It’s the beginning of May and Winter is definitely starting to knock on the door while Autumn is holding on for dear life. It’s also expo season with WTM Africa behind us and Tourism Indaba coming up. We may be going into off season but there is always something to do, so grab a coffee and take a quick break to read this month’s travel mailer.

This month we look at:

• Winston Churchill’s cousin and the Battle of Elands River outside Tarkastad

• Hyenas in the Addo Elephant National Park

• Two Harbours Walk – St Francis Bay

• King Proteas in the Tsitsikamma

• Exploring the Karoo with the Karoo Roads books

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

Winston Churchill’s cousin and the Battle of Elands River

Modderfontein is located about 23km outside of Tarkastad. It was here that the Battle of Elandsriver took place between the 17th Lancers under Captain Victor Sandeman, a cousin of Winston Churchill, and a Boer commando led by Commander Jan Smuts. 

On 17 September 1901, during the Second Anglo-Boer War, Jan Smuts, with a commando of about 250 men, was on a raid deep into the Cape Colony. The Boer force came across the Elands River Valley, where a local farmer told them about the C Squadron of the 17th Lancers, whom they could raid for crucial supplies and horses.

The Boers took advantage of a mist to encircle the British camp. When Smuts’ vanguard ran head-on into a Lancer patrol, the British hesitated to fire because many of the Boers wore captured British uniforms. The Boers immediately opened fire and attacked in front while Smuts led the remainder of his force to attack the British camp from the rear. 

During the battle, the 17th Lancers lost 29 killed and 41 wounded before surrendering. The Royal Garrison Artillery lost 3 killed. Boer losses were only one killed and six wounded. What is astounding is that the 17th Lancers lost more men killed in action on that day than on any other single day in its long history, including even the Charge of the Light Brigade at Balaklava in 1854!

The War Cemetery at Modderfontein has the graves of British Soldiers killed in the Battle. Three officers have separate headstones, and they and the rest of the men of the regiment are buried in a mass grave.

Hyenas in the Addo Elephant National Park

Did you know that the Addo Elephant National Park has both Brown Hyena and Spotted Hyena?

The brown hyena (Parahyaena brunnea), also called the strandwolf, is the only extant species in the genus Parahyaena. It is currently the rarest species of hyena. Brown hyenas are distinguished from other species by their long shaggy dark brown coat, pointed ears, and short tail. They are generally scavengers, eating mammal remains, fruit, insects, and reptiles.

Brown hyenas, while historically present, were eradicated in the early 1900s but around 2008 were been sighted again, especially in the Colchester (southern) area of the park.

The spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta), also known as the laughing hyena, is a hyena species, currently classed as the sole extant member of the genus Crocuta. The spotted hyena is a highly successful animal, being the most common large carnivore in Africa. Its success is due in part to its adaptability and opportunism; it is primarily a hunter but may also scavenge, with the capacity to eat and digest skin, bone and other animal waste.

Spotted hyenas were reintroduced to the park in 2003 and 2004 after an absence of over 100 years.

Two Harbours Walk – St Francis Bay

The Two Harbours Walk in St Francis Bay connects the Heritage Eco Centre at Granny’s Pool in Harbour Road with Port St Francis. The walk is about 2km in length and follows the beautiful rocky shoreline along a well-marked path that includes footpaths, wooden steps and some rocky sections. You will see dolphins and whales (especially between May and October), ample bird life as well as chokka fishing boats, jetskis, yachts, recreational fishing boats and paddlers passing on surfskis. Plus lots of surfers at Bruce’s Beauties!

The walk can be started from either side and takes about an hour. If you only want to walk one one, make sure to leave a car at your finishing point.

King Proteas in the Tsitsikamma

Protea cynaroides, also called the King Protea, is South Africa’s national flower. It is a distinctive member of Protea, having the largest flower head in the genus. The species is also known as giant protea, honeypot or king sugar bush and is widely distributed in the southwestern and southern parts of South Africa in the fynbos region.

The King Protea has several colour forms and horticulturists have recognized 81 garden varieties. This unusual flower has a long vase life in flower arrangements and makes for an excellent dried flower. Protea cynaroides is adapted to survive wildfires by its thick underground stem, which contains many dormant buds and these will produce the new growth after the fire.

The Regyne RussellStone Protea Farm in the Tsitsikamma is one of the biggest commercial protea farms in the world and produces proteas for both the domestic and international market. Oudebosch Protea Farm Tours offer group tours to the farm from the Oudebosch Country Cafe.

Bookings are essential and minimum numbers apply.

Explore the Karoo with Karoo Roads

And then there were four! Chris Marais and Julienne Du Toit of karoospace.co.za have released the fourth book in their Karoo Roads series.

If you have a love for the Karoo then you can pick up any of Chris and Julie’s books and immerse yourself in this interesting part of the country. Sadly, I have to confess that even though I have read a lot of their stories, I don’t have any of their books. Something I really need to rectify.

The Karoo Roads Four-Book Series is a whisper from the past, a drink at a backyard bar in the middle of nowhere, an adventure with an ostrich, a night under the stars, a song in a village church hall, a round of golf with a Rastaman, a ghost in the fireplace, a battle with a blizzard and a walk in the veld with a wise old jackal hunter.

It is also a collection of outstanding Karoo stories, gathered over 20 years of rambling on dirt roads and forgotten highways, in snow and sunshine, on days that were good and bad but always memorable.

They unearth the precious narratives of the Karoo, riding hard with the Boer fighters in the Camdeboo Mountains, descending the Orange-Fish River Tunnel in Teebus, running with the Philipstown kids and their draadkarretjies, nosing about the Cradock graveyard, dancing the Nama Riel in Williston and following the Great Floods of 2011 from the Gariep Dam to Gordonia.

Let the books inspire you and future generations to explore the interior of this country, with all its contradictions, ironies, laughter, tears and heart-stopping sunsets.

Light the fire, pour the drink, sink into your favourite chair and join us on a series of adventures and discoveries. As always, your seat in the Karoo Space bakkie awaits.