Once upon a time, near George, in the Western Cape, South Africa, there was an area called Hoogekraal, whose leader was the Khoikhoi, Kaptein Dikkop.
Category: South African History
Friemersheim
Friemersheim in the Western Cape, South Africa, is the home to wonderful murals on many houses.
The Bridges at Kei Bridge
The second bridge which had served as the rail bridge over the Vaal River at Fourteen Streams, near Warrenton in the Northern Cape, was dismantled and erected over the Kei River. This historic bridge at Fourteen Streams saw skirmishes during the Anglo Boer War and for a while, it became a Boer stronghold, when the English stationed there, withdrew to Kimberly.
The Sao Joao Tragedy
This was the undoing of Dona Leonor. Having survived a walk of over a thousand kilometres through African bush and jungle, hunger, and all sorts of hardships that a noble woman had never dreamed of in her worst nightmares of ever enduring, her nakedness was the last straw. She buried herself in the sand, refused to move, and she and her children died of starvation. Her husband, who seemingly had gone mad from his wife’s actions, disappeared into the wilds and was never seen again.
Graskop Gorge, Panorama District, Mpumalanga, South Africa.
The Graskop Gorge Lift Company has ensured that a good part (but not all) of the amazing winding boardwalk at the bottom of the Graskop Gorge is accessible to everybody.
Bourke’ Luck Potholes, Mpumalanga, South Africa
Mpumalanga is well known for being an ‘overdose of prettiness’ – it doesn’t matter where you go, there is always a sight to marvel at.
Bourke’s Luck Potholes is no different. This amazing river gorge which is part of the Blyde River Canyon opening is nothing short of awe inspiring.
A Crazy Idea: Sir Conan Doyle and an attempted salvage of the Grosvenor treasure.
A crazy idea: the attempted salvage of the Grosvenor treasure What does the Wild Coast of South Africa and Sherlock Holmes have in common? What does an Anglo Boer War doctor and Sherlock Holmes’ nemesis, Moriarty have in common? The answer is Conan Doyle, as in Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle KStJ, DL (1859 –… Continue reading A Crazy Idea: Sir Conan Doyle and an attempted salvage of the Grosvenor treasure.
Deelfontein: Home of the Imperial Yeomanry Hospital
Mrs Google Maps when getting the directions to Deelfontein must have been playing broken telephone, because we took a seriously long scenic route. But hey, I don’t do lost, so we enjoyed the Karoo scenery. Flat land. The odd koppie (small flat topped mountain). Sand. Springbokke. Knee high scrub bush. Repeat. Repeat again.
Pondoland, Transkei and the tragedy of the SS Mendi.
‘You are going to die, but that is what you came to do… let us die like warriors. We are the sons of Africa. Raise your war cries, my brothers, for though they made us leave our assegais [spears] back in the kraals [villages], our voices are left with our bodies.’
Traveling again? Galavanting with Kathryn Costello 