Friday, 18 February 2011
We drove via Ixopo and Matatiele to Mount Fletcher, with Rhodes as our first night destination. There have been serious rains in the area (the Umzimvubu overflowing its banks) and the dirt road was deep in red, sticky mud. As we got deeper into the mountains the water seemed to increase, pouring off the rock faces into the road on a continuous basis. We stopped to check that the bikes were ok and there was a flock of over 20 vultures circling low and directly overhead. The mud got deeper and the road deteriorated into a rough track, well negotiated by the landRover with its mud tyres and capable driver. Naude’s nek was spectacular with patches of sun through thick mist and silver-white paths of water uncoiling through every fold in the mountains around us.
Rhodes is a quaint place with doll’s house cottages restored Victorian style and all empty except no doubt in the holidays. The campsite is unexciting and camping is seriously inconvenient. En-suite bathrooms weren’t invented for nothing.
Saturday, 19 February 2011
The Eastern Cape must have bought cheap road signs because those around Dordrecht and so badly faded one can’t read them. We got lost trying to find the road to Labuschagne’s Nek and I flagged down a friendly policeman to show us the way. This he did and, after photographing the monument to the Boer soldier in the churchyard in Dordrecht, we made our way on dirt roads again, to the site of this engagement. We located the nek easily enough but there are no monuments and we had to guess where the action took place. The dead have been relocated to Burgersdorp and there remains little to remind the visitor of the drama between the Boer Commandos trying to help the Cape Rebels against the British columns determined to keep lines of communication open. Dordrecht was first held by the Boers then taken by the British in January 1900. The capture of the Boer laager there in March 1900 was the last action in the Northern Cape before the Boers withdrew to the Free State.
Sunday, 20 February 2011
Aliwal North is on the Orange and the border between E Cape and the Free State. Everything was closed. But there a pretty young girl gave us directions to a monument to the Boers. It turned out to be not the one we were looking for but worth the visit. It was to those Boers who died in the concentration camp there... more than 700. There is a madonna-like stone statue of a woman; in front of her is a child coffin, in front of that is an open small grave and then a small, unmarked mound. And a list of names. And a story about the doctor. Helps one understand.
We went back to her and her boyfriend was with her this time and directed us to the place we were looking for... an awesome blockhouse and lots of memorials. And then on to Burgersdorp which I would never had believed I might visit, and fascinating insight to Afrikaner nationalism with the Taal monument and oak trees planted at the birth of the Great Trek. From there it was a turn off on a bad dirt track to Stormberg, a well-known Boer war battlefield. We were past it and onto a tar road before we knew we had passed it. No signs, no monuments, no graves (bodies have been exhumed and moved to the garden of remembrance in Aliwal North). So we back tracked and worked it out from the blockhouse and the railway junction. What an awesome site and the blockhouses are like they are still in use. Why has no-one bothered to mark the site, I wonder?
Tonight we are in Mountain Zebra Park in Cradock and it is lovely.
Monday, 21 February 2011
It is a lovely place, Mountain Zebra park, and today we relaxed with no battles to fight. We hiked the Black Eagle trail and drove all the 4 x 4 trails and saw lots of game and birds including Blue Crane, White Bellied Korhaan and Black stork. There are white browed sparrows in the camp that are really tame. The mountains zebra is much more elegant than our Burchell’s; his stripes are smaller and more numerous without the dirty brown bit in between.
The scenery is spectacular with huge dolomite boulders towering above never-ending plains. The water-colour sky goes from pale ice blue on the horizon to deep indigo overhead. That book about the Plains of Camdeboo must be about a place like this.
Tomorrow it is to Addo... and all on dirt tracks.
Tuesday, 22 February 2011
Before we left Mountain Zebra Park I phoned Lala... She could tell me where the Slachters Nek monument was.
We drove through Cradock on the way out and called in on Olive Schreiner’s old house which is now a library and museum. The curator is very keen and the place is well worth a visit.
And then it was on over the Swaershoek Pass to Somerset East. A lovely dirt road and we took it in turns to ride the bikes; to the top and down the other side. Saddler horses, African hunting dogs and Angora goats on the way. It is lovely country.
