Discover the village of Riebeek East
Go on a Frog Safari in St Francis Bay
Stretch your legs (and loose your clothes) on the Tsitsikamma’s Striptease Trail
Marvel at the Dutch Reformed Church in Cradock
Learn more about PE / GQ’s Donkin Lighthouse and Pyramid

January 2023

Learn more about the Coelacanth, the living fossil fish
Hike Port Elizabeth’s Sacramento Trail
A UFO landing site at Rosmead in the Karoo Heartland?
Spot the Queen Victoria Profile near Patensie
Be surprised at the Great Fish Point Lighthouse on Route 72

December 2022

Discover fossils at the Kitching Fossil Center in Nieu-Bethesda
Experience the marine wonders of Algoa Bay
Hiking the Assegaai Trails near Grahamstown
A sneaky drive through the Bloukrans Pass in the Tsitsikamma
Watch the Adventure Racing World Champs 2023 promo for the Kouga region

November 2022

Somerset East, Expect the Unexpected
Discover the South African Museum of Literature in Grahamstown
Remember the Blaauwkrantz Bridge disaster of 1911
Visit the Jeffreys Bay Surf Museum
Encounter Waterfall Bluff, the waterfall that drops directly into the sea

October 2022

Learn more about Colchester’s historic Mackay Bridge
Discover the chess board edging in the Mountain Zebra National Park
View rock art in the mountains around Rhodes
Marvel at the Magwa Waterfall on the Wild Coast
Explore the Van Stadens Wildflower Reserve outside Port Elizabeth

September 2022

Stop at the Slagtersnek Monument near Cookhouse
Walking up Lady Slipper Mountain outside Port Elizabeth
Discover the Phillip’s Tunnel in Hankey
The historic background of the Tsitsikamma section of the Garden Route National Park
Learn about the history of Port Alfred’s Kowie River

August 2022

Walk the Jeffreys Bay Spekboom Labyrinth
Visit St Patrick on the Hill in Hogsback
Discover Harry Potter’s grave in Cradock
Cruise the Sundays River with Addo Cruises and Sand Sledding
Muir, the oldest English speaking boys’ school in SA turns 200

July 2022

Go ghost hunting in the museums of Somerset East
Enjoy the outdoors at Norm Hudlin outside Port Elizabeth
Explore Kenton-on-Sea’s beaches and rock formations
Surf Supertubes in Jeffreys Bay
Stay at Arch Cabins Self Catering in Storms River Village

June 2022

Encounter the spirit of the wolf at the Tsitsikamma Wolf Sanctuary
Learn more about the Kouga Dam near Patensie
Discover Somerset East’s Walter Battiss Art Museum
Did you know that Nelson Mandela Bay is called 5 Biome City?
Meet Huberta the Hippo

May 2022

The history of Bathurst’s Pig and Whistle Hotel
Discover Somerset East’s Glen Avon Waterfall
Learn more about Beervlei Dam near Willowmore
Animals of the Eastern Cape – The Flightless Dung Beetle
Crossing the Storms River Mouth suspension bridge

April 2022

The history of Hankey in the Gamtoos Valley
Visit the museums of Graaff Reinet
Learn more about Darlington Dam
Animals of the Eastern Cape – The Cape Ground Squirrel
Discover Takazi Waterfall on the Wild Coast
Video – Tour the Tsitsikamma forest on a Segway

March 2022

Slide down the Rabbit Hole near Middelburg with food out of this world
Marvel at Hogsback’s Madonna and Child Waterfall
Visit Port St Francis, home to the chokka industry
Learn about the Cape Morgan Lighthouse
Crossing the Buffalo River in East London
Video – Tsitsikamma, a world of diversity

February 2022

Meet Samara Private Game Reserve tracker Klippers Pietersen
The Dutch Reformed Church in Kareedouw
Jump into the river pool at Jan se Gat outside Jbay
Download the Amazing Addo wildlife checklist
Find the cathedral mice in Grahamstown
Video – Algoa Bay Whale Heritage Site

January 2022

Discover Eersterivier, the Tsitsikamma’s beach
Explore the dune fields along the Alexandria Hiking Trail
Climb up to Hankey’s Bergvenster
Learn more about the village of Rhodes
Did you know Hofmeyr had a pink church?
10 Things to do in Coffee Bay
All the must see places on the Karoo Heartland Bucketlist
Video – Hike along to the Lower Van Stadens Dam

November 2021

Explore the Shell Museum in Jeffrey’s Bay
Marvel at the Tsitsikamma’s Big Tree
Learn more about the town of Alexandria on Route 72
Meet the Stone Folk of Nieu-Bethesda
Have you heard of the Martello Tower in Fort Beaufort?
SANParks announce the dates for this years SANParks Week
Discover the #AmazingAddo region with a Bucketlist
Video – Enjoy Nelson Mandela Bay’s brand new destination marketing video

October 2021

Discover the secret cove at Shelly Beach in Kenton
Walk the Waterfall Trail in the Tsitsikamma
Taste honey at Pabala in the Gamtoos Valley
A breakdown of all the Eastern Cape’s municipalities
Your own Addo Elephant National Park game viewing area road map
Learn more about the Wild Coast legend of Nongqawuse
Explore Makhanda and the Frontier Country with a Bucketlist
Video – The sights and sounds of the Karoo Heartland, the Eastern Cape’s big sky country.

