Karoo - Firefly the Travel Guy

A UFO landing site in Rosmead in the Karoo?

The village of Rosmead near Middelburg in the Eastern Cape Karoo Heartland wouldn't exist if it wasn't for the railway. Most people probably don't even know it exists at all. Middelburg Road as it was initially called, was a Cape Government Railway station and was established around April 1883, when the Railway Line from Cradock was inaugurated. Due to its location at the junction of the Western, Midland and Eastern Railway Systems, the village played an important role in the…

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05/01/2023

Firefly the Travel Guy

The Queen of the Night

Visiting parts of the Eastern Cape's Karoo Heartland during the summer months you may just spot these clumps of white flowers in the veld or along fences. On closer inspection, you'll see that it's a cactus that is flowering so beautifully. Curious to learn more? The Golden Torch cactus (Echinopsis spachiana), sometimes also called Queen of the Night, blooms beautifully during the summer months. They normally flower at night and are still beautiful during the mornings. Not just do they…

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28/12/2022

Firefly the Travel Guy

Hiking along the Somerset East parkrun route

The Somerset East parkrun has become a popular outdoor activity for both locals and visitors to this beautiful Karoo Heartland town. But the parkrun hasn't just created a Saturday morning outing, it's also created a fantastic safe hiking trail option for the town. What is better than one trail? Two trails, as you can do the whole 5km route or opt-out about halfway. I spent a couple of days in Somerset East and Desiree of Mountain View Guest Inn took…

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16/09/2022

Firefly the Travel Guy

The war memorial in Somerset East

No matter how big or small the town in South Africa, you are very likely to find a war memorial of some sort somewhere in or close to it. As you come into the Karoo Heartland town of Somerset East from the Graaff Reinet side the town's war memorial stands on an island on the left-hand side. The War Memorial commemorates the men of Somerset East and the surrounding district who lost their lives in the First and Second World…

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06/09/2022

Read more about the article The museum ghosts of Somerset East

Somerset East Old Parsonage Museum ghost stories

Firefly the Travel Guy

The museum ghosts of Somerset East

You know that feeling when you walk around a very old place, often on your own? Yes, that feeling when you think to yourself that you really don't want to be alone there after dark. That feeling that you are sure something goes bump in the night there. Yes, thaaaaaatttt feeling. The one when the hair on the back of your neck rises and something crawls slowly down your spine. Somerset East has two excellent museums with a lot of…

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22/07/2022

Firefly the Travel Guy

Marveling at a beautiful Karoo Heartland sunset from Bruintjieshoogte

If you travel eastwards on the R63 from Graaff Reinet, you drive along fairly flat terrain all the way through the town of Pearston. You will only encounter the first significant change in elevation 20km east of the town when you start to ascend the Bruintjieshoogte Pass on the way to Somerset East. The pass is named after the surrounding Bruintjieshoogte mountain range which lies between the Sundays River, Renosterberg, the Groot Winterhoek Mountains and the Sneeuberge. The range forms a watershed for the Little Fish River (a tributary…

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03/07/2022

Read more about the article The grave of Ouma Dora Jacobs in Somerset East

Ouma Dora's grave

Firefly the Travel Guy

The grave of Ouma Dora Jacobs in Somerset East

I have a particular interest in historic graves. They often tell a tale of an era long past in a way books can't. But sometimes a grave from the modern era holds just as many stories. Such a grave I found in Somerset East, set back in the trees at the end of a lane next to the Somerset East Museum. This is the grave of Ouma Dora Dotyi Jacobs who at the time of her death at the ripe…

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24/06/2022

Firefly the Travel Guy

Nieu-Bethesda’s historic NG Kerk

Whenever I visit Nieu-Bethesda I just seem to be attracted to the historic Dutch Reformed Church (Nederduits Gereformeerde Kerk or NG Kerk). There is just something to this beautiful building in this tiny village that has me going back to it time and time again. Also, the fact that there are so many different angles to look at it and then add to it the time of day and different weather conditions. I did a post on the church last…

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21/03/2022

Firefly the Travel Guy

Nieu-Bethesda’s owl sellers

Nieu-Bethesda's biggest export item, as in what people take away with them, must be their cement owls. It all started at the Owl House where Helen Martins transformed the house and then the yard, the latter with the help of Koos Malgas. Although there are so many different cement figures in the yard, the owls are the most prominent. No wonder it's called the Owl House. It's also the one thing most visitors to the village want to go home…

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14/03/2022

Firefly the Travel Guy

Road scenes of Nieu-Bethesda

Nieu Bethesda's Dutch Reformed Church The village of Nieu-Bethesda really is a special one. High on the to-do list of travelers wanting to visit the Owl House, learn more about fossils or just experience Karoo country life. It's also somewhere to go and find yourself, recharge your soul and rediscover your being. Nieu-Bethesda only had dirt roads, no street lights nor a petrol station. The best way to explore the village is literally on foot with your camera in hand,…

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11/01/2022