Somerset East is keen on promoting tourism to the area and the lady, Roz, in the tourist info centre was really helpful. She directed us to the old Vicarage which is also a museum and has an excellent display about the Slagter’s nek affair. The beam on which the 5 rebels were hanged is there. The descendants of the Bezuidenhout family say that, had they not caused the uprising the Great Trek would not have happened, the Transvaal and Free State would not have been occupied and gold and diamonds not discovered. We owe it all to them.
Interesting that, in this area, the rebel Boers teamed up with the Xhosa against the Brits. Pragmatists supreme.
Wednesday, 23 February 2011
There is no information about the park at the gate we came in at and no maps to be had. And so we took off blindly in the Landy after breakfast, following a sign that said 4 X 4 trail experienced drivers only. It turned out to be the most spectacular route one could imagine, between rocky cliff faces and over towering rock walls, between impenetrable green walls of thorn trees and scrub. At one stage we drove on a rocky stream bed between two mountains. Stupid ostrich kept on running in front of us, one lot with a baby in tow, and refuse to get off the road. We gave them a bit of exercise.
We are ready to soldier forth tomorrow, on the trail of Boer commandos with British columns in pursuit. The 4 x 4 route we drove today was one used during the Boer war by both sides, as the British occupied the post office town of Darlington in their attempts to round up the Boer commandos invading the Cape.
Thursday, 24 February 2011 ADDO ELEPHANT PARK TO GEORGE
The vegetation was all Karoo, with windmills, Angora goats and Merino sheep dotting the thornveld. This was the terrain that Smuts and other commandos had to traverse on their way into the Cape to foment rebellion and harass the British. We stopped for coffee on the side of the road that stretched arrow straight in both directions. I was able to send off e mails and then we were off again, next stop Willowmore. This is quite a tourist village (we had to fill with diesel) and we saw a donkey cart decorated with flowers and lots of chi chi little shops selling bit and pieces... pity it had been spoiled. We left the tourist route on a very back road that led (eventually) to Klaarstroom.
We got there at lunchtime, and, after examining the British graves in the churchyard (2 troopers killed by Scheeper’s Commando in February of 1901) we brewed coffee and ate bread, tomatoes and cheese under a tree.
We then joined the main road that winds spectacularly through the Meiringspoort Pass. This is the way through the Swartberg that was taken by the Boer commandos on their way to Oudtshoorn. There was a British garrison at the north end and the south end and one of the commandos, prevented by the garrison in the north from going through the pass, had to make their way over the Swartberg; an almost unbelievable feat.
From there was plain sailing to Oudtshoorn where we had planned to stay. However the caravan/camping park was fill of runners competing in the Kango Caves Marathon this weekend so we drove on to George. The Outeniqua Pass was stunning, with shrouds of pale cloud hanging by thin webbing to an azure sky. We are now ensconsed in a deserted caravan park on the outskirts of the town. It is derelict but we are alone and have a bathroom just for us. What bliss.
Friday, 25 February 2011
The 24 km route took us on awesome single track through deep indigenous forest thick with huge yellowwoods and then popped us out of the gloom into the glaring light of white gravel tracks on the cliffs above the sea. The views were fantastic. And then it was back into the forest with big roots criss-crossing our path.
We have a long trek tomorrow and must pack everything up too. It should be Sutherland tomorrow night via Matjiesfontein and then to the Richtersveld. There will be no comms there.
Saturday, 26 February 2011
Next stop was Ladismith and a place less similar to our local version is hard to imagine. The town is quaint and many of the old buildings have been restored, without, however, giving the town a touristy feel. We stopped to buy glue at a hardware shop (to fix dark glasses) and I was able to watch the people go by; coloured folk wizened and bent from harsh weather and hard work, but dressed to the nines with hats and smart dresses to go for the Saturday morning shopping expedition.
From there it was north towards Laingsburg and the terrain changed before our eyes as we left the Little Karoo and entered the Great Karroo... we stopped on the side of the deserted gravel road to brew coffee and appreciate the landscape. Great boulders of white shining quartz stud the red earth and in between grow bushes that are blue-grey, yellow, pink, orange and red. The effect is stunning. There had been flash floods recently and some of the water courses were still damp. They run between mountains that are ridged with rings of rocks in such a way that they look as if they are lying on their sides.
