I don't know how many times my tourism friends in Cradock and Somerset East have asked me if I have driven over the Swaershoek Pass yet. I just heard about the beautiful Karoo landscape and stunning views but because the route is 76km of dirt road I've been a little hesitant. But that changed recently … Continue reading Crossing the Swaershoek Pass
I struggle to pass by a small town museum if I have time on hand and time on hand I had the last time I visited the Karoo Heartland town of Somerset East. I immediately headed up to the Somerset East Museum standing in the shadow of the Boschberg Mountain at the top end of … Continue reading Exploring (and not ghost hunting) the Somerset East Museum
The Karoo Heartland town of Somerset East is a place full of interesting and quirky attractions. One of them is the Walter Battiss Art Gallery which also houses the local tourism information office. Battiss (6 January 1906 – 20 August 1982) was generally considered to be the foremost South African abstract painter but is probably … Continue reading Walter Battiss Art Gallery – the home of Fook Island
If you are flying along in a northerly direction through the Karoo Heartland on the N10, the main drag between Port Elizabeth and Cradock, do slow down a bit after you pass the first turnoff to Somerset East and keep a look out on the right hand side of the road for a cenotaph like … Continue reading Remembering the Slagtersnek hangings
I'm not much of a drinker preferring to do the sacrilegious thing of making beer shandy by throwing lemonade into a perfectly good beer. But I am known to enjoy a good beer or wine tasting so it shouldn't come as a huge surprise that I'm doing a post on a place where you can do … Continue reading Somerset East’s whiskey bar in a church
Not long ago I spent a night at Angler and Antelope Guesthouse in Somerset East. Coming out of the guesthouse on my way to dinner, the near full moon was rising in the east over clouds painted bright pink by the setting sun behind me. I rushed back to my room to grab my car … Continue reading Moonrise over pink clouds
Looking up Museum lane to the Somerset East Museum at the foot of the Boschberg. The museum is at the top of Beaufort Street with the Dutch Reformed Church at the other end.
Somerset East's historic Dutch Reformed Church stand on the main drag through town at the intersection with Beaufort Road. After the village of Somerset (with the East only being added 30 years later) was established, a need started to arise for a church. The corner stone of the church was laid in 1830 and it … Continue reading The Dutch Reformed Church in Somerset East
The town of Somerset East lies in the southern Karoo Heartland at the foot of the Boschberg mountain. Somerset East was established by Lord Charles Somerset in 1815 as an experimental farm to provide meat and fresh produce to the soldiers on the Eastern Frontier. The site was chosen over sites in the Gamtoos Valley … Continue reading The town of Somerset East
I spent a day in Somerset East recently just driving around town and visiting some of the historic building and attractions. At first I thought about just doing one post featuring it all, but because there wasn't really a story to my visit (other than the fact that I was actually there for a Karoo … Continue reading Somerset East’s beautiful Beaufort Street
Firefly the Travel Guy 