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We are in August and it feels like the year is going downhill from here yet there is still a mountain to climb. Grab a coffee and take a breather while having a look at the August 2024 issue of Firefly the Travel Guy’s Encounter the Eastern Cape Travel Mailer. I hope you learn at least one new thing about the province this month.

This month we look at the following:

• A new home for the Humansdorp Museum

• Discover the Mzamba Fossils of the Wild Coast

• Did you know Karoo Lam now boasts a certificate of origin”?

• Visit the on-site scale model of the Kouga Dam

• Learn more about Honeybush Tea in the Tsitsikamma

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

Humansdorp Museum

The Humansdorp Museum recently opened its doors at its new location at 46 Voortrekker Street across the road from Le Chameleon. The grand opening coincided with the celebration of Humansdorp being founded 175 years ago by Matthys Gerhardus Human in 1849. The museum has been tirelessly safeguarding the town’s history, culture, and identity and the new site hopes to act as a guiding light, illuminating the past for future generations to appreciate and learn from.

Some of the artefacts date back to the inception of the town in 1849 when Human donated 600 morgen of his farm “Rheboksfontein” to erect a Dutch Reformed Church. Amongst the exhibition is a Chicago Cottage air pump organ (circa 1879) which can still produce many a fine tune while a working replica of a 1902 Rambler automobile is a new addition revealed at the opening.

Visiting hours:

Monday to Friday 10:00 to 15:00.

Saturday visits can be arranged for groups.

The Mzamba Fossils and Petrified Forrest of the Wild Coast

The Mzamba Fossil and Petrified Forest can be found at the most northern point of the Wild Coast and is officially known as the Mzamba Cretaceous Deposits. The best way to visit and explore this trail is with a local guide.

The Mzamba Fossil & Petrified Forest is a set of famous marine fossil beds and an exposed 10-metre cliff band that forms a prominent headland about 2,5 kilometres south of the Mtamvuna River. The tour begins at the Wild Coast Sun Hotel reception where attendees can view some fantastic examples of the fossils in the hotel’s collection. From here your guide will walk you down to the beach, past Thompsons Lagoon, to the first collection of fossils, the petrified trees lying in the shallow waters.

The name Petrified “Forest” could be construed as incorrect as the logs did not grow here but were instead carried downstream and became waterlogged and submerged here. The trail follows the exposed reef from here for more than a kilometre down to a series of cliffs and overhangs known as “White Man’s Cave”. Deposits along this stretch consist of greyish-brown sandstone, as well as limestone rich in fossil material dating back 80-million years. The deposits also include masses of marine shells, among them beautiful examples of tightly coiled ammonites, echinoids (sea urchins) and bivalve shells.

The best time to visit is obviously at low tide as the petrified forest will not really be visible if the tide is in. However, the trail is still worth a visit as the fossils in the upper section are always visible and your guide knows exactly where the larger ammonites lie, usually hidden in the sand, and it takes them just seconds to locate and rinse these incredible fossils for a great photo!

The site is protected under the National Heritage Resources Act so please be respectful and don’t think of taking away a souvenir.

Contact the Wild Coast Sun to book a guided walking tour at +27 39 305 9111

Karoo Lamb – certificate of origin

The Karoo is home to one of South Africa’s living treasures: sheep that in their time graze among scattered bushes. Karoo Lam now boasts a certificate of origin (geographical indication), just like Rooibos, French Champagne and Italy’s Parma Ham.

Only sheep grazing in an area with at least two of six native bush types, from ankerkaroo to kapokbos and brakganna, wear the crown. According to the statement outlining this status, kapokbos, also called wilde roosmaryn, is “a favourite food of the sheep and one of the seasonings that give Karoo Lam its unique taste”. Or as the farmers of that world like to say: “On the hoof” flavoured.

Some of the conditions of being labelled Karoo Lamb are that only lamb born, raised, and slaughtered in the Karoo qualifies as the product concerned. They have to be free-range grazing on indigenous Karoo vegetation and animals originating from feed lots or reared on cultivated or planted pastures, do not qualify for the official classification.

On-site scale model of the Kouga Dam

I have visited the Kouga Dam near Patensie in the Gamtoos Valley many times over the years. In fact, back when I was a tourist guide I went there every two weeks with British tourists. In all those years I never knew of the scale model of the dam that can be found close to the picnic areas.

A couple of years ago the area around the scale model was cleared and signposted. I finally got the chance to see it when I took Miggie and the Damselfly to go and see the dam overflowing recently.

Constructed on the Kouga Dam started in 1957 and the dam was opened in 1969. A scale model of the dam was built a couple hundred meters below the dam wall site to test the design and see what would happen in case of flooding. The miniature was built at an exact scale with the correct curvature of the wall and slope of the mountain.

Look out for the signage to the model at the back of the picnic area with about a 300m walk to see it.

Honeybush Tea in the Tsitsikamma

Honeybush – Lost opportunity to the Garden Route Tourism Sector?

The Garden Route is a tourism Mecca, no doubt about that. Are we however

capitalizing on the rich ancient history of the area? Are we introducing our tourists

to the rich traditional knowledge plants, expressions and customs? Or are we robbing

them of a worthwhile and authentic experience?

Honeybush, Heuningbos or Johanna tee as some of the locals call it, is an indigenous

knowledge plant of the Khoe and !Xam. This gem has been used by these ancient

indigenous tribes for medicinal and beverage purposes. Honeybush (Cyclopia spp.) is an endemic South African fynbos shrub that grows naturally on the sandy coastal plains and mountain slopes of the Western and Eastern Cape. It has an immense opportunity to be recognized for its Geographical Indicator status since it is indigenous only to the Western and Eastern Cape.

The Honeybush plant used to be cut and processed by local communities long before

it was commercialized. The plant as well as the flowers were used for various

purposes. By adding Honeybush Tea as part of the experience, we can also give our visitors a peep into the ancient history of the Khoe peoples and Xam peoples, who travelled and lived in Tsitsikamma since about roughly 300 plus years ago. As part of the Honeybush offering, we can give the visitor not just a tea but an experience by

teaching them the rich authentic indigenous history of Tsitsikamma. We can teach them about the ancient Khoekhoegowab language of the Khoe peoples, their

customs, rituals and practices. Rooibos is not indigent to the area yet we promote

that.

Let us promote Honeybush with its story and make it an indigenous experience. One of the local people of the area recently presented the concept to the Tsitsikamma

Tourism Association as an opportunity for existing businesses to provide an opportunity for indigenous people to become part of the Tourism Value Chain.
– Yolande le Roux