There is not much in Laingsburg and from there we drove south to Matjiesfontein. It still looks good and the Lord Milner was quite busy. Interesting that the turrets of the hotel were used as look out points by the British garrison that was stationed there to combat the activities of Boer commandoes during the war.
The monument that I wanted to see turned out to be 10 km south of the town and out of our way. It is one to Wauchope who was the British general who was killed nearby.
It was only 100 odd km to Sutherland but we were driving due north into the sun and it seemed to take forever. It also had something to do with the fact that we hadn’t had lunch yet and it was 14h30 by the time we arrived.
Sutherland is amazing; on top of an arid plateau in the middle of the Karoo, there is nothing around it as ones vision can reach. Way up on a hilltop stands the famous observatory and in the prominent building in the small town is the spired church. We found our camp site a little out of town and took the bikes in to explore. I was excited to find a graveyard with 7 graves of British soldiers who died between 1901 and the end of 1902. There was no battle here so I presume there was a hospital and these men must have been put here when wounded. It will be interesting to find out more tomorrow.
Sunday, 27 February 2011
We packed up camp and drove to the graveyard to get pics and then to the church to see the pictures of British soldiers (horsed) outside the church during the Boer war. We then needed to fill with diesel, next stop being 300 km distant. And there is only one garage in Sutherland, which was closed. On Sunday the owner goes to church, expects his staff to do the same, and opens at 11h30.
We passed from the Great Karoo into the Boland and the vegetation changed subtly to single bushes interspersed with larger, pale shrubs with fat finger stems all warty, from the apex of each sprout rigid, silver stems boasting clumps of red round seeds. These novel plants rise above the other Karoo bushes surrounding them. The aloes are orange and each leaf is furled like a tongue of flame. There are also cushions of a succulent shrub that resemble a squashy sea anemone carpet. These have cavities in them that look like miniature, secret caves. Interspersed with these odd growths are flowers of pink, purple and bright red.
And then it was on to climb the Roggeberge. Spectacular rock formations of convoluted white quartz interspersed with piles of tablet-like sandstone that formed uneven castles of layered construction, some of them towering above the road. We were on an unmarked road that traverses the Tankwa National Park and is on the boundary between the northern and the Western Cape.
It was a long haul on a shocking road to the campsite, that turned out to be closed when we got there, for repairs. Luckily only another 5 km to another one, where we are comfortably settled on the banks of the river.
Monday, 28 February 2011
We have pitched camp in the caravan park in Van Rhynsdorp and a bike ride into town revealed Boer war graves and a monument to the Cape rebels. The oldest existing building in Namaqualand is near the church and it was this house that was used as the headquarters of Boer operations in the area. It was the only Boer town that remained in Boer hands throughout the war. Smuts was active here and would have used the house as a base for his commandos. We have more-or-less followed Smut’s route of invasion and it is absolutely incredible that they rode this distance through the terrain we have experienced. The story of the Cape Rebels has been brought home to me. Those that joined Smuts and the other Boer commandos would have been left to the mercy of the British when the Boers all retreated to the northern Free State. Many of the rebels chose to leave the Cape and there was a convoy of over 6000 men, women and children that trekked up north as Bloemfontein was occupied.
Tuesday, 1 March 2011
Stopping only to get some photos of the monument in Vanrhynsdorp, we took the great N7 north into the teeth of the sun, towards Namibia. The heat baked, the ground shimmered and became more desert-like as we passed places called Moedverloor and Spoegrivier. In Garies a British column taking supplies to O Kiep was surprised by Boers and detained and a little further on a lieutenant was killed; his grave is beside the road but behind the fence of a private farm. We found the lonely tombstone under a wild olive tree and it was worth it. His name was Darter.
We stopped in Kamieskroon to visit the monument to the Boers who were killed in the engagement when Darter was shot; they are behind the church and the date and place recorded are Blesbokpoort on 2nd May 1902, shortly before peace was declared. They are remembered for “dying for Afrikaners.” Complicated politics for Afrikaans speaking people living in the Cape during the Boer war. The graves are amongst succulent plants of every extraordinary shape and size.
From there it was a long hot grind to Springbok. The monument in Springbok was a disappointment, being behind a fence that was locked.
