Nieu Bethesda's Dutch Reformed Church The village of Nieu-Bethesda really is a special one. High on the to-do list of travelers wanting to visit the Owl House, learn more about fossils or just experience Karoo country life. It's also somewhere to go and find yourself, recharge your soul and rediscover your being. Nieu-Bethesda only had … Continue reading Road scenes of Nieu-Bethesda
The Karoo Heartland of the Eastern Cape is big sky country. The wide open spaces aren't just on the ground. You just need to look up anywhere in the Karoo and you will know what I'm talking about. Blue skies, dramatic skies, thunder clouds rolling in, stunning sunsets and stars at night like you've never … Continue reading Karoo skies
Nieu-Bethesda is famous for the Owl House and fossils you find in the area. That's not all you can see in this small Karoo Heartland village though. There's actually so much more and now it has a new addition. A couple of stone figures has made Ongeluksloot on the farm Doornberg their home and we … Continue reading The Stonefolk of Nieu-Bethesda
One of my favourite things about Nieu-Bethesda is seeing the water run through the village's water furrows. These ancient stone leivore date back to the early days of the village and supplies water to the village from a spring in the mountain above the village. Residents who have leivore running past their properties pay a … Continue reading Water furrows in the Karoo Heartland
How boring is life if one never explores? How much would we miss out on if we didn't? Nieu-Bethesda may be small but there are so many things to see and places to check out. Although I've been to the village a couple of times, the Damselfly hadn't seen much of it so I loaded … Continue reading Bini’s Tea Garden in Nieu-Bethesda
Towards the bottom of Martin Street in the village of Nieu-Bethesda stands a white Karoo house with a blue sign. blue cupboard(on the stoep)honesty shop The two words in the name that caught my eye immediately were "honesty shop". It was peculiar. Interesting. Strangely Karoo Heartland. Definitely worth checking out. On the stoep we found … Continue reading Honesty shop on the stoep
Driving on the gravel road near Nieu-Bethesda something darted across the road. "Don't hit the meerkat!" my wife shouted. "That's not a meerkat," was my response. "Don't hit the mongoose then," she said."Also not a mongoose," I answered. "It's a ground squirrel.""It does look like a squirrel," she observed. The Cape Ground Squirrel (Geosciurus inauris) is found … Continue reading Cape Ground Squirrel
While on a game drive at Samara Private Game Reserve near Graaff-Reinet in the Eastern Cape I spotted a set of tracks next to the road. Too big for an antelope and definitely not a horse or a cow as it's inside a game reserve. Possibly a buffalo? Hoofprint from a giraffe was the answer … Continue reading Giraffe spoor
Rangers are like the cowboys of a game reserve with their game viewing vehicle as their steed, a cap rather than a cowboy hat and bino's at their side in the place of a revolver. But what about the dude sitting on the bonnet jump seat? Is he the Tonto to our Lone Ranger? Who … Continue reading Tracking and double tots at Samara
Manuel de Perestrelo, a Portuguese explorer weighed anchor in a sheltered bay in 1575. He was struck with the natural beauty of what he saw and named it Bahia de Sao Francisca after the Patron Saint of Sailors, St Francis of Assissi. As legend has it, the landward side reminded him of the beautiful cloisters of … Continue reading The canals at St Francis
Firefly the Travel Guy 