Western Cape

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Country Churches

Today is another Random ... theme day and the theme is Random Country Churches. Some of the smallest towns in the middle of nowhere will have magnificent old Dutch Reformed Churches dating back from the early days. In most cases these churches were built in the late 1800's and early 1900's not to only service the town, but also the surrounding farming community. This means that some of these small towns today have huge churches. The Dutch Reformed Church in…

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12/03/2010
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Old grave yard

I was driving around the Klein Karoo town of Oudtshoorn looking for something interesting to photograph when I came across this old cemetery. It was surrounded by businesses and a couple of houses with a stone wall and old steel gate in the front. Cemeteries, especially old historic ones, fascinate me, so this was a huge find.The graves were made mostly of sandstone and the majority were so weathered and eroded that you couldn't see what was on them. I…

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05/03/2010
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Exercé Perfection

Although Oudtshoorn is only a big town and not a major city, it houses one of South Africa's biggest military bases. It also has an invantary school where a part of South Africa's military forces get their training. This statue of a soldier is situated on the road outside the entrance to the base. The plaque reads:Exercé Perfection"Where the sun-bathed hights of Swartbergguard the wide and fertile plainyou are training future leadersfor our armies' might and main".GPS: 33°34'52.81"S, 22°11'30.18"E

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23/01/2010
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Montagu Pass Part 2

As you drive higher up the Montagu Pass, the road gets steeper and narrower. You can imagine how this could have been a problem during the early days of ox wagons. Two wagons could not pass abreast in most places, specially around the tight corners. Consequently the drivers and ox leaders had to whistle and shout and crack their whips continuously to warn one another of their approach. Very close to the top of the pass, the road passes under…

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22/01/2010
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Montagu Pass Part 1

A week or two ago I posted on my trip over the Swartberg Pass (part 1 and part 2) during my recent holiday. I also had the opportunity to do another of the iconic Southern Cape passes while I was in the area. The Montagu Pass is the old pass over the Outeniqua Mountains from George on the coast to the Klein Karoo. The pass has been declared a National Monument which means that it is beautifully maintained and very…

9 Comments
21/01/2010
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CP Nel Museum

Feather duster sellers with their colourful ware in front of the CP Nel MuseumI have said so before I will say so again. I love small town museums. They are never pretencions and tells it as it is. If you want to know more about a town and its history, just look for it's museum and go and loose yourself in it. The CP Nel Museum in Oudtshoorn is one of these where one can go and be transported back…

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18/01/2010
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Donkey car

As our round trip day outing via the Swartberg Pass to Prince Albert and back through Meiringspoort was coming to an end, we made a quick stop in the town of De Rust. Named such as it was a place to outspan the oxen to rest before or after a journey through Meiringspoort, the town is quaint place with a couple of interesting shops and eateries along its main drag. As we were coming into town I noticed a donkey…

6 Comments
15/01/2010
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Klein Karoo sunset

The world's biggest bird walking down a fence in the Klein Karoo near the town of Oudtshoorn at sunset..For more awe inspiring pictures from all over the globe featuring the sky, visit Skywatch.

18 Comments
14/01/2010
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Meiringspoort

There are two ways to get from the Karoo into the Klein Karoo over / through the Swartberg and both are very scenic. The Swartberg Pass is for those with lots of time and Meiringspoort for those in a hurry. The Meiringspoort road features soaring cliff walls with spectacular rock formations along the 25 km tarred road which winds along the floor of the gorge and crosses the Groot River 25 times. Each crossing, or drift, has its own name…

8 Comments
13/01/2010