The next landmark was Steinkopf, where we turned west to the coast. The road is under construction and we had to stop for a while as the other lane came through. This was an opportunity to appreciate the headgear of the coloured road workers, both male and female. They sport hats of great flair and imagination, varying from hoodies to wild arrangements of artificial flowers that bloom around the circumference of a wide brim. The men seemed to particularly favour this type. There were also floppies of every hue and some like the one I wore to Buckingham Palace.
We saw a blockhouse on the road further, and to imagine the Boer commandos riding and fighting in such terrain is quite humbling. The desert plains were changing to smooth, stony hills and then, gradually, to even smoother hills that looked like hard dunes.
Suddenly the air coming into the vehicle through the primitive open vents under the windscreen changed; instead of a hot blast it was cool. We opened both windows wide and smelled the sea. Port Nolloth only 10 km away.
It is a seedy, down-at-heel holiday resort with a lovely feel. Hot sun and cold air, white squeaky sand and a campsite right on the beach. There are shells and kelp and rock pools.
Wednesday, 2 March 2011
For the first time since leaving Rhodes we wore jeans. There is a cloud bank that hovers over Port Nolloth and makes it 20 degrees cooler than inland. It actually rained in the morning so we decided to pack up and move on to the Richtersveld. It was from here that Gen Smuts sailed to Cape Town and thence to Pretoria to negotiate the peace at the end of the Boer war. There were a couple of old and colourful fishing boats at dock and outside the Spar a couple of knarled looking bergies tried to sell us crayfish, or klippies (diamonds) whichever we preferred. The petrol station filled our tank at an exorbitant price. They advertised bait, biltong, chilli bites, firearms, ammunition and groceries for sale. And ice cream.
The road from there to Alexander Bay runs dead straight through desert studded with stunted Karoo bush. It switch-backs over desert dunes dotted with stunted Karoo bush. Fences on both sides of the road indicate the mining that pays for the smooth tarmac. We didn’t go into the town itself but the mine is clearly visible from the road. Some of the biggest and best diamonds have been found here.
The road turned sharp right and away from the coast. We were on a wide, gravel road running parallel to the Orange River. Its size was amazing. In flood, brown and foaming it stretched a good 300 meters across. Makes the Tugela look kindergarten. Mine dumps and gravel heaps rose on both sides of the wide track and a deserted ostrich farm with multiple derelict camps was a reminder of fortunes made and lost here.
We began to see signs to the Richtersveld Park and went through a gate where I had to fill in and entry permit. From there it was another 20 km to the main gate. The terrain was now more than spectacular; in front stretched layer upon layer of serrated, rock mountains as stark and unrealistic as a poor Western film set. The close mountains were brown, those in the middle distance looked grey and then came darker grey, black and far distant blue. There was no vegetation to be seen at all.
Arrival at the gate was smooth; Hendrik gave us a map and gave PJ some advice about the various campsites. We were at Potjiespram campsite by 14h00 and found a magic site right on the sandy river bank (ok we had to cut some trees to get there but PJ the woodman, well equipped with panga, was up to the task). The ambient temperature was in the region of 45 degrees and the restless, brown flood water beckoned. The lazed in the water amongst the tree branches that would normally above the water and watched the birds, all so unconcerned by our presence that it seemed we could touch them. Pied wagtails, red eyed bul bul, White Eyes and mountain chats whilst it was light and later a Barlows Lark settled close to my chair in the half dark
Thursday, 3 March 2011
It gets light here much later than at home. Still semi-dark at 06h30 when we drank black coffee and mounted the bikes to ride the 10 km to the main gate, to book and extra night in the park. We wanted 2 nights in each camp instead of only one in the last. There was a spoor of a large brown hyena in the road that led us almost to our destination. Mission accomplished, we were back at the campsite by 10h00 and as the sun rose in the sky it became impossible to do anything other than lie in the muddy torrent and enjoy the continuously changing currents pulsing against bare limbs.
That’s all we did all day. Evening was gold on green leaves against a pale, blue sky and lazy clouds.
Friday, 4 March 2011
We decided to drive to a second camp on the river, de Hoop, further upstream. The floods have washed away all the facilities there but we are self sufficient with drinking water in containers, the river to swim in and a spade.
