middelburg - 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…

Comments Off

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…

Comments Off

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…

Comments Off

20/01/2026

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…

Comments Off

17/08/2025

Firefly the Travel Guy

The Chair Monument in the Karoo

Monuments and memorials come in all shapes and sizes and by different names. By name, the Chair Monument outside Middelburg in the Karoo Heartland may have you confused. Why would they put up a memorial to a chair? Was it a simple wooden stool or is somebody celebrating their beloved lazyboy? In fact, although a chair was involved, the monument is an Anglo Boer War related memorial and commemorates Commandant J. C. Lötter and his right-hand man, Lieutenant Pieter Wolfaardt.…

Comments Off

01/12/2023

Firefly the Travel Guy

Finding yourself in the middle of nowhere

In this day and age of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the internet, connectivity, mobile phones, social media and everything electronic, it's important to do a digital detox every now and then. What is a digital detox, you ask? It is when a person refrains from using electronic devices such as smartphones or computers for a period of time. This is regarded as an opportunity to reduce stress or focus on social interaction in the physical world. I found the perfect…

1 Comment

11/02/2023

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…

Comments Off

05/01/2023