Towns of the great nothing in the Karoo Heartland

The Eastern Cape Karoo is way off the regular tourist track. Looking at a few of the towns, it’s easy to see why, but Robyn Daly stumbled upon some gems which we’re definitely missing out on.

When I look at a map of South Africa there are names that seem to reach off the page and beckon with a finger as gnarled as the Noupoort Pass. They are odd names, such as Tarkastad. What stad? Exactly. And Middelburg – middle of? Someone on the journey to the centre of nowhere was smoking their socks, I’d say, though all I know about Middelburg is it’s in backwater, hillbilly country. Well, that was until I went there.

You can see where this is going. One oddball day not long ago, I was looking at a forgotten corner of a province that’s all but been swept under the tourist carpet. Every place – even one as droll sounding as Hofmeyr – must have something interesting about it. So, armed with a new Nissan X-Trail (though you don’t need a 4×4 for the a squeak – rather likearea), my map, a drawing pin and a donkey’s tail, I set off to pin the tail on a ‘donkey’ called the Eastern Cape Karoo.

Beyond the frontier of Graaff-Reinet lie plains of silver-green-grey grass. They sweep expansively as if sucking in great breaths for an operatic prelude. But looking at a village such as Oviston, a monument to the prefabricated era, it would seem that the plains make much ado about nothing and the prelude fizzles out in to a pop and watching Pop Idols.

First stop was Mountain Zebra National Park, then on through Cradock and Hofmeyr to Burgersdorp, Venterstad and Oviston. After a quick about-turn I was on the road to Middelburg and chasing a threatening storm to Nieu Bethesda to complete a rough circle.
Tarkastad
The most noteworthy things about Tarkastad are its twin peaks, Martha and Mary.
Tarkastad itself is suffering the effects of the village version of Cooper’s
droop. Where once gardens were well tended and an island along the main road
was overflowing with flowers, now it’s run-down, dusty and a bit of a has-been.

Still, it has broekie-lace, cast-iron lampposts and an Anglo Boer War memorial
to add interest.

More information: Phone 045-846-0324 or fax 045-846-0025.

Where to stay: Don’t, but head out of town to Redcliffe Farm on the
R344 between Tarkastad and Adelaide. Self-catering in a lovely old farmhouse
costs from R125 a person a night. Phone 045-848-0152.

Rating: 2

Burgersdorp
Burgersdorp started out being called the town of Klipdrift. I’d like to think
there’s a legend that all the townsfolk drank far too much of that famous brown
liquor, became best of neighbours and renamed the town Burgersdorp, but it just
wouldn’t be true. It is a friendly, neighbourly town, of course, and plenty
of the good stuff flows, most notably at the Hagenhuis, a cosy pub-cum-restaurant-cum-curio-shop.

Burgersdorpers pride themselves in their town’s history – which has a highly
intellectual bent to it. A theological seminary was founded in 1861 by the Dutch
Reform Church (later moved to Potchefstroom) and Burgersdorp was central in
securing the place of the Afrikaans language in South Africa – there’s a memorial
to this in the town.

The area’s history goes back further than a few hundred years though. Burgersdorp
is slap-bang in the middle of fantastic rock-art sites. Some of the paintings
have been dated back around 27000 years.

Accommodation is plentiful and of a good country town standard.

More information: Contact Burgersdorp municipality for tourism information
on phone 051-653-1738, fax 051-653-0056.

Where to stay: Dusk to Dawn: B&B rates are R180 a person sharing
a night, phone/fax 051-653-0086. The Nook B&B is R115 a person sharing a
night. Phone/fax 051-653-1318.

Rating: 3

Oviston
At first I thought I’d go to Venterstad as I couldn’t believe the townspeople
of Burgersdorp that there was nothing there. Then I arrived – and carried straight
on to Oviston. The truth is, neither the dusty plastic-bag-strewn Venterstad
nor the pre-fab houses of Oviston held any appeal. This is not to insult the
locals, it’s just that as touring stopovers, they were far off the mark.

Strange to say then, that Oviston is a holiday town for Vrystaters and Eastern
Capers. It’s a water-ski resort too, pitched as it is on the banks of the Gariep
Dam. For water-sport lovers with twin outboards, breaking this massive stretch
of water and great engulfing silence with the drone of 60 horsepower must be
appealing . Not being partial to the DIY enemas that water skiers enjoy, I pushed
on, after popping into the local café for a packet of chips, loaf of
bread and the latest Huisgenoot – about all there is to buy besides tinned
pilchards.