Before we broke camp we enjoyed a lengthy spell in the water, hauling ourselves upstream against the current by hanging onto branches of trees engulfed by the flood and resting in the little bays which were calmer and full of bird life. It was exciting to eventually launch into the flood and barrel downstream to the campsite.
We were packed and gone by 11h00 and the heat was fearsome by then. After negotiating Akkedis Pass and rough dry river beds, we neared the river again, further upstream. The landscape almost defied description, being surreal in its stark contrasts. Vegetation was hugely varied, from big trees near the river to tine succulents that survive on bare rock face. The colours are unearthly; black rocks, on red earth with white-silver quartz and red and grey boulders. There was also an enormous rock face that was deep green. And it wasn’t lichen. Some of the mountains were made up of rock tablets stacked together vertically to look just like chocolate Flakes. These layers stack up as far as the eye can see and then fade into the deep, blue sky. Every now and again there are sprinkles of pinky-white quartz boulders that scatter over the hills like white icing sugar on a chocolate cake. And sometimes there was the surprise of as the brown, ash and grey of the rocks was slashed with bright, emerald green as an underground spring came to the surface. These green oases sustain the odd cow that we encountered.
Three Klipspringer appeared on the rock face ahead, leaping onto almost perpendicular rock faces and sticking there as if my magic. They were bigger than I had imagined and only the male had horns, the ears being long and prominent, almost donkey-like. These were the only sign of life, apart from prehistoric-looking lizards.
We reached de Hoop camp at 14h00 and set up camp under and acacia on the river bank.
Saturday, 5 March 2011
The fish eagle was perched on a tree in the middle of the river as we broke camp. A rodent of some sort had plundered our camp during the night. Bread was scattered around and the rubbish packet had been explored. We had decided to move on to Kokerboom camp, a 3 hour drive through the park and nowhere near the cooling river.
The track went through savage passes between mountains of sheer rock and traversed thick sand in dry river beds. After a couple of hours a great, smooth rock dome rose out of a sea of sand. Behind it was another, lesser dome and there was a viewsite on top of it where we stopped to take photos. We found ourselves about 1000 feet above a rippled sea of sand out of which rose rocky peaks like great icebergs. The dry air burned and there was no sign of water for hundreds of kilometres below us. We drove on to where a great lozenge of rock adhered to the top of a hill and shortly thereafter were at the camp. It was arid and a bit grotty, with flies and some litter. The only water to be had was in the flushing toilets. At least we didn’t have to use the spade that day. The only shade was a thin sliver next to a great, smooth boulder and we pitched the gazebo close to it and enjoyed a sort-of-cool beer. The little fridge in the Landy battles in this very fierce heat, not surprisingly. The only green to be seen were the odd, fleshy plant stems that looked like fresh asparagus. Nothing to do until nightfall except swat flies. Luckily we both love doing it and soon a growing pile surrounded our chairs. There was a beautiful orange and turquoise lizard on the rock that was quite tame and he stayed until it got dark.
Just before the sun set we walked to the top of the jumble of boulders that made up the hill behind our camp. Below us stretched a sparse forest of big Kokerboom trees, the ones that look like hippy ladies with spiked, orange hair.
No need to pitch the tent; we watched the stars and slept in spite of the mosquitos (how they survive there is a mystery to me).
Sunday, 6 March 2011
We left the park over the Helskloof Pass and hell it was, needing to be driven at walking pace as it clawed its way between sharp peaks and deep sandy ravines. On either side of the track were little succulent jelly-bean plants, tall Kokerbooms, maroon aloes and some scrubby, grey bushes. There was also a taller plant with spiky, black stems hanging with round, shiny leaves like little tiddly-winks.
We emerged onto a dirt road 20 km outside the main gate and across country to Vioolsdrift, rather than back to Alexander Bay and Port Nolloth. A lone black eagle sat on a termite heap in the distance; the highest point for hundreds of square kilometres. The odd discarded beer bottle and a couple of car carcasses marked the route. I could imagine a hot, thirsty and inebriated farmer tossing the bottle out of his open bakkie window. Perhaps he was responsible for the car wreck too. There were black backed jackal and some sort of quail, but otherwise no living signs for 2 hours. We stopped to brew coffee in the middle of this plain. And then drove on to find Eksteenfontein, a quaint little conglomeration of thick-walled dwellings surrounding a church and a school.
