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Eastern Province - Graaff Reinet |  |
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On the N9 highway in the north-eastern part of the Eastern Cape Province. The town, known as the ‘Gem of the Karoo', is South Africa's third oldest and among its most appealing - certainly if you're interested in history and architecture. It was founded in 1786, named after the resident Cape Governor and his wife, and grew gracefully over the years - but not always peacefully. Its residents - white frontiersmen for the most part - took up arms against the Dutch East India Company's regime in far-off Cape Town and declared their own republic. The revolt collapsed shortly afterwards, when British forces invaded and occupied what was to become the Cape Colony (three other rebellions over the next few years proved equally short-lived). The town is neatly laid out and can be comfortably explored on foot, though perhaps not exhaustively - more than 200 of its buildings have been classed as ‘historic'. These range from simple, even primitive, flat-roofed Karoo pioneer-type houses to elegant Cape Dutch and Victorian edifices.
The Drostdy Beautifully designed by early French architect Louis Thibault and built (in 1806) to serve as the local magistrate's (landdrost's) chambers and residence. The complex - main homestead plus a cobbled lane edged by old slave cottages - now functions as a rather unusual and most attractive hotel. The restaurant is equally elegant, and highly recommended. Reinet Museum Housed in the Old Parsonage, built in 1812 to the classic Cape Dutch H-plan; the rooms, which have timber floors and lofty ceilings, hold some fine period furniture; also on display are domestic items from yesteryear, early fashion wear, early photographs and Bushman art. Church Street Here you'll find the Groot Kerk, the Dutch Reformed ‘Great Church', modelled on England's Salisbury Cathedral; antique shops; and the Old Library museum (displays include immensely ancient fossils; the Karoo is one of the world's palaeontological treasure-houses) Karoo Nature ReserveA 16,000-hectare wilderness established to protect the Karoo succulents, spekboom and scrub of the area. Game includes eland, springbok, mountain reedbuck, kudu and other antelope, black wildebeest and mountain zebra. The countryside is ruggedly hilly; some nice walks have been laid out. Prominent natural features include Spandau Kop and the well-named Valley of Desolation , the latter an immense and quite spectacular jumble of starkly eroded peaks, buttresses and balancing rocks overlooking the broad plains of Camdeboo. Nieuw Bethesda This tiny, picturesque hamlet, 50 kilometres to the north of Graaff-Reinet and rather lost in a time-warp, is most notable for the Owl House, onetime home to eccentric sculptor Helen Martins. Her bizarre works - of owls and other wild creatures, actual and mythical - crowd garden and veranda in haphazard fashion. If you have time to spare and a liking for the great, austere spaces of central South Africa, drive out towards the heights of the Compassberg, which dominates the horizon. Amenities You'll find the tourist information office in the main Drostdy building. Graaff-Reinet has geared itself for the tourist trade and is well served by hotels, guest-houses, B&Bs and restaurants. It has the standard range of shopping outlets.
Somerset East, Middelburg, Cradock. |
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GRAAFF REINETT Western Cape
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