KAROO PLANS SECOND TOWNSHIP ROUTE

Residents of Prince Albert’s North End township have begun planning a tourist route. This follows the successful launch of the Kwa-Mandlenkosi Township Tourist Route in Beaufort West. “We have long wanted to share our history and culture with visitors to the town”, says Ds Cyril Afrika, chairman of the town’s development committee. “We plan to incorporate this route into existing tourist routes and trails in and around the town. We would like to introduce visitors to our talented crafters, invite them to spend a night or two in a North End B&B and to listen to some of the local stories. Coloured people are great story-tellers and I am convinced that overseas visitors will find such a route a meaningful experience”, says Ds Afrika.

ERKENNING VIR OEWERKONYNBEWARIAS

Kaapse Natuurbewaring gaan eersdaags erkenning gee aan twee nuwe oewerkonyn bewarias in die Karoo. Hulle is die Hillandale/Kromrivier- sowel as die Sakrivierspoortbewaria. Erkenning sertifikate sal uitgereik word tydens ‘n oewerkonyn bewaringsprojek ope dag in Loxton op 21 November. By die selfde geleentheid sal ‘n Groot Karoobewaria Forum gestig word. Albei bewarias strek oor heelwat plase waar boere nou gaan saam werk om die uitsterwe van hierdie seldsame spesies te verhoed. Na ure se loop in die veld van die Sakrivierspoort gebied onlangs, het Chrizette Kleinhans van Natuurbewaring vier oewerkonyne gesien. Sy was absoluut verheug. “Dit mag na min klink maar hierdie spesies is so bedreig dat elke een wat ons sien amper ‘n rede is om fees te vier”, sê sy. Die enigste plek in die wêreld waar hierdie diertjies voorkom is in die Beaufort-Wes/Victoria-Wes gebied.

STREET CHILDREN OFF TO SCHOOL

Unemployment in the hinterland is rife. Often street children in places like Beaufort West have little alternative but to beg. This has a negative effect on tourism. So visitors tend to avoid stopping in the small towns that so badly need their financial contributions rather than be surrounded by groups of begging urchins. In Beaufort West the problem reached alarming proportions with businessmen constantly appealing to the mayor “to do something”. Meetings and open discussions were held to try to solve the problem. Then mayor Truman Prince and his councillors came up with a bright idea. The tiny hamlet of Nelspoort, only 40km away, had a school with vacancies and boarding facilities, so it was decided to send the urchins to school. “It was not quite as easy as it sounds”, says Councillor Prince. “We first had to approach the school, permission had to be obtained from the Department of Social Welfare and the children badly needed clothes”. All permission was granted. The Red Cross Society in Cape Town solved the clothing problem and soon 23 children found themselves in the classroom. “They seem to be enjoying it”, says Councillor Prince, a former teacher. “Our council will monitor their progress and find ways of keeping them off the streets during holidays. The problem of adult beggars is now also receiving attention. We are planning to create projects to get them off the streets as well”.

OVERNIGHT STOP ON BUSY N1

Travellers on the N1 through the Karoo can now also overnight on a farm 23km north of Laingsburg. The homestead on Oskopvlakte, an old family farm run by Adriaan and Charlotte Botes, has been restored. The original house, built by Adriaan’s grandfather, eventually fell into disrepair. “The house stood vacant for over 30 years as no one lived on the farm”, says Adriaan. “My father only used the land for grazing. Then Charlotte and I decided to move to the farm, restore the house and live in it. We didn’t know what we were letting ourselves in for”. The house had begun to crumble with age and disuse. “We virtually had to rebuild it, but now that it’s finished, we’re very proud of what we have achieved”. While renovating the old homestead, Adriaan decided to attach a guest wing to the main house. Here the couple now offer bed and breakfast. The guest wing has four bedrooms, each with a double and single bed. There are two bathrooms, two showers, toilets, and a separate dining area. “We supply suppers and other meals on request”, says Charlotte.