We then went back into the wilderness and over another rocky pass into a dry valley that was dominated by a huge, black mountain. As we neared the almost-sheer face fallen slabs of the same rock lay by track. They were decorated with hieroglyphics done by the San people and are called Petroglyphs.
A sudden stab of emerald indicated the river and suddenly I could smell water; and lucerne. We had reached the river and not far away was the border to Namibia. We drove through to Springbok for the night and enjoyed watching jackal, dassies and mongoose from our campsite near the town.
Monday, 7 March 2011
It was a long, long drive on an arrow road to Pofadder. The red earth changed to grass and there were great nests in the telephone poles; the social weaver is prolific here. We stopped at noon for a snack and coffee and these tame little birds flocked around us for crumbs. A nearby windmill filled the silence with groans and clanking. Pofadder is a wide street with a couple of shops and a petrol one-stop. And Augrabies another 2 hours to go.
We drove to the San park reserve at the falls and pitched camp for the night. The ablutions here are the best we have had so far.
Tuesday, 8 March 2011
The campsite is bustling with striped mongoose, dassies, monkeys galore, insects everywhere and birds that are wonderfully tame. Including a pair of beautiful hoephoep.
We took the bikes for a 20 km ride through the park, stopping off at various viewpoints over the Orange River. It was an awesome ride although very hot by the time we got back at 11h00. Whilst we were out the automatic sprinkler system had come on to water the campsite grass and we had failed to notice that our tent and gazebo were pitched in the middle of its watery ark. And so everything was soaked.
We then took a stroll to the main falls, and how impressive they are. Flood waters have destroyed much of the boardwalk and one can only imagine how it must have looked when the whole area above the falls was under water. The spray spumed upwards more than 20 meters and we couldn’t hear each other speak above the roar.
Tomorrow my holiday-time is over as we advance into battlefields once more. Kuruman and the Battle of Lattakoo are on the list.
Wednesday, 9 March 2011
There were dassies, ground squirrel, mongoose, monkeys and a tortoise all visiting our site... as well as the pale winged starling that feasted on moths attracted to lights on in the laundry at night.
We packed up and were gone by 08h00. It only gets light after 06h00 here, and stays light much later. We weaved on happily through Kakamas and Keimoes, home to sun-dried raisins and table grapes. The bare red earth with which we had become familiar over the past week, changed now to grassland dotted with small trees.
We re-fuelled in Upington, a big town, and also found coffee beans in the supermarket there.
The N14 then goes on in a dead straight line forever. At Oliviershoek there are some graves, but we didn’t stop. We arrived in Kuruman and it was exciting to find Moffat’s mission station beautifully maintained and labelled, with church, school house, Moffat’s home and Mary’s garden much as they were in the 1820’s. The mission is on the road into Africa followed by missionaries and explorers and it was not far from here that Moffat saw the terrifying Mantatees as they maurauded south in 1823, part of the Mfecane that destroyed so much of South Africa.
The campsite is treed and shady, the weather is cooler here. Tomorrow is the battle of Fabersput as well as the caves, so will be up early.
Thursday, 10 March 2011
It was cold last night! I don’t know if it going east that has cooled it down or if Kuruman is a cold place. We visited the Eye of Kuruman on the way out. This is a spring that delivers an unbelievable 20 million litres of water a day. It emerges in a clear pond with water lilies and carp.
The Wonderwerk Caves were well worth the visit. Taking a dirt track to a private farm we found a coloured man who took our R7 and showed us into the caves; an unbelievable 130 meters deep and 25 meters wide. The excavations have shown human habitation in these caves for 500 000 years. The latest inhabitant was a farmer who lived there while he built his home, in 1945. He was over 2 meters tall and weighed over 200 Kg. A tattered pair of his trousers is on display to prove the point.
From there we passed a PPC mine (lots of lime there) and as we brewed coffee next to the road I reflected on the plight of the Cape Rebels in this area, which was occupied by the Boers in 1899 and subject to British attacks thereafter. Upington was the centre, Griquatown was occupied too and Kuruman itself under siege. Campbell was also contested. We visited the early church of missionary Bartlett and saw the tree under which Livingstone taught. At the municipality building the lady pointed a little way off at a road construction worker waving a red flag. “Go and ask him about Adam Kok,” she said. “He is a grandson”.
