Karoo - Firefly the Travel Guy

The Middelburg Cultural History Museum in the Karoo

If you want to learn more about the history of a small town, then the best thing to do is to look up the town museum. They're usually a virtual cyclopaedia containing everything you want to know about the town and the region. I've been reading a little about some of the exhibits in the Middelburg Cultural History Museum, so when I had a chance to visit the town, I headed straight over to the museum The town's Museum Association…

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17/02/2026

Firefly the Travel Guy

The monuments in Middelburg Karoo’s Mayoral Garden

I was really surprised at how many monuments and historic buildings Middelburg Karoo has. The town was founded in 1852 as a midway point between Graaff-Reinet and Colesberg. A site for Middelburg was chosen, as its name implies, in the very centre of a circle of other platteland towns – thus providing a hub for the secular and spiritual life of a pioneer farming community that was, till then, very far from anywhere. After doing my rounds visiting all the…

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31/01/2026

Firefly the Travel Guy

Historic Cemeteries of Middelburg Karoo

I have this fascinating interest in old graveyards and cemeteries. There is a calmness and peacefulness to them, and it's often one of the best ways to learn more about a place's history. A roadtrip to Middelburg Karoo has a checklist of places I wanted to see and historic cemeteries were at the top of the list. The more I read, the more intrigued I got. There's not a lot that I found written about the cemeteries, but picking up…

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20/01/2026

Firefly the Travel Guy

The Dassiedeur Tunnel – a railway tunnel with no tracks

I only discovered the Dassiedeur Tunnel near Cradock because there is a Geocache hidden halfway through the tunnel. For some reason, only Geocachers know, all my focus was on the cache and I never took any pictures while I was there. Fast-forward about a decade, and I'm on my way to Cradock, with the tunnel at the top of a long list of things to do on the trip. I was just hoping that the road to get to it…

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05/01/2026

Firefly the Travel Guy

Tafelberg – The Table Mountain 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…

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17/08/2025

Firefly the Travel Guy

Tarkastad’s White Hope Masonic Lodge

The first time we visited Tarkastad I knew it was going to be a very small town and I was expecting to see a beautiful historic church or two, hopefully a war memorial, lots of history and even more charm. One of the things I didn't expect to find was a Masonic Lodge. Driving through the town while doing some sightseeing, I noticed a small stone building. I pulled over to see what the sign on the door said and…

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11/07/2025

Firefly the Travel Guy

Commandant William Comley Memorial in Somerset East

Two of the lesser-known monuments in Somerset East are both memorials to military men from the area who died in the late 1800s. I don't think many people even know these memorials exist. Definitely very few, if any, from outside of Somerset East. It's monuments like this that I like to find, do a little research on and share with you about. Memorials that people don't know about or have forgotten. Memorials worth discovering. One of these is a monument…

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25/06/2025

Firefly the Travel Guy

The Great Fish River Museum in Cradock

I've always had a thing for museums. It's a love that developed from visiting the Port Elizabeth Museum and Castle Hill No.7 as a child, and it has always stayed with me. Museums aren't everybody's cup of tea, but if you want to learn more about a place's history, then the local museum is the place to go. Add to that the fact that most towns have a museum of some kind and you'll know what one of the first…

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11/06/2025

Firefly the Travel Guy

A First World War gun in Tarkastad

Tarkastad isn't a big town with many monuments even though there is a lot of history attached to the town. I was very surprised when discovered an old cannon on the corner of Murray Street and Queen Street, a block away from the Tarkastad War Memorial. On closer inspection I discovered a plaque on the gun reading as follows: CAPTURED IN THE GREAT WAR1914 - 18BY THE ALLIED FORCESAND PRESENTED TO TARKASTADBY THE GOVERNMENT I have searched the internet from…

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14/02/2025

Firefly the Travel Guy

Who was Commandant Paul Erasmus of Somerset East?

There's a memorial on the Somerset East Dutch Reformed Church grounds in memory of Commandant Paul Erasmus. But who was Paul Erasmus and why is there a memorial dedicated to him? Paul Jacobus Erasmus was born 21 September 1829 in Somerset East. He married Helena Francina Jacoba Vosloo on 24 January 1853. Erasmus was Commandant of the Somersetters as part of the Colonial Forces in Basutoland during the Basuto Gun War, also known as the Basutoland Rebellion. The was a…

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21/01/2025