NUUT EN BETYDS VIR DIE SEISOEN

Vyf splinternuwe, oop-plan woonstelle is onlangs bekend gestel vir toeriste in Beaufort-Wes. Viltra Inn se self-versorgende eenhede bied gemaklike ten volle gemeubileerde akkommodasie met veilige parkering agter ‘n geslote hek aan. Drie van die kamers het ‘n enkel en ‘n dubbel bed, terwyl die ander twee twee enkel beddens en ‘n dubbel bed het. AOns verskaf eetgery, linne en handdoeke”, sê die bestuurder mev Marie Claassen. AOns bied ‘n 24-uur diens en billike tariewe. Die woonstelle is net langs die swembad en gaste kan uitstappies op die koppie en al langs die damwal geniet”.

TWO B&Bs ON AFRICAN DREAM ROUTE

Beaufort West now has two B&B’s offering a township experience. They are part of the 21st and shortest Afrikatourism route in Open Africa’s African Dream Project. Nobantu’s B&B, in Beaufort West’s Kwa-Mandlenkosi Township, is run by Elizabeth Ngondo and Bonisa Dyasi Here visitors can enjoy a stylish, true African stopover. They will be able to experience Aubuntu”, the true caring and sharing culture of Black South Africans as they relax in comfortable surroundings and a beautiful garden in the heart of a typical hinterland township. Comfort and African foods is also a drawcard at Nonkululeko’s B&B. This belongs to Nonkululeko “Gladys” Mditshwa, whose lilting name means freedom. Nonkululeko, a dynamic woman of unshakeable faith and profound commitment, played a major role helping to create the Kwa-Mandlenkosi Township Tourist Route. “I am a firmly believer in focussing and clear thinking to achieve ideals”, says Nonkululeko. She has not faltered on her path from domestic servant through tea-maker and cleaner at a local bank to now meet the challenges of the tourist market. Devastated when left to fend for five school-going children on her own, Nonkululeko worked hard to provide for their education. Today all have university degrees thanks to the efforts of this woman whom locals call “the queen of courage and commitment”.

MEER PLEK IN DIE HEL

Vyf bouvallige ou huisies in Gamkaskloof, Die Hel, het nuwe lewe gekry. Danksy ‘n uitgebreide restourasie proses, aangepak met R1,5-miljoen, wat deur die Wes-Kaap Regering bewillig is, is die huise so na as moontlik aan oorspronklik gerestoureer. Enkele moderniserings soos badkamers en warm water is aangebring om besoekers se gemak te verseker. Toeriste wat die geheime van Gamkaskloof will ontdek kan nou in hierdie nuut-gerestoureerde huisies oornag Ander strukture is gestabiliseer totdat fondse gevind is om aandag aan hulle te gee. ‘n Inligtingsinsamelling projek is ook van stapel gestuur.

OFFENDED BY THE TRAPPERS

“I find Rose’s Round-up informative and entertaining. It is a delight to read. But I was most disappointed at the coverage you gave in September to the American Trappers visited Prince Albert”, writes reader Pierre Massyn of L’Agulhas. “As far as I am concerned, trapping is an unbelievably cruel abomination and trappers should not be tolerated in any country. I find it undignified and shameful to trap animals that rely on their instincts and do not stand a chance against man’s deadly technology”.

ROLE OF SPORT IN RECONCILIATION BEING TRACED

A British researcher is taking a close look at sport during the Anglo-Boer War as a basis for his master’s thesis. “I am also researching the effect of sport, particularly rugby and cricket, on reconciliation”, says Dean Allen. He has been in South Africa for eight months and his research has taken him to Stellenbosch University, the War Museum in Bloemfontein and many platteland towns. “I previously studied Afrikaner nationalism and rugby from 1899 to 1948”, he says. “Then I explored the historical relationship between the British and the Afrikaner people. Now I am continuing the theme of sports history and sociology. I am concentrating on the period from 1899 to 1902, but looking at the years just before and after the war. The role of sport in the reconciliation and rebuilding of both English-speaking and Afrikaner communities in South Africa is thus also of interest to me. Little seems to have been written on sport in the platteland in those years. The 1901 cricket tour to Britain, organised by James Douglas Logan, Laird of Matjiesfontein, and the rugby tours of 1903 and 1906 are also of interest”, he says. Apart from sport Dean is also interested in other aspects of the Anglo-Boer War. He is studying the conflict in general, relationships, antagonisms and families torn apart by the conflict.

