Northern Cape Escapades

I have been home for the past month and loving every moment of it. During this time, I had the chance to travel the Northern Cape of SA, a landmass that can be cruel to its people with drought and desertification always a fear. A few 100km's past Springbok is often called the Boesmanland but no one really know its boundaries. Salt mines are a common thing here. Legends circulate these lands and Borrie and I had the chance to chase some of these stories.

Before I met Borrie, I had the chance to visit a good friend from London days at their farm close to Garries. Stella is a keen photographer and teaches for a living. She told me so many stories about the farm and the Namakwaland people and so visiting them seemed natural to me. Oom Gert is also a renowned writer and the author of two excellent books, Vonke uit die Koeroeklip and As Murasies kon Praat. These are real stories of real people going about their peculiar lives. The evening we ate the Bushdoves that Nelis shot accompanied with sheep heart, liver, udder, kidney and other delicacies. I also had the opportunity to shoot my first of 5 Steenbok and went through the blood drink and raw kidney initiation. Great success!

Catholic Church, Pella, Northern Cape, SA

So I met Borrie in Springbok and after some sundowners on the N7, we drove through to Klein-Pella for the night. Waking up to the smell of fresh coffee gave us inspiration for the day. Here we had the chance to visit one of the most legendary SA religious landmarks found by a the gravel road town of Pella. Imagine this: The little cathedral was built from a photograph and none of the builders had adequate experience at the time. But it stills stands strong after 127 years and hopefully will do for some time to come. We drove along hundreds of kilometer's gravel road passed town and farms with the most bizzare name. These included: Keep Faith, Hope Lost, etc. We crossed some picturesque passes studded with the remains of the wild flower season that attract many nature lovers to these remote areas. Now there was this legendary guy, Johnny, hanging around in Vanrhynshoop. He is as Afrikaans as they come, but he tried to convince Borrie and I that he was from Durban and he wanted money to meet a relative. We offered that we will help him if he can find the missing registration plate (which we lost on the gravel roads) and he was quick to roll under the bakkie and examine, only to reply that he couldn't find it! We agreed to settle the beggar/ giver relationship by given him two oranges for lunch.

Walter and Johnny

Unwelcome morning sun

But before me looms the past 6 months' planning and the idea that it is now just 7 days ahead of me is kinda scary. Its all well and good to have this time mapped out, but the fear of the unknown can be quite overwhelming at times. I think that the best way to get past this fear is to live between the parameters of sensibility but also not to be prejudice in my view of the land and people.

All in all; an adventure of a lifetime lies ahead and I can't wait to get my teeth stuck into it.

PS: Any suggestions for good, entertaining reading material? I had in mind to read Tolstoy's War and Peace but wondering if it wont be too deep :|

written by

afrikawasbeer on October 1, 2009 from Cape Town, South Africa

from the travel blog: Traveling Africa Overland

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