Our goal was the Battle of Fabersput and this proved difficult to access. We entered through a private farm gate and found a young coloured man who lent us his bunch of farm keys and directed us to drive “straight, through 7 gates and look for the sign”.
12.5 km later (with a steenbok and a ground squirrel en route) we came across the sign and the ruined farmhouse where it all happened. There were bullet holes in the walls and it was easy to imagine the engagement; Gen Warren with almost 2000 inexperienced men under attack from 600 Boers, at night. The Boers were driven off but the British suffered high casualties. It was emotive to be there alone, so far from anywhere at this site that no-one has accessed for a long time.
By the time we got the keys back and had lunch it was after 15h00 and I was fading. From there to Kimberley where we bounced around between 2 grotty campsites trying to decide which was worse, and then put up our tent. Holding thumbs for a quiet night; the camp is full of construction workers from a nearby building site. There is a vehicle and tent here belonging to the Commonwealth War grave commission. I look forward to chatting to them tomorrow.
We have covered over 5500 km so far. I wish we had more time!
Friday, 11 March 2011
The camping site is right next to the Big Hole and very urban and yet we had a mongoose entertaining us last evening.
We photographed loads of places in the town... Rhodes is everywhere and there is a great statue of him on horseback. The Honoured Dead memorial is impressive and there is one to the Cape police complete with the Krupp gun that they captured from the Boers. We visited MacGregor museum that was Rhodes’ house, and saw the Long Cecil, the cannon designed and built in the mine workshops. It was the only gun the defenders had that could match the range of the Boer guns. Labram, who designed and built it, was ironically killed by a Boer Long Tom shell. I like Rhodes more now than I did before. He told Kekewich that the British army would not have saved God Himself if it interfered with military procedure.
Then we drove to Magersfontein. Although the museum there is good, there is a dearth of signage and it would not be easy to appreciate the battle without a guide. I pieced it all together with great satisfaction, but it took a little while to find all the bits... The Boer memorial at Magersfontein (4 km from the battlefield) has the names of all the Boers who died in the battles around Kimberley and many bodies have been exhumed from farms and buried there. Interesting to see the Villebois-Mareuil is there and some Scandinavians. There is also a young Scottish bugler who was found and buried by the Boers after the battle.
We progressed to the battle of Modder River. This battlefield is in a shocking state but there is a nice blockhouse just the other side of the railway line, on the Riet River (the Riet and the Modder meet at this point).
From there we drove south to Jacobsdal. This was not on the schedule, but it was well worth it because the old Boer memorial is there (the new one is now at Magersfontein) and it is a lovely rough stone structure. There is a stone to de la Rey’s son, Adriaan, and the graves and a memorial of many Imperial and Colonial soldiers who died in battles related to the relief of Kimberley and the occupation of Jacobsdal by the British. It is close to the border between Cape and Free State.
We brewed black coffee under a spreading gum tree and a passing farmer slowed his bakkie to shout, with a smile “Geniet dit!” A windmill whirled against a pale sky and distant storm clouds. Water in an irrigation channel flowed close by and vines as well as lucerne flourish here. Judging by the wealth of expensive farm machinery on the road, it is a fertile farming area.
We made our way back to Kimberley on an arrow straight dirt road that met the N8, the airport road that goes to Bloemfontein. This is a better way to go than the N12 (CT road). The weather is still baking hot, but I really don’t mind the sun and the photos have been very good.
Last night we ate our very first restaurant meal; at the Kimberley Club. We were the only guests and enjoyed the old photos and many portraits of Rhodes. Also the Oppenheimers and all things military and Victorian. The meal was excellent and by the time we got onto the mattress, its quality wasn’t important.
Sunday, 13 March 2011
What was supposed to be a leisurely Sunday morning turned into a mad rush to get the tent and Gazebo down before the rain descended. Which it did with a vengeance just as we had the last stuff stowed and loaded.
We drove about 45 km and then turned north towards Perdeberg railway siding. There is a sign to battlefields as you cross the line and we came to a little corrugated iron building that was, being Sunday, firmly closed. It is the Paarderberg museum. As we took some pics, an old kehla with galloping consumption coughed his way across the railway lines with a bunch of keys and opened up for us. The maps and models are great and gave me a good idea of what to look for on the battlefield.
