrete in the glass containers, these fish are condemned to a life living in their own toilet.
The latest items drawn to our attention are so-called Magic Fish. The NSPCA has written to the company promoting and selling them, asking that they are withdrawn from sale. The Magic Fish are in fact a kit with a small glass bowl, shrimp eggs, sea salt and fish eggs in soil. When the shrimps hatch they are supposedly food for the emerging fish. Complaints received relate to the fact that fish die. The NSPCA believes that not only is the “habitat” inadequate, but there is a lack of information regarding welfare but the fact remains that the over-riding attitude is that living creatures are disposable novelties.

Welfare begins at home with everyone.

An appeal is made for attitudes of compassion and respect to prevail.

Please do not give living creatures of any kind as gifts. Please do not support any item or practice of concern that may compromise the welfare of any living creature.

Please make your views known to anyone who displays a callous, reckless or uncaring attitude towards animals of any kind.

It’s almost time for Christmas again. Have you thought of any Christmas presents to give to your friends and family yet? And how is the Christmas shopping going? Are you getting in before the crowd?

Of course, there’s more that one way to play for Santa. Check out this overview of Christmas games! You can play all kinds of games that have to do with Santa and Christmas. You can drive Santa’s sled, collect and deliver presents, or even go snowboarding with Santa.

Of course, not all Christmas games feature Santa. You can also play a lot of snowfight games. Gather in the town square and grab as many snowballs as you can to throw at your friends. Who will be the winner? Get ready for lots of Christmas fun at Games.co.za!