Oudtshoorn's CP Nel Museum

The CP Nel Museum in Oudtshoorn is one of the top town museums in South Africa with a fantastic range of exhibits representing the history of the town and surrounding area.  Most visitors pass through town on their way to the ostrich farms or Cango Caves and never see this Klein Karoo gem, but the few who do stop gets to learn so much more about the area.

The museum owes its origin to the private collection of colonel Charles Paul Leonard Nel, successful local businessman and collector of antiquities.  He's collection was so valuable that by 1938 it had received full recognition from the Historical Monument Commission.  When he passed away in 1950 the newly constituted Board of Trustees took over administration of the collection.  In 1972 the C.P. Nel collection was brought to its present home, the C.P. Nel Museum on Baron van Rheede Street.  The sandstone building with its prominent clock tower was designed by Charles Bullock and erected in 1906 during the so-called second "ostrich feather boom".  Before the museum took it over it used to be the Oudtshoorn Boy's High School and taking it over saved the building from demolition.

 

In the main hall the cultural and natural historic aspects of the ostrich are depicted.  The exhibit takes visitors back to the ancient history of the ostrich where it was first discovered ten thousand years ago, carved into rock in the Sahara desert. The ostrich is known as the biggest bird in the world, but is unfortunately unable to fly because of its weight. It can run sixty to seventy km/h and weighs between ninety and a hundred kilograms.  The collection includes a big variety of feathers and feather products, something that played a big roll in the early boom of Oudtshoorn.

As you walk through the museum you encounter a street scene that includes an unique chemist as it was known in 1895.  The pharmacist himself mainly produced medicine making use of a Pill Machine, described as a pill roller and cutter. 

 

The CP Nel Museum also boasts the only Synagogue to be situated in a museum with an Ark that is one of the tallest in South Africa.  What makes the Synagogue so amazing is the fact that it's still being used.

For those who appreciate the finer things in life, the museum's collection of porcelain and glass will make a statement.  The original designs of Willow-Pattern crockery (1850), Cranberry crockery (1880) and Earthenware, originating in Tzechoslovakai (1918) surely enjoy the attention of most tourists.

Even though there are so much more to see in the museum which also includes a natural history side, the last display I want to show is one of a typical 1911 sales store.  Older folks would remember stores like this with the kids of today having never seen anything like it.

So next time you pass through Oudtshoorn for any reason, make sure you at least pop into the museum for a look at the town's fascinating past.

Wilgewandel - something for the whole family

 

In all the years working as a tourist guide I drove past Wilgewandel near the Cango Caves countless times and never stopped.  It wasn't that I didn't want to, but there was just never time on a busy itinerary.  I often just referred to it as the place with the camel rides.  That was until a visit to the Cango Caves with the family while on holiday.  Drama Princess really wanted to ride a camel and the nagging started when we passed Wilgewandel on our way to the caves already.  Leaving the caves the tone of nagging became more consistent and there was no way I could drive past without having a major meltdown on the back seat.  And   that I stopped is quite evident in the fact that Drama Princess is sitting on the first camel in the top picture. Camel ride ticked off her very young bucket list.

 

What I did find out from my visit was that Wilgewandel is so much more than just the camel ride place between Oudtshoorn and the Cango Caves.  They have a host activities suitable for both big and small and all at very reasonable rates.  When we arrived I was afraid what the stop may end up costing me but I was pleasantly surprised that I didn't have to sacrifice an arm and a leg for the KidZ's pleasure.  The one thing I tried myself was the little paddle boats where you use your arms and not your legs to propel yourself.  Even the Damselfly ventured onto the water for this one.

Chaos Boy wasn't interested in the camel ride and rather preferred to do the foofy slide across the dam.  I was kinda worried that he may end up in the dam but then I remembered that he is half monkey anyway.  The foofy slide is just one of many other activities that the kids can do while their parents sit down for a bite to eat or something to drink.  There are also go-carts, an obstacle course, donkey cart rides and, for the littlies, a touch farm where you can feed bunnies and other farm animals. 