HOE ‘KOETMAN’ VIVIER SY NAAM GEKRY HET

Tydens die Boereoorlog het ou Oom Wynand Vivier van Boermanskop dikwels voorraad soos groente en vrugte vir die Britse troepe in Beaufort-Wes aangery. ADie taak het hy uit die goedheid van sy hart gedoen en niks vir sy dienste gevra nie”, vertel sy seun, ook Wynand Vivier. ADie kakies het sy gebaar waardeer. Na elke vrag netjies en sorgvuldig afgelaai is, het die bevelvoerende offisier vir pa bedank met die woorde: ‘Thank you my good man.’ Maar pa kon nie ‘n woord Engels verstaan nie. By die huis het hy vir ma en ‘n paar vriende vertel dat die offisier hom ‘koetman’ noem. As ‘n grap het hulle dit ook begin doen en kort voor lank is ‘Koetman’ Vivier heel bekend. Die naam het by hom gebly tot sy dood in 1945”. Hierdie is een van die stories wat navorsers van plaas geskiedenis in en om die Karoo Nasionale Park ontdek het. Oom Wynand vertel ook dat daar in sy kinderdae ‘n skooltjie op Boesmanskop was. AKinders van al die plase in die omgewing is daarna toe gestuur. Baie Maandag oggende moes ek pap vir die hele spul en hul ouers maak. Die grootmense het eers by ons ‘gebrekvis’ voor hulle huistoe gery het”.

A CLOSER LOOK AT MURRAYSBURG’S DOCTOR MUSKETT

The story of Murraysburg’s beloved medical man who gave ‘Dokterskoppie” its name (Rose’s Round-up July 2001) prompted historical researcher Dr Elizabeth van Heyningen to check early medical registers. “James Joseph Muskett qualified in London in 1857 with MRCS and LSA degrees”, she say. According to records in Murraysburg, he arrived in South Africa and set up a practise in Murraysburg on August 3, 1859, left for Knysna in 1862, but was encouraged to return to Murraysburg in 1878. “Muskett is registered as practising in Murraysburg in 1879, the earliest year for which I keep records”, says Elizabeth. “The registers indicate that he moved to Knysna again in 1880”. Dr Muskett’s great interest in Karoo ecology led to his laying out a botanical walk now known as the “Dokterskoppie” route. “His name disappears from the medical registers of the Cape Colony in 1895, but these show two young Musketts who also qualified as doctors. They are Joseph Herbert and Edwin. They appear to have been sons of Murraysburg’s beloved doctor”, says Elizabeth. “Joseph Herbert qualified as a doctor in 1875 and for a time also seems to have worked in Murraysburg. He left the Colony, quite likely with his father. Perhaps, like many other doctors at the time, they moved to the Transvaal”, says Elizabeth.

HOW TO MAKE A LIONESS SAY ‘CHEESE”

The compiler of a recent book on the life of a lioness has close ties with the Karoo. Henriette Engelbrecht, former information officer at the Karoo National Park, near Beaufort West and now with the Kalahari Gemsbok Park has just published a book on the daily activities of a lioness. “It proves tourists can take much better photos than they think”, she says. “A local amateur photographer, Piet Heymans, has spent nine years recording the everyday movements of a lioness. From typical roadside spots used by tourists he took over 5 000 superb pictures We decided to collaborate and produce Ousus van die Kalahari, to encourage amateur photographers”, she says. This a 144-page glossy album costs R160 and contains some stunning photographs.

