Winter Wandering Into The Great Karoo

August 15, 2022 Posted in Travel / The Honey Badger Diaries

We picked up sticks and turned our nose northeast to Graaff Reinet. To celebrate the 4th of July, we stopped for tea and cake at Sophie’s Choice, a fascinating coffee shop just south of Willowmore.

Quirky is the only word to describe this worthwhile stopover. No one can resist exploring the various outbuildings eclectically decorated. Sometimes shabby chic or over-the-top vintage, a reminder of those palatial homesteads often found en route to Oudshoorn when ostrich farming boomed. A feather boa wouldn’t be out of place here.

To top it all off, we were impressed with all the plates coming from the kitchen. We had apple tart and cream, but other diners enjoyed brunch and later an early lunch. Dishes were prettily garnished and looked well prepared and tasty by the looks on diners’ faces.

After a leisurely walk around the gardens, we pushed on, hoping to set up camp in Willowmore. Do take note: the restuarant has has moved and sits on the left side of the road when travelling to Willowmore just after the pass. Because the restuarant is still listed in Willowmore according to TripAdvisor one can be confused.

Willowmore's colourful main road looked promising, and we were impressed by the number of restaurants, coffee shops and cafes on Main Street. I loved the mule driven cart parked ready to ferry passengers across town.

Unfortunately, the campsites, there are two, did not float my boat. It was early afternoon, and we decided to move on to Graaff Reinet. Looking back I do regret not giving the village another chance but at the time we thought we'd do better elsewhere. Next time.

---oOo---

Driving into Graaff Reinet is like journeying back in time. The town lies along the Sundays River, in the arid upland plateau called the Great Karoo, a boundless and mysterious area covered by vast livestock and game farms, where broad plains roll away to distant koppies and multilayered mountains that seem to touch the indigo sky.

The majestic Victorian Dutch reformed church still guards at the end of the Main road. Graaff Reinet is particularly proud of three buildings: The Drostdy, The Town Hall, and the Dutch Reformed Church. Don’t forget this town has over 200 historic buildings! The Drostdy Hotel was designed by Louis Michel Thibault and built-in 1804.

Graaff-Reinet is home to more national monuments than any other town or city in South Africa and proudly displays heritage buildings celebrating Cape Dutch gables and Victorian Brookie lace. It is also a flourishing agricultural produce market, noted for its mohair industry and sheep and ostrich farming.

Graaff-Reinet is the fourth oldest town in South Africa and had its origins as a far-flung frontier settlement at the very limits of the old Cape Colony and the sixth-oldest town in South Africa, after Cape Town, Stellenbosch, Simon’s Town, Paarl and Swellendam.

We didn’t linger in the village, just stocked up on some groceries, fresh vegetables and fruit before heading off to the Camdeboo National Park, where we camped for three nights.

---oOo---

It is hard not to say wow when entering this well-run national park. Camdeboo National Park.

“One feels a humbling sense of awe when standing on the towering dolerite columns overlooking the vast Karoo plains. Particularly so when you find yourself at eye level with a magnificent soaring black eagle and pause to contemplate that these pillars, rising to heights of up to 120 meters, were formed by volcanic and erosive forces for 200 million years. This is the breathtaking Valley of Desolation in the Camdeboo National Park, which virtually surrounds the town of Graaff-Reinet. Also known as the Cathedral of the Mountains, the site was declared a national monument of geological and scenic significance in 1935. The road to the top of the valley was tarred in 1978 and today provides tourists with easy access to the viewpoints with panoramic views of the landscape of the Camdeboo and further afield.

The park is filled with activities for nature lovers and adventure seekers. This includes the picnic and braai sites, 4x4 trails, short and long hiking trails, mountain biking, game viewing, birding and watersports, and fishing at Nqweba Dam.” From the website. We were lucky to spot a herd of black Wildebeest (Swartwildebeest) swishing their tails in greeting.

We settled into holiday mode, went for game drives, slept in late, watched the sun set golden over the plains and did nothing (that was on my bucket list!). During an unexpected thunderstorm, we drew our duvet up over our heads, spooned and were thankful we didn’t have anything to do. My mushroom risotto was delicious! Fact to remember: All mushrooms are edible, some only once!

The campsite was well supported, and while we were there, many holidaymakers stopped and set up camp for the night before heading off to other destinations. We will return when we travel north. We didn’t make reservations.

On two occasions, we went into Graaff Reinet, and on one, we enjoyed breakfast at the landmark Drosdty Hotel – I was a little disappointed. Lunch at the Pioneers Restaurant and Pub. In future . Locals loved it, though; the street was chock-a-block with cars and bakkies! Service was slow, and many items on the menu weren’t in stock. The only saving grace was that I was treated, and my fajita was rather enjoyable. (I am very easy to please!) In future I’ll not pin all my hopes on TripAdvisor

Have you ever experienced a conversation that doesn’t make sense at all, making you doubt your hearing? I did. Butch, on enquiring about my meal, asked me, “How’s your Peter Burn---? Instead of Pita bread (which wasn’t what I had in any event.) Bizarre. It was time to hit the road.