Western Cape

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Poort-Pourri Kontreiwinkel

Driving towards De Rust and Oudtshoorn from Prince Albert takes one through Meiringspoort. Just before you enter the poort the road passes the little hamlet of Klaarstroom which has remained virtually unchanged since the days of Queen Victoria. As we were passing the turnoff into Klaarstroom my eye caught a peculiar sight and I nearly left the road as I spun my head around. A number of man sized dolls were sitting on benches, on bikes and just standing around…

5 Comments
12/01/2010
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Prince Albert

After driving through the Swartberg Pass (from here to here), we entered the village of Prince Albert. The first farmers in this area started farming in this fertile valley from 1762. The area soon attracted other farmers and church services were held on the market square and by 1844 an Dutch Reformed Church had been built and a thriving community established. In 1845 some parishioners suggested that the village be named Albertsburg after "Naar zijne Hoogheid" - his Royal Highness,…

10 Comments
11/01/2010
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Klein Karoo farm house

A farm house on one of the ostrich farms just outside Oudtshoorn on the road to Schoemanshoek. The mountain in the background is the Swartberg where the Swartberg Pass (read here and here) can be found.

2 Comments
08/01/2010
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Swartberg Pass Part 2

Yesterday we drove up the Swartberg Pass and took a break at the top. Today we decent into the Karoo. The northern part of the pass is famous for its switchbacks and you won't find a travel book on South Africa that doesn't have at least one photo of the pass.Just before we started our decent I was curious to see where we were going and saw how the road snaked down the mountain side at a gradual decline. There…

5 Comments
07/01/2010
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Swartberg Pass Part 1

One of the highlights (literally and figuratively) of the holiday was getting to drive over the Swartberg Pass outside Oudtshoorn. The pass links the Klein Karoo with the Great Karoo and its always been very high on my "to do" list. The Swartberg Pass was built by one of South Africa's great pass builders, Thomas Bain, between 1881 and 1883. The construction work was done by convict labourers and the pass was officially opened on 10 January 1888. The pass…

6 Comments
06/01/2010
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Ostrich Show Farm

There is an Afrikaans song that says "Oudtshoorn is 'n groot voël paradys..." (translates to Oudtshoorn is a big bird paradise). And that is so true. Oudtshoorn is called the ostrich capital of the world as 95% of the world's captive ostriches are found around the town. In the early days ostriches were farmed purely for their feathers, but today every single piece of the bird gets used. They are farmed primarily for their skin which produces the world's second…

7 Comments
05/01/2010
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Oudtshoorn area

We spent the first week of our holiday in the Oudtshoorn area. Oudtshoorn is situated in the Klein Karoo and its economy is basically split between farming and tourism. The word Klein means small or little in Afrikaans (also in Dutch) and Karoo is a Khoisan word that means Place of Thirst.The Klein Karoo is flanked by the magnificent Outeniqua (the word means Men laiden with honey in the Khoisan language) Mountains to the south and the majestic Swartberg (Black…

7 Comments
04/01/2010
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Sign posts

I always enjoy it if I go somewhere and there is a sign post pointing towards major world cities along with distances. At that moment you realise how big the world really is and while I'm typing this the contrary is also true as within nanoseconds of clicking publish post this post will be available world wide. This one stands on the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town... ... while this one is situated at Cape Point

4 Comments
07/08/2009
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George

The town of George at the foot of the Outeniqua Mountains was founded in 1811 and was the first town to be established in South Africa by the British. It was named after King George III. The town is the main commercial town on the Garden Route and is often just used by tourists as a stop over. It is also where visitors will find the Outeniqua Railway Museum where the Outeniqua Choo Tjoe steam train is based. Unfortunately the…

7 Comments
04/07/2009
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Wilderness

I have always said that if my boat had to come in I would one day retire in Wilderness on the Garden Route. Somewhere against the hillside from where I can see the ocean, mountains, lakes and beaches of this beautiful area. Wilderness is a nice central base from where visitors can explore the Southern Cape and Garden Route and if one needs to get away from the hustle bustle of life there are forests, lakes and rivers all within…

8 Comments
03/07/2009