The last two months have been an absolute blur. Don't ask me where it went, I just know it's gone and I am exhausted. But things are getting back to normal and hopefully I will get my blogging mojo back as well. The pictures from our Graaff-Reinet weekend is lined up and just waiting for the words to be added. In the meantime here is one I took of the Groot Kerk at the top of the main drag into…
I'm finally busy going through and editing the pictures I took in Graaff-Reinet a few weekends ago and will start posting about our visit shortly. One of the photos I found was this one of Miggie standing in the door at the Reinet House museum looking up towards the Drostdy Hotel. She clearly likes being outdoors a lot more than going through museums.
Everybody has their travel bucket lists. I'm no different but because I would still like to do a lot of travelling I have divided mine into International, African, South African and Eastern Cape. One of the things that has been on my Eastern Cape travel bucket list for a while now is doing the Innikloof Waterfall hike. Innikloof is situated near the Gamtoos Valley town of Hankey and the hike is done once a month as a guided hike as…
The Wild Coast is all about the rugged coastline, beautiful beaches, rolling green hills, dramatic waterfalls, spectacular river mouths, friendly and hospitable people. So in fact that many visitors often miss the little things. And y'all know how I can go on about not just looking at the bigger picture when you are travelling.A little while ago I was staying at Wavecrest Hotel and took an early morning walk down to the river mouth. It was raining all night and…
The Karoo Heartland village of Nieu-Bethesda is weird and quirky, but in a nice way. It has a lot of interesting nooks and crannies which include a couple of fascinating attractions, authentic Nieu-Bethesdian accommodation and slightly off the regular type of mainstream restaurants and eateries. When you pass a little restaurant with a sign saying Bruno's Alfresco Pizzeria with the added tagline of "World Famous in Nieu-Bethesda... then you know you want to check it out. It also helps that I really love…
The last time I was at the Owl House in Nieu-Bethesda I got a nice picture of a gent standing in contemplation between the cement figures. On this visit to the village I was at the Owl House with two friends and colleagues and I really thought there would be a good chance to catch one of them in deep contemplation at some stage. Curse the digital age... Bwhahahahahaha.... The best I got was while one was taking a picture to…
It feels like most people I speak to about travelling in the Karoo Heartland of the Eastern Cape have been to Graaff-Reinet, yet many didn't venture much further to also visit Nieu-Bethesda. Nieu-Bethesda truly is a very special village located barely 30 minutes from Graaff-Reinet and have a truly off the beaten track feeling to it. I say off the beaten track because that is literally what it is. No tar roads in the village, no street lights, no ATM,…
A couple of weeks ago I headed up to Nieu-Bethesda in the Karoo Heartland with a colleague for a tourism meeting. En route we encountered the Fish River in full flow at Jansenville, puddles and pools next to the road approaching Graaff-Reinet and a very wet village at our destination. The word Karoo comes from the Khoi language and means Place of Thirst, very appropriate for this arid region. So it's not often that you see puddles of water in…
I took this picture on a recent visit to Lowlands Country House in the Karoo Heartland outside Cradock. The scene just grabbed me and if I was a painter then I would have loved to paint it. It really shows the importance of water in this arid environment and how it can change things from brown to green.
I haven't really had the opportunity to venture into the North Eastern Cape so a first visit to Matatiele in the Eastern Cape highlands near boundary with Kwa-Zulu Natal was on the cards while en route to the Drakensberg in December. Matatiele services the surrounding villages and farming community and gives a very good first impression. Even though it was a long weekend and only about a week before Christmas, the town was neat and tidy, unlike some of the…