September 2021

The oldest cake in South Africa is found in Graaff-Reinet
More information about Storms River Bridge
St Francis Bay’s Seal Point Lighthouse
The Diaz Cross at Kwaaihoek on Route 72
Learn more about the history of Hogsback
A Wild Coast Bucket List to plan a visit to this stunning area
Video – Explore the Addo region with an #AmazingAddo destination video

August 2021

Hiking and cycling trails in the Tsitsikamma’s Plaatbos forest
Visit the Wild Coast to cross the Kei River by pont
Swing by Egg Rock outside Cradock
Enjoy the view from Sir Percy Fitzpatrick Lookout near Addo
Discover the Old Thomas River Historical Village between Stutterheim and Cathcart.
Tick off activities from the Route 72 Bucket List
Video – Kouga Baviaans region

July 2021

The legend of Hole in the Wall on the Wild Coast
Bo fly fishing in the Karoo outside Somerset East
Hiking in the Kabeljous Nature Reserve outside Jbay
A little history on the Addo Elephant National Park that turned 90 this month
Info on the labyrinth in Hogsback
A travel Bucket List of the Tsitsikamma
Video – Route 72 on the Sunshine Coast

June 2021

The history of Storms River Village
Information on the Baviaanskloof
The historic Dutch Reformed Church in Nieu-Bethesda
Learn more about the Sundays River
A guide to hiking and the waterfalls in Hogsback
An infograph on the Waters Meeting Nature Reserve outside Port Alfred
Video – Wild Coast

May 2021

The history of the Van Stadens bridges
How water gets from Gariep Dam via the Karoo Heartland to Port Elizabeth
Comprehensive visitor’s guide to Bathurst
Meet the Big 7 with Addo Tourism
Video – Discover the Tsitsikamma

Encounter the Eastern Cape 🌺 – November 2024

View this email in your browser

Summer is knocking on the door and everybody is looking forward to peak season. There’s a hectic time ahead so take a break in anticipation, grab a coffee and have a quick look through the Firefly the Travel Guy’s Encounter the Eastern Cape Travel Mailers.

This month we look at the following:

Visit the Jansenville Dutch Reformed Church
Walk on the Cape St Francis Wild Side
Find out who’s the Grahamstown Settlers family
Looking forward to the festive season in Rhodes
Learn about the Compassberg

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

SUBSCRIBE to this Monthly Travel Mailer

Jansenville Dutch Reformed Church

Each Karoo town has a different charm and atmosphere just like each one has an unique historic Dutch Reformed Church. The town of Jansenville is in no way any different.

The Dutch Reformed Church in Jansenville is unusual in that the bell tower is separate from the church. The church is of typical Victorian-era design, complete with decorative plaster quoins on the corners of the exterior walls. The building was designed by prolific ecclesiastical architect Carl Otto Hager, whose plans were later revised by A.H. Reid of Port Elizabeth.

The cornerstone of the church was laid on 16 August 1884 and the building was consecrated on 20 June 1885. The wood carving around the pulpit, although simple in design, was carefully crafted. The different woods used create an appealing contrast of colours. The first organ used in the church can still be seen next to the pulpit, however, this was replaced with the grand pipe organ still in use to this day.

Interestingly the church was the first of a total of seven congregations of the Dutch Reformed Church that was founded in 1855 and is therefore the 61st oldest congregation in the entire Church and the 13th oldest congregation in the Synod of Eastern Cape. The Murraysburg Reformed Church and the Dutch Reformed Church in Aberdeen, also both in the Presbytery of Graaff-Reinet, were also founded in the year 1855.

Cape St Francis Walk on the Wildside

The blowhole on the Wild Side in Cape St Francis

An easy out-and-back walk of anything up to 9km along the coast from Cape St Francis, with spectacular ocean views especially in whale season, June to November. Look out for Southern Right and Humpback whales, as well as Common, Humpback and Bottlenose dolphins.

The start is at the Maori Avenue parking. If you are driving from St Francis Bay, take the first right after entering Cape St Francis and drive to the end of the road where there is a gravel parking area. In front of you is Sunset Rocks, a perfect place to watch the sunset on a windless evening.

