Dry yes, but never boring
Fascinating towns and sights along the road less travelled
THE common denominator that comes to mind when one thinks of Bathurst, Bedford, Cradock, Hamburg and Graaff-Reinet is dull, dry and boring.
Well, you’d be right in just one of those three. Dry they are. Dull and boring? Not so much.
Travelling through the north-eastern parts of the Eastern Cape an obvious feature that stands out is the poverty that plagues communities but the vast landscapes, rolling hills and bright blue skies are a sight to behold.
As tourism month drew to a close, a group of journalists were hosted by the Eastern Cape Parks and Tourism Agency to visit some of the province’s less polished gems, hidden as they are behind their veils of dust and garnering few mentions on popular travel websites.
Let’s pretend what you are reading now is a Chappies bubblegum wrapper and we’ll play “did you know?”.
Did you know that Hamburg is home to the Keiskamma Trust, whose artists made the world-renowned tapestry called the Alterpiece?
The 4.15m×6.8 m Alterpiece portrays just some of the difficulties endured by that community when they were ravaged by the HIV/Aids pandemic in the early 2000s.
The Hamburg community took their pain and suffering and turned it into art.
The artwork became famous internationally as the world became more aware of what was happening in South Africa.
Did you know that there is a 120m tapestry at the South African Parliament in Cape Town that was also made by the Keiskamma Trust artists?
Did you know that they are often commissioned for artworks by companies, including Murray and Roberts and the Nelson Mandela Children’s Hospital?
The executive director of the trust, Thabang Meslane, said it was started 15 years ago by medical doctor Dr Carol Hofmeyr, who was also an artist.
Her empathy with the Hamburg community led her to want to help, first medically and then by starting the trust.
It continues today with the help of funders from all over the world.
“The Duke of Buccleuch, one of Britain’s richest aristocrats, has a longstanding annual appointment with us every February,” Meslane said.
However, they are always in need of additional funding or donations.
Did you know that Bathurst has one of the oldest air schools in the country? The 43 Air School was established during World War 2.
The town, located on the road between Port Alfred and Grahamstown, has a rich history. It is home to the oldest continuously licensed pub in South Africa, the Pig and Whistle, which was established in 1832.
Did you know that Bathurst Primary School is the oldest school in the country that still uses the original building as a school?
Did you know that Bedford, a town so small there is no need for traffic lights, hosts a garden festival each year in October? The area is known for its fine roses, some of which grow nowhere else, yet flourish in many gardens throughout the town.
This year, the festival will run between October 21 and 23.
You’ll find beautiful town and country gardens, crafts stalls and fine food, as well as – according to Susan Bosman, the manager at the local hotel – a Ferrari stand, where a number of the luxury vehicles will be on show.
Some of the roses on display are more than 300 years old.
Once a year, Bedford residents open up their homes for visitors to view their well maintained and colourful gardens for less than R30.
Did you know that the Bedford Hotel was established in the 19th century and now moves into modern times with the addition of a gym and heated swimming pool?
“Our hotel is usually used by business people who come to work on the wind farms [in the area]. We are working towards making it a tourist destination,” Bosman said.
There are 16 rooms, but there is no room number 13 because of the superstition of this number being unlucky.
“Planes do not have a row 13, and some buildings and hotels do not have a 13th floor either because many people are too superstitious to use it,” Bosman said.
Roze Ross is the proud owner of a five-acre garden at her home at Cavers, just outside Bedford.
“I have a wide variety of flowers, and only plants that I like. I garden according to colour. I love relaxing in my garden,” Ross said.
Her husband, Ken, has about 2 000 acres of land where his sheep, goats and cattle graze. Guest facilities at Cavers include four rooms and a family-sized cottage.
Did you know that Cradock is 800km from Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg?
Did you know that Cradock is the seventh oldest town in South Africa?
Did you know some of the houses, which have been turned into guest accommodation in the town’s Market Street, were built between 1840 and 1880?
The homes were owned by craftsmen who catered to the ox wagon trade. They were blacksmiths, saddle makers and leather makers.
The wide roads in Cradock hark back to ox wagon times when huge turning spaces were needed.
Did you know that Cradock, the festival town, will host the Fish River Canoe Marathon in October?
Every July they also have a writers’ festival.
Did you know that in one of Cradock’s cemeteries there is the grave of a man called Harry Potter, who, according to the inscription on the tombstone, died on 27 July 1910?
World-renowned author and human rights activist Olive Schreiner spent a part of her life in Cradock.
Because she was a woman writer in the 1800s no one took her work seriously so she used the pseudonym Ralph Iron.
Did you know that just a few kilometres outside Cradock there is the Mountain Zebra National Park?
It was established in the 1930s to provide a home for the endangered Cape Mountain zebra.
The park also has other wild animals like buffalo, lion, wildebeest and springbok.
Did you know that the home of artist Helen Martins in Nieu Bethesda is a museum? Martins married and divorced at a young age.
She became depressed and reclusive, painting a room in her house black, which she called the lion’s den.
Fearing her depression would consume her, she started experimenting with colour and eventually turned her home into a “visionary environment”.
Her concrete sculptures and mythical creatures, many made by her employee Koos Malgas, are a sight to behold.
As she grew older she began to lose her sight and, in 1976, at the age of 78 she committed suicide by ingesting caustic soda.
Her house, now called the Owl House, has more than 300 statues of owls, camels, pyramids, camels and people. She even has statues that portray the nativity scene.
Did you know that the Camdeboo National Park in Graaff-Reinet is home to the Valley of Desolation?
Considered by many as the “cathedral of the mountains”, it was declared a national monument in 1939. It is a dolerite rock formation which has joined to look like pillars.
If you answered no to two or more of the “did you know?” questions then maybe you should take a drive and visit some of these fascinating locations in the Eastern Cape.