Life has been hectic lately, and I often find that there aren’t enough hours in the day or days in the week. Even though I can do with more work and another client or two, the launch of Karoo Heartland Routes and the work done on the website have kept me more than busy enough. So much so that I have missed a couple of travel newsletters.  But Spring is here (sort of) and here is the September Encounter the Eastern Cape mailer for you to enjoy.

This month, we look at:

• Introducing Karoo Heartland Routes

• Cross the Storms River Suspension Bridge

• Learn more about the Tafelberg of the Karoo

• Discover some facts about the Seal Point Lighthouse

• Did you know there’s a Masonic Lodge in Tarkastad

If there is something that you would like to see featured in our monthly travel mailer or have any suggestions, please drop us an email at jonker@fireflyafrica.co.za

Introducing Karoo Heartland Routes

The Karoo Heartland Marketing Association (KHMA) was established in 2003 and made great strides in promoting the Eastern Cape’s Karoo Heartland region as a

collective destination despite many challenges. Unfortunately, since COVID, the association has really struggled, and the committee has made the difficult decision to wrap up the association.

They have agreed, though, for Firefly the Travel Guy (that’s us 😁) to take over the brand, website and social media to ensure that it doesn’t disappear and all the hard work done over the years doesn’t go down the drain.

Introducing Karoo Heartland Routes, a Destination Marketing Company promoting the Karoo Heartland as a collective region, enticing people to come and explore it and tying the different towns together. The first goal is to make the website the ultimate reference guide for everything Karoo Heartland. Accommodation, places to eat, things to see and do, attractions, farmstalls, and more.

The main aim of Karoo Heartland Routes will be to attract visitors to the Karoo  Heartland and to get them to stay within the region for longer than just a drive through. Weekend Warriors, Midweek Breakaways, Route Explorers and ultimately, fully blown holidays. It’s all about getting bums in beds, feet through doors, food into tummies and not just visitors into the area, but money into the products’ pockets.

If you have a product within the Karoo Heartland, we would like to hear from you.

If you know somebody with a product, please tell them about Karoo Heartland Routes and let’s uplift this area to the awareness level it deserves.

Visit the Karoo Heartland website, and please follow Karoo Heartland on Facebook

Storms River Suspension Bridge

The Mouth Trail to Storms River Mouth in the Tsitsikamma section of the Garden Route National Park is probably one of the Garden Route activities that most visitors to the region do.

The Mouth Trail is an easy walk that starts at the rest camp area in the park and will take you 1km along a boardwalk through the forest to the suspension bridge over Storms River Mouth, and then 1km back.

The main bridge over the river mouth was originally built in 1969 by Jacky De Vos. In 2006, two additional bridges were added to the site. The bridge is 77 meters long and hangs just seven meters above the river as it flows into the Indian Ocean.

Tafelberg of the Karoo Heartland

Tafelberg is one of the best-known landmarks in the Middelburg (Karoo) district. The flat-topped mountain is a striking mesa‑like mountain rising above the flat plains 21km south of Middelburg along the N10 in the direction of Cradock. Its name literally means “Table Mountain” in Afrikaans. There’s just no Devil’s Peak or Lion’s Head flanking it, nor is there a cable car to get to the top.

The flat-topped Karoo Koppies are one of the icons of the Karoo region, so here’s a quick Geography lesson on what they are and how they were formed.

There are four types of Karoo Koppies. Pinnacles, buttes, mesas and plateaus. But how were they formed? Over 300 million years ago, large basins formed in Southern Africa, collecting layers of sediments like mud, silt, and sand. These layers eventually formed the Karoo Supergroup. During the breakup of the supercontinent Gondwana, molten rock (magma) was forced into these sedimentary layers, forming dolerite sills. These sills were essentially horizontal layers of hard, intrusive rock. After the initial phase of magma intrusion and uplift, a long period of massive erosion began, gradually wearing away the layers of rock. The harder dolerite sills were more resistant to erosion than the softer Karoo sediments (like shales) that lay beneath them.

Pinnacles are very pointy Karoo Koppies like Teebus between Middelburg and Steynsburg.

Buttes are small flat-topped hills or mountain like Koffiebus next to Teebus.  Most geographers would say that a butte is taller than it is wide.

Mesas, like Tafelberg, is a medium-sized flat-topped hill or mountain usually with steep slopes.

And a plateau is a really large flat-topped hill or mountain that rises sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side.

Seal Point Lighthouse facts

𝗔 𝗙𝗘𝗪 𝗟𝗘𝗦𝗦-𝗞𝗡𝗢𝗪𝗡 𝗙𝗔𝗖𝗧𝗦 𝗔𝗕𝗢𝗨𝗧 𝗦𝗘𝗔𝗟 𝗣𝗢𝗜𝗡𝗧 𝗟𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗧𝗛𝗢𝗨𝗦𝗘

➤  154 steps to the top

➤  Affectionately known as Cape St Francis Lighthouse

➤  For many years, it was considered one of the most remote lighthouses on the South African coast.

➤ The most South Eastern point of Africa

➤  Latitude: 34°12.5′ S, Longitude: 24°50.1′ E

➤  Construction began: 17 March 1876

➤  Started service: 4 July 1878 (paraffin lamp originally)

➤  Tower completed: July 1878

➤  Original costs: Tower £11,844 (~R281,832 today) · Dioptric apparatus £4,977 (~R118,429 today).

➤  Height of tower: 28 m

➤  Tallest masonry tower on the South African coast

➤  Focal plane: 36 m above sea level

➤  Characteristic: 1 flash every 5 seconds

➤  Intensity: ~2,750,000 candelas

➤  Range: 28 nautical miles — basically a long way

➤  1931 update: electric lamp fitted and diesel generator ran the fog signal — yes, it has a sounding foghorn.

Source – Kouga Tourism

Tarkastad’s White Hope Masonic Lodge

Freemasonry is a fraternal organisation with a long history, tracing its roots back to medieval stonemason guilds. These guilds originated in the Middle Ages and oversaw the construction of cathedrals and castles. Over time, these guilds evolved into fraternal societies that focused on moral and philosophical teachings. Sadly, there are also a lot of conspiracy theories linked to Freemasonry.

The first Masonic Lodge was established in 1717 in London.

Mr White, Tarkastad’s local pharmacist, was advocating for a Lodge to be opened in the town, and eventually his wish was granted. The Tarkastad Lodge was built in 1881 with stone that came from somewhere between Tarkastad and Cradock. The same as the Presbyterian Church next door. Probably the same stone used in the town’s Dutch Reformed Church as well. The Lodge was called the White Hope Lodge because of Mr White and his continued hope for a lodge to be built. The Lodge was consecrated on 13 March 1882.