The pedestrian gate marks the start of the path, which follows the coastline all the way to Mostertshoek, a cluster of seaside homes ideally located for fishermen and whale-watchers.

After 1.5km, look on the rocks for the boiler room of the Ospray, wrecked here in 1967.

You will pass a green fishing shack at around 2.5km: stay on the shoreline and look for a small rockpile. Turn down to the edge of the rocks to look for the blowhole.

When you reach a hairpin bend to the right, where the road goes uphill and inland, it’s time to turn back. If you get this far, you will have done almost 4.5km.

On your way back, walk on the beach after you pass the green fishing shack and you will find an unmarked grave just before a huge rock pile.

Hikes around St Francis Bay

Who’s the Grahamstown Settlers family?

A little while ago I posted this picture of the Settlers Family statue in Makhanda / Grahamstown on my Encounter the Eastern Cape page on Facebook and Dave Bowker told me something I never knew.

Firstly what I did know. The monument was designed by the sculptor Ivan Mitford-Barberton and erected in 1969, but this is what I didn’t know. The three figures are Miles, Anne Maria and Elizabeth Bowker. Elizabeth married a Barber and was Ivan’s grandmother. Although there was no photograph of Miles, Ivan drew his likeness from his sons’ features. Elizabeth became a world- renowned botanist and botanical artist who shared her work with Charles Darwin.

Check out Mary Elizabeth Bowker’s Wikipedia page for more information on her.

Other monuments designed by Ivan Mitford-Barberton is the monument of Jock of the Bushveld in Barberton, the bronze statue of a leopard in Hout Bay, the sculpture of Peter Pan at the Red Cross Children’s Hospital in Cape Town and the Bible Monument Grahamstown.

What to see and where to stay in Makhanda / Grahamstown

The festive season in Rhodes

Orchids found in the mountain near Rhodes Village

By Dave Walker

The allure of Rhodes over the festive season not only draws visitors from far and wide but also holiday homeowners who return at this time to make use of their facilities.

It is indeed a fine time of year. Warm to hot weather interspersed with the odd thunderstorm that interrupts picnics and puts an end to flyfishing outings on account of the conductivity of modern fly rods made of super conductive material. Frustrating though such things may be, it all adds to the adventure of holidaying in the Eastern Cape Highlands.

The village becomes abuzz with herds of children pedalling their bicycles up and down the streets or astride local horses-for-hire all revelling in the joys of being free-range children. Unlike where they may live in “the Bright Lights”, there is no danger of muggings for cell-phones or bicycles. Inevitably, a soccer ball appears, the visitors are joined by local children from Zakhele and all revel in impromptu ball-fests!

This is also a time of year where the Alpine flora comes into its own that, although not as intense as the flowers of Namaqualand, is well worth and expedition up onto the plateau around Rhodes. An amazing aspect of Mother Nature is that there are no less than seven species of Kniphofia to be found in the mountains. What is even more interesting is that they do not all flower at once but flower in sequence. This provides nectar for, amongst other animals, the beautiful Malachite sunbirds who, as a consequence, can spend several months in the Highlands before returning to less harsh climes during the winter months.

One would normally associate orchids with tropical areas and forests such as the Amazon, for example. Yet species of terrestrial orchid are also to be found in the most unlikely Alpine climate of the real southern Drakensberg that surrounds Rhodes! The hardy plant whose beautiful flowers shown in the image is found growing in patches of gravel and even on the verges of the local roads.

Rhodes Tourism

Compassberg

If you’ve ever been to Nieu-Bethesda then you would have spotted Compassberg on the horizon. In fact, it’s not difficult to miss. The Compassberg (2502m) is the highest peak in the Sneeuberg range and also the highest peak in South Africa outside the Stormberg-Drakensberg massif. It was named by Colonel Robert Jacob Gordon when he accompanied Governor Joachim van Plettenberg on a journey to the eastern frontier of the Cape Colony in 1778.

Compassberg together with its neighbouring mountains provides a critical water catchment area, covering over 40 000 hectares of livestock and game farms. The mountain is composed of sediments of the Beaufort Series in the Karoo System and extensively intruded by dolerite dikes and sills. Yeah yeah, just a bit of useless information if you know nothing of geology.

Hiking up Compassberg has gained popularity in the last few years. It takes four to five hours to climb to the top and another four to descend again. The base of the mountain is a forty-minute drive from Nieu-Bethesda. Climbing to the top isn’t something that you do unprepared though, even better if you can join an organised hike to the top.

Firefly the Travel Guy social media services

SUBSCRIBE to this Monthly Travel Mailer

View past Travel Mailers

INFO LETTER ARCHIVE

LATEST INFO LETTER

Subscribe

Jansenville Dutch Reformed Church

Cape St Francis Walk on the Wildside

Who’s the Grahamstown Settlers family?

The festive season in Rhodes

Compassberg