Things to Do in Middelburg

Tubby is a little railway inspector’s cart formerly used to inspect the district’s rail tracks. Today it is used to take visitors on two-hour trips up Lootsberg. The views are lovely and there are opportunities to spot kudu and smaller antelope on the ride. Passionate owner Charles Kingwill is the driver and narrates the old stories of the railway on his farm Blaauwater and the surrounding area. Take a picnic basket with you to enjoy at the picnic spot. Charles Kingwill 082 573 0827

Ceramicist Charmaine Haines and her husband studio potter Martin Haines have created themselves a wonderful studio after settling in Nieu-Bethesda. They often exhibit all over South Africa but guests are always welcome to pop in and see how they create their beautiful ceramics in the studio.

You ate dust on the winding Karoo roads getting to the beautiful dorp of Nieu Bethesda? You visited Miss Helen's Owl House? Now just around the corner from the Owl House is a fascinating stop - the Bethesda Arts Centre. Here you will receive a warm welcome and a full tour. Catch a rehearsal or a starlit performance in the open air theatre.The Courtyard Theatre began its life in 2002 with a play from a visiting company about domestic abuse. The play, Behind Closed Doors, was followed by an animated discussion. The theatre was officially opened in January 2003 with a live reading of new work by Athol Fugard.After two successful productions – The Rainbull and The Conference of Birds – playing to packed houses in the Centre’s own Courtyard Theatre, the Bethesda Theatre Company was established. They have performed at the Grahamstown Festival as well as at various schools and nearby theatres. Members of the Company are encouraged to learn all facets of theatre, including writing, directing, theatre design and stage management.The Gallery A conversation between Kudus, San dancers around the fire, the extraordinary mass of rock that forms the gateway to Nieu Bethesda – the artists from the Bethesda Arts Centre are as varied and individual in subject matter as they are in style.From Hartlief’s striking animal prints to Booysen’s linear, timeless landscapes or Swiers’s spirited snapshots of daily life, each of these artists has captured something of the parched land and dusty Karoo town of Nieu Bethesda.In all of these upcoming artists, despite their varying age and experience, is a feeling of Africa, in all its richness and variety, and a sense of their place within it.Centre artists can exhibit and sell their work in the Centre’s own gallery. Income from sale of art goes directly to the artists, in many cases making it possible for them to support their families. Where can I stay? Dive under the quilts in the magical Bethesda Tower Accommodation.

Once upon a time in the tiny Karoo dorp of Nieu Bethesda... Helen Martins lay ill in bed, with the moon shining in through the window, and considered how dull and grey her life had become. She resolved, there and then, that she would strive to bring light and colour into her life. That simple decision, to embellish her environment, was to grow into an obsessive urge to express her deepest feelings, her dreams and her desires. And so the the Owl House began.Starting with the interior of her house, she used the emblems of sun-faces, owls and other images. This is all set against a luminous backdrop of walls and ceilings coated with elaborate patterns of crushed glass imbedded in bands of brightly coloured paint.Over twelve years, she and her assistant, Koos Malgas, created fthe hundreds of sculptures and relief figures that crowd the 'Camel Yard' and cover the walls of the house. Her favourite animals, owls and camels, predominate, but all manner of real and fantastical beings are to be found. A procession of shepherds and wise men lead a vast, almost life-size camel train toward an 'East' as designated by Helen Martins, and integrates Christianity with her fascination for the Orient.A stoic double-faced owl watches over the arched entranceway from the street, significantly barricaded by a tall mesh fence and a stand of tall Queen-of-the-Night cacti. Like the elaborately bottle-skirted hostesses within the yard, this arch must have been intended to welcome the visitor into her 'world', but the fence speaks plainly of an increasingly troubled relationship between Helen Martins and the outside world.

The Colesberg-Kemper Museum developed from a collection of curiosities and has grown into a fascinating store house of local history and contemporary information. This user-friendly museum is not a place where artefacts are just measured, catalogued and put away. Items are there to be looked at, talked about and stories told. It is a place where the elderly come to share their memories, newcomers and tourists seek information and children begin to appreciate and enjoy the past.The building itself is a typical example of early Karoo architecture. Built as the Colesberg Bank in 1861, it became one of the first branches of `The Standard Bank of South Africa' to be established in this country in 1863. In 1940 it housed the Municipal Offices when the present Standard Bank was built. In 1975 the old building was made available to the Historical Society and the Colesberg-Kemper Museum came into being. The old bank hall is now the busy Colesberg Information Office and the remaining rooms house the museum collection.The artefacts displayed are humble items that have little intrinsic value, but are just as important as a rare specimen to a natural history museum or a valuable painting to an art gallery. The significance is that the items depict the everyday lives of our great grandparents, our grandparents, our parents and even our own youth, successfully filling the gap that exists between local history and text-book history.There is something for everyone in the museum - ranging from fossils deposited 250 million years ago, when South Africa's first terrestrial reptiles roamed the Karoo, a contemporary Karoo Nomad photographic exhibition assembled by Professor Michael de Jongh and his colleague Riana Steyn from the Department of Anthropology UNISA, to personal stories from Colesberg's share in the struggle during the 1980’ and early 90’s.The old kitchen decorated with kitchen utensil from days gone by houses the Lilian Ngoyi ‘Karretjie’ Coffee Shop with a display of a restored Cape Cart, a 19th century horse-drawn hearse and farm implements on its door step. This is complimented with the Amachule Akwantu Arts and Craft Centre. Some of the most interesting objects and documents in the museum collection date are from the Anglo-Boer War period, when fierce battles raged around the town and many lives were lost, as the names inscribed on the graves and memorials in the Military Cemetery of the town testify.

The terrain of this incredibly scenic park varies from grass-covered plateaus to wooded ravines, providing a stunning sanctuary for the rare Cape Mountain Zebra. It is also home to herds of eland, springbuck, kudu, black wildebeest, blesbuck, Cape buffalo, red hartebeest and over 250 bird species. Smaller predators such as cheetah, caracal, brown hyena, African wildcat, bat-eared fox and aardwolf can be seen occasionally. There are opportunities for game viewing from your own vehicle, riding, walking along several nature trails, or undertaking the three day hiking trail. Visitors to the park can overnight in the rest camp’s caravan park or self-contained chalets. The park also offers a licensed restaurant, conference facilities, swimming pools, fuel pumps and a shop for provisions and souvenirs. An unforgettable experience is a stay in the Doornhoek farmstead, a National Monument dating from 1836. The house is furnished with beautiful antiques and lies hidden in a secluded valley.

Almost entirely surrounding the lovely town of Graaff-Reinet, Camdeboo National Park offers an incredibly scenic escape in the Karoo. Dating back hundreds of millions of years ago, the Karoo remains one of the great natural wonders of the world. The 19 405-hectare park provides the visitor with insights into this unique landscape and ecosystem of the Karoo. A large portion of the park is situated on the foothills of the Sneeuberg range, with a small section of low lying-plains and the Nqweba Dam. Amazing rock pillar features can be found in some places, particularly in the Valley of Desolation where dolerite pillars can reach heights of 120 metres. Animals you are most likely to spot include steenbok, springbok, blesbok, black wildebeest kudu and grey duiker. Cape buffalo, red hartebeest and gemsbok are fairly frequently seen. Cape Mountain Zebra and klipspringer may be seen in the more mountainous areas of the reserve.