But on the way out, the Oviston Nature Reserve caught my eye. It has an alluring
backdrop of Karoo scrub and knobbly koppies, which are home to various antelope
species, making it well worth a look-in.

More information: None – there is no tourist information service.

Where to stay: Idube Lodge – there’s a self-catering house you can book
for your family or share with others. Prices start from R115 a person sharing.

Phone/fax 051-655-0102.

Rating: 5 (if you are a water baby); 1 (if not)

Middelburg
Once a seriously die-hard frontier town where chewing tobacco was for sissies
and real farmers gnawed old veldskoens, Middelburg is so named because it lies
in the centre of a circle formed by the nearby towns of Graaff-Reinet, Craddock,
Steynsburg, Colesberg, De Aar and Richmond.

Middelburg seems to have gone soft in the centre and carries a paunch of fairly
well-to-do townsfolk, chain stores and craft shops, though you can still pick
up a chewing riempie (or a good boer saddle) at GDE Leather.

Of interest within the town are a water pump, Queen Victoria’s idea of a gift
in 1887, and the Burger Monument to honour the Boers who died in the Anglo Boer
War. There are hiking trails, some wonderful rock art on the farms and rafting
on the Great Brak River.

About the most visitor-friendly town in the eastern Karoo, Middelurg has pubs,
restaurants, a hotel and B&Bs with wallet-friendly prices occupying the
full spectrum from grotty to great.

More information: Middelburg Karoo Tourism, phone/fax 049-842-2188.

Where to stay: My Home Your Home B&B. The hospitality is as the
name suggests and even headache pills are provided for guests along with tea
and coffee and an honesty bar. Visitors can book single rooms, en suite doubles
or the entire house. Rates start from R90
a person a night sharing. Phone 049-842-2072.

Rating: 3

Nieu-Bethesda
If Tarkastad and Venterstad are at one end of the places-to-go scale, Nieu-Bethesda
is at the other. What a sad, poignant town it is, imbued as it is with the lonely
spirit of naive artist Helen Martins.

The irony of the place is not lost on visitors – Nieu-Bethesda would be nothing
if not for the work of outcast Miss Helen. Her garden is a wonder-world of sculptures
and lights – made of dull grey cement and broken glass.

Visitors can walk through Helen Martins’s Camel Yard and Owl House, which for
a lonely, single person, has more beds in it than a family of five or six would
need – and therein lies another sad irony.

The village is as picturesque as a country village might be, with none of the
commercial clap-trap which the other small towns in this part of the Karoo have
collected. Pop into the art galleries, craft shops and old trading stores. For
something more active there are rock-art expeditions into the surrounding Sneeuberg
and hiking trails on Kompasberg.

More information: Eastern Cape Tourism, phone 041-585-8922 or fax 041-586-1531.

Where to stay: There are plenty of B&Bs and farm cottages around.
For something different stay in the water tower at the Owl House Backpackers.
It’s basic but quaint. Rates are R110 a person sharing a night, phone 049-841-1642
or fax 049-841-1657.

Rating: 4

Mountain Zebra National Park
As one of the smaller national parks, Mountain Zebra doesn’t get nearly the
credit it deserves. It is spectacularly beautiful countryside with rugged mountains
that glow like King Solomon’s heaps of gold coins at sunrise and sunset.

The reserve was started in 1937 as a sanctuary for the endangered mountain
zebra. In the beginning it was largely rough mountainous terrain, but the zebras
(despite their name) didn’t fare well and numbers remained much the same until
South Africa National Parks bought adjacent farms which sprawled over the lovely
grass plains. The zebras moved off the mountains, onto the plains and began
to breed and breed and breed. So much for being mountain equines.

The park has tranquil walks which won’t tax muscles on holiday. There is a
swimming pool and restaurant; the self-catering accommodation is clean and well
cared for.

More information: South African National Parks reservations, phone 012-428-9111
or visit the website at http://www.parks-sa.co.za.

Where to stay: Camp sites cost R65 a night for two people and a self-catering
cottage starts from R300 a night.

Rating: 5