After the KidZ had their fill of activities we sat down to have our fill of hamburgers on the outside veranda overlooking the dam.  I would show you what our yummy burgers looked like but I was so focused on it that I forgot to take a pic.  It was good, to say the least. Very good.  As for Wilgewandel, I now get it.  Its a great family attractions and well worth the stop if you have kids or if you don't, just stop for the burgers.

Oudtshoorn graveyard

Regular followers of my blogs would know by now that one of my strange travel quirks is historic cemeteries.  On a recent visit to Oudtshoorn in the Klein Karoo I decided to revisit the Kerk Street Cemetery in the town for a closer look. 

The graveyard is an old one with most graves having disappeared over the years.  In some cases there are headstone that look like they stand in the middle of nowhere and in other places you can see a grave mound but no stone.

From some of the graves I could gather that the graveyard was originally used by the historic Dutch Reformed Church down the road, but most inscriptions you can't really make out.  I've been trying to do some research about the cemetery on the internet but haven't found anything other than a website with pictures of some of the grave stones.  Nothing on its history unfortunately. 

IMy walk through the cemetery had to be cut short because of the thorns pricking me through my slip slops.  I could hear them crunch between the sole and the soil and this is what I saw when I took them off in the parking area. Eish, good thing I didn't go barefoot.

Waterfall nymph

A waterfall nymph at the Rust en Vrede Waterfall close to Oudtshoorn. 

 

I would really like to encourage visitors to Oudtshoorn to do the little detour to the waterfall when they are on the road to or from the Cango Caves.  It took me years to finally go there and I'm so sorry that it did cause it truly is a very special spot.

Rust en Vrede Waterfall

When I was in primary school we did a tour to Oudtshoorn and one of the places we were supposed to visit was the Rust en Vrede (Rest and Peace) Waterfall.  The visit was cancelled due to bad weather and I've always wondered what I had missed.  When I started working as a tourist guide about 15 years ago I noticed the turnoff and sign to the waterfall on the way to the Cango Caves, but as it wasn't included in any of the itineraries I still didn't get the opportunity to go and see it.  That was until a visit to Oudthoorn with the family when on the way back to town from the caves I decided that today will be the day.

 

After paying a small entrance fee and driving a couple of kilometers on a fairly good dirt road we got to a small parking spot from where we proceeded on foot along a trail into the valley in front of us.  The environment changed very quickly once you are on foot and although it was close to 35C in the open it got cooler and cooler the further we went up into the gorge.  The valley into which the trail lead is covered with ferns, wild flowers and undergrowth with towering cliffs above.  Along the way we crossed over bridges and pass a small dam wall and pipes.  From later research I found out that water was piped from Rust en Vrede to supply drinking water to the town of Oudtshoorn from as early as 1900.  Apparently it still supplies water to a reservoir in town. 

 

The valley suddenly opens up to a stunning waterfall plummeting into a refreshing pool.  The photo really doesn't do it enough justice.  It truly is a magical spot and the waterfall really lived up to its name.  If I was on my own without anywhere else to be I could easily sit there all day.  A group of Dutch youngsters stripped down to their cozzies and swam out into the pool to get a closer look of the waterfall.  I just sat on my rock like a Dassie cursing the fact that I didn't have my costume on hand to enjoy the pool as well.

Cango Caves

Some people probably think caves are all small damp passages full of creepy crawlies and only accessible to the most adventurous. If so then clearly those some people have never been to the Cango Caves outside Oudtshoorn in the Klein Karoo. The Cango Caves are magnificent, huge and probably one of the best show caves in the world to visit. What makes it even better to visit is the fact the because the caves go into the mountain and not down under ground, the temperature inside remains at a constant 18°C (67°F) and you don't even need to take along a jacket.

 

The Cango Caves were discovered by herdsmen looking for lost sheep in the 1770's.  The first person to explore the caves was a local farmer named Jacobus van Zyl who was lowered by rope, holding nothing but a candle, into the first hall.  These days you enter this first hall via steps with electric lights all around and as you look out into it from the top you realise how special the Cango Caves really is.  After the guide's introduction they normally switch off all the lights to show visitors what Van Zyl would have experienced way back then.  This spacious hall, named the Van Zyl's Hall, is over 90 metres long, 50 metres wide at its widest point, and between 14 and 18 metres high.  There is nearly 100 metres of solid limestone rock separating the cavern from the ridge above. Van Zyl's Hall is dominated by the Giant Organ Pipes, a spectacular flow stone combination, and Cleopatra's Needle, a stalactite estimated to be in excess of 150 000 years old.

The second hall, and probably the most spectacular on the tour, was only discovered several years later.  The Botha's Hall draws gasps and "ooh's and aah's" when the guide switches on the lights.  It really is stunningly beautiful and, like the Van Zyl's Hall, huge.  There are two completed columns at the entrance to the hall.  The largest, an ancient formation some 500 000 years old, is known as The Leaning Tower of Pisa.  Next to is stands a soaring 13 metres high column approximately 250 000 years old.  From here the rest of the standard tour covers a couple of smaller halls before you do the return walk to the entrance.  Visitors on the Adventure Tour will continue on slipping, sliding and squeezing through tunnels called The Coffin, Devil's Post Box and Lumbago Ally amongst others.  This section really is only suitable for letters, and not parcels.

What visitors see on these two tours is only part of the extensive caves complex.  With visitors coming through Cango 1 since the end of the 18th century, this section of the caves can't really be called living caves anymore.  This is the reason why the public doesn't get to see Cango 2 and onwards.  That section of the caves are untouched, wet and still growing with no human hands that have broken off pieces, too many breaths making CO2 or electric lights intervering.      

The Cango Caves have been at the forefront of tourism in South Africa since the end of the 18th century.  Its the oldest tourist attraction in the country, the first to employ a full-time tourist guide and the first to be protected by environmental legislation, implemented in 1820.  My only complaint? Not being allowed to take in my small tripod to be able to take better pictures for this article.

Klein Karoo sonsondergang

Die son gaan onder oor die Klein Karoo.  Dis die einde van 'n snikhete somersdag en die horison is besig om te verkleur.  Blou raak goud raak donkerder.  Daar is nie 'n briese wat trek nie met die enigste beweging 'n volstruis wat teen 'n draadheining afloop.

Springende krokedille

Die Kango Wildlife Ranch in Oudtshoorn het 'n lang pad gekom van die dae toe dit net 'n krokodilplaas was.  Alhoewel daar deesdae baie ander dinge is om te sien by hierdie bekende attraksie speel krokodille nog altyd 'n rol.  By die Springende Kake (Jumping Jaws) word die krokodil uit die water uit gelok met 'n stuk vleis.  Hy spring letterlik halflyf uit om die vleis te vat en terwyl dit gebeur staan besoekers met opgehoue asems om te sien of die gids darem met altwee sy arms gaan terugkom.  

Volstruise

As ek mag wil ek graag die lirieke van Groot Voël Paradys deur Jacques de Coning aanhaal om saam met hierdie foto te gaan.

Oudtshoorn is 'n grootvoël paradys,

los jou budgy by die huis en ek sal jou 'n groot voël wys.

Oudtshoorn is 'n grootvoël paradys,

Los jou mossie by die bossie en kom speel met my volstruis.

 

Kom sit hier op my skoot dan vertel ek vir jou,

van die grootste voël wat ek gesien het my vrou.

Dit was daar by die Klein Karoo Kunstefees,

as ek 'n voël kon kies dan sou dit daai een wees.

Daai voël se nek is so lank soos 'n paal,

en hy sit op twee eiers, 'n heerlike maal.

Maar as hy opstaan daai voël, dan is hy twee keer so groot,

so pasop as hy skop hy los 'n vreeslike knop.