A SAFE HAVEN FOR GHOSTS IS …

Even the occult is not safe from the growing intrusion of electronic devices. Experts now say cell phones are killing ghosts. However, in the Great Karoo there are several safe havens for the “creatures … who come from deserts of the dead ..”. One such place in the Swartberg Mountains is Gamkaskloof, or The Hell. According to a Reuters report in the Sunday Times of October 21, 2001, a UK expert on the occult, Tony Cornell, of the Society for Physical Research, says; “Ghost sightings remained constant for centuries … but with the introduction of mobile ‘phones 15 years ago, sightings declined to the point where now we are receiving none”. Paranormal events, which some scientists put down to electrical activity, are apparently drowned out by the electronic noise produced by cell phones, says the report. All of this leaves ghosts of The Hell and other far flung corners in the Karoo untouched. In these places cell phones have the communications power of a stone.

… WHERE THE HEADLESS BABOON ROAMS

With a nickname like The Hell, Gamkaskloof would seem an ideal place to find ghosts. And so it is. Old-timers point to the remains of a hearth in the lonely ruins of a once humble abode. “There”, they say, “when conditions are right, such as on moonless nights, an old woman can be heard complaining bitterly amid the clatter of pots and plates. She just never stops. Nothing is ever done to her satisfaction. Things really hot up when the old man weaves his way home from sampling the local brew with friends further down the narrow, winding road”. Then there is a house near which horses refuse to be tethered. On the road through the valley is a spot where there once was a heavy gate, the scene of a vicious fight at about the turn of the 20th century. Even today horses spook here easily. Long ago in the days when the valley was still farmed, a young man for some mysterious reason hanged himself from the branch of a stout tree. Today, those who know say if you stand around in the quiet of a dark night, he will at times approach for a chat about his troubles. The Hell is home to other creatures from the “deserts of the dead, where no bird sings”, but the clincher is a dirty great headless baboon that has the unsettling habit of loping out of the blackness dragging a length of chain.

SPOOKWA GEBRUIK NOG LANGVERGETE OU WAPAD

Toeriste in die Karoo word dikwels met spookstories vermaak op donkermaannagte. Die spookwa van Trompsgraf is ‘n gewilde een. Trompsgraf, eers bekend as Hoeksplaats, lê langs ‘n ou plaas pad wat in die 19e eeu gewild was onder transportryers in die Victoria-Wes/Carnarvon gebied. Louie Stander van Stellenbosch vertel: AEens op ‘n luilekker Karoodag het ‘n swaargelaaide wa stadig oor die pad gekreun. Agter op die wa het ‘n man met die naam Tromp rustig gelê en slaap. Soos meeste paaie van die tyd was dié een ook baie hompelrig. Skielik, net naby Hoekplaats se opstal, het die wa ‘n yslike klip getref. Die slag het Tromp van die bak afgegooi en voor enigeen die wa kon stop het ‘n wiel oor Tromp se kop geloop. Hy is op slag gedood en toe net daar langs die wapad begrawe. Maar volgens plaaslike mense het Tromp nooit tot ruste gekom nie”. Oor die jare is ‘n spookwa gereeld op die ou pad gesien. ADit beweeg vanaf die heuwelrug naby Karenza oor die lae deel van die Pramberge by Kweekwa en dan regs van die ou Hoekplaats opstal, nou bekend as Trompsgraf en dan verdwyn dit”, sê Louie. Mettertyd is landerye naby Tromp se graf uitgelê. Almal is baie versigtig om nie naby die graf te ploeg nie. AEen agtermiddag toe ‘n hewige storm aan die broei was het die boer van Trompsgraf ‘n volgelaaide wa sien aankom. Hy het sy seun gevra om te perd te ry om die mense in die wa te waarsku van sleg plekke in die pad. Net toe die seun wou opsaal het die wa verdwyn”. Tot vandag toe word die wa af en toe gesien. Party aande is dit net die gekreun van wawiele en die gesnork van osse wat gehoor word, op ander word die wa self met swaaiende lanterntjie duidelik langs die langvergete pad gesien.

NEW LIQUOR LAW

The new Liquor Act becomes effective in January 2002. All tourism venues that provide liquor will have to acquire a licence by June 2002. In terms of the Act, only places with valid licences may sell liquor. Also, all vendors will be required to keep a register of sales. The cost of a licence, for which there will be an annual renewal fee, will be about R4 600. Licences will lapse if they are not renewed.