After greasing his shaking palm, we drove the 8 km to the main battlefield site on the Modder River. We were quite alone there and it was moving to think of the 4000 Boers, with women, wagons and children, that held out there in the river bed between the 17th and the 27th February 1900. It ended in surrender of course. Roberts didn’t have his reputation for nothing.
The weather deteriorated as we progressed to Koedoesdrift and from there to Poplar Grove, the site of De Wet’s camp. Very few signs and absolutely deserted, it was exciting to imagine Kruger’s visit and the drama of the British attack. The Boers were nervous after Paardeberg and De Wet had to abandon the position.
We had coffee (much needed) on the veranda of Lewis Stores in Petrusberg. It was pouring with rain as we watched the suited and long-skirted populace visit the shop on their way home from church.
There were signs of flooding as we neared Bloemfontein, but the rain held off miraculously while we pitched camp and ate lunch. In the late afternoon we visited the Anglo Boer War museum, which is set in park-like surroundings and has excellent displays, albeit severely anti British.
Monday, 14 March 2011
It was cold and damp last night; what a change from the heat and dry air further west.
We visited Fort Bloemfontein. This was HQ of the Staats Artillerie and later became a prison and then a lunatic asylum. David Pratt, who tried to assassinate Verwoerd, committed suicide in one of the cells. It is now a military museum and has some interesting exhibits.
From there to President Brand cemetery that has a memorial to the women and children who died in the concentration camps as well as a list of all their names. Harrowing to note how many of them were not yet 16 years old. This memorial pales into total insignificance against that across the gravel path, which is an ornate and enormous edifice dedicated to all the British soldiers that died in Bloemfontein. More than 90 % died of enteric, not wounds. And there are over 1000 names on the memorial and a veritable sea of metal crosses. It is set in a beautiful garden of red roses and it is very evident that the British War Graves money is used to good effect. The Boer monuments are not being looked after at all.
Next stop was the battle of Sannah’s Pos. Badly maintained and sun damaged, this was a battle where the Boers were victorious. We made some sense of it and PJ got the photos done before continuing on the road towards Maseru, stopping for coffee on the roadside in country that contrasts hugely to that we have been through for the past fortnight. Stalky grass spikes and thorn bushes have given way to waving, soft fields of green pasture, fat sheep and sunflowers against a backdrop of rock-ringed, flat topped mountains. We have decided to change the last part of our itinerary to spend more time in Lesotho and leave out Zululand (we can do that over a long weekend) so tomorrow Fouriesburg and then Maseru and drive home over Sani I think.
Tuesday, 15 March 2011
Ladybrand is a laid-back place with a relaxed feel about it; centre to a thriving farming community it has wide streets and happy people, none of whom are in any rush to get things done.
We then drove through beautiful country towards the Caledon River and Ficksburg and then on to Fouriesburg, which is in the Brandwater Basin. The road was closed for repairs to a bridge and we were sent on a detour that took us over the old bridge, which was strikingly picturesque; willow trees, deep ravine and old, iron railway bridge next to a single-track, road one.
After the British had occupied both Bloemfontein (13 March 1900) and Pretoria (June) the Boers in the Free State moved their capital first to Ladybrand and then to Ficksburg. There the announcement was made that from thenceforth the government would be roaming and have no base. The Free State Boers felt safe in the Brandwater Basin, a fertile area with lots of grazing, surrounded by a ring of high and rocky mountains. De Wet saw the danger of being surrounded in the basin and got out himself, with his commando. He warned the remaining Boers to leave, but they were there with women, children and wagons and not as mobile as he. They ware also infighting amongst the leaders. The Brits took up positions in each mountain pass leading out of the basin and, eventually, it was on Surrender Hill that Prinsloo capitulated and gave up his men, weapons and wagons.
The campsite we found is lovely; in the midst of the Basin we are surrounded by dramatic, rocky mountaintops and the Caledon River flows close by. There are trail horses on the farm and we are the only people in the campsite. The moon will soon be full again and we’ll have done the full circle; we left home on the day of the full moon.
We hope to spend tomorrow exploring the area and the next 2 nights in Lesotho, exiting via Sani Pass and home on Sunday... about 7000 km later.