Volstruisresies

Hoeveel mense kan op hulle cv skryf dat hulle 'n professionele volstruisjoggie is?  Nie baie nie, maar as jy hulle in aksie wil sien is die beste plek een of twee van die volstruisplase net buite Oudtshoorn.  Die volstruisresies in die foto vind plaas by Safari Volstruisplaas 'n paar kilometer buite dié bekende Klein Karoo dorp.

Swartberg plaashek

 

Suid-Afrika bied inwoners sowel as besoekers 'n ongelooflike verskeidenheid van landskappe om te verken, geniet en foto's van te neem.  Hierdie foto is geneem oppad na die Swartbergpas vanaf Oudtshoorn.

Sun dials

How many people still wear watches today? I stopped wearing one when I got my first mobile phone and it had the time on it.  But before wrist watches, cuckcoo clocks and grandfather clocks there were clocks that didn't go tick tock.  Sun clocks dials.  And that is the topic of my "Random ... " post today.

Random sun dials.

This sun dial can be seen outside the historic St Peters Anglican Church in Plettenberg Bay

The Klein Karoo gets lots of sun so I'm sure you can check the time just about every day at this sun dial outside CJ Langenhoven's house (now a museum) in Oudtshoorn.  Langenhoven's grave can be seen in the background.

I know I took this picture in Somerset East but for the death of me I can't remember if it was at the Dutch Reformed Church or at the Angler and Antelope Guest House.

The most unusual sun dial in the post comes from the town of Hankey in the Gamtoos River Valley.  It claims to be the biggest sun dial in the Southern Hemisphere and was erected by a local farmer in 1989.  The dial is 36,4 meters across and right next to the main road into the valley.

Church fence

Looking at the Dutch Reformed Church (NG Kerk Moedergemeente)

in Oudtshoorn through its ornate fence.

Swartberg mountains

The Swartberg Mountains just after sunset seen across a field full of ostriches

Love dance

Ostriches pair up for life and during the mating season a male ostrich would do a love dance for his female. He would go down on his haunches, open his wings and sway from side to side to get her attention. Its always funny when you visit one of the ostrich show farms at Oudtshoorn and you get an ostrich approaching a group with their wings open and head down like this. Its probably similar to a love dance and shows that he likes (somebody in) the group and is looking for some attention.

This pic was taken just outside Oudtshoorn and shows a male doing his love dance on the right to a female sitting on her nest to the left.

CJ Langenhoven

When we visited Oudtshoorn in December I got to go to the museum in the home of the former Afrikaans writer CJ Langenhoven for the first time since I was in primary school. His house, Arbeidsgenot ("the pleasure of work") was left to "all people with a love for Afrikaans" by his widow after her death in 1950 and was opened as a museum in 1955.

Cornelis Jakobus Langenhoven was born on 12 August 1873. He started out working as a teacher and later as a lawyer. Somewhere around 1907 CJ Langenhoven found his purpose in life and that was to fight for the rights of Afrikaans as a language as well as to create literature that will enhance Afrikaans.


Some of CJ Langenhoven's best known work includes "Die Stem van Suid Afrika" (the original South African anthem, part of which is still used in the new anthem), Die Vlaglied (the old South African flag song) as well as a number of stories and poems. He also had an imaginary elephant named "Herrie" (Harry).

CJ Langenhoven died on 15 July 1932. He and his wife Magdalena Maria (Vroutjie) was both reburied on the grounds of Arbeidsgenot in 2003. Every Afrikaans speaking person should make an effort to visit this museum at least once in their lives, but its well worth a stop for anybody who is interested in the Afrikaans language and culture.

Schoemanshoek

Schoemanshoek is a fertile valley just outside Oudtshoorn on the way to the Cango Caves. The area is mainly a farming area with ostriches and tobacco being farmed here historically. Even though most of the farmers in the valley still farm with ostriches and some crops, most have developed guest houses and restaurants on their properties.

The nice thing about staying in Schoemanshoek is that visitors are right out in farming are. Most establishments are decorated with antiques while visitors get real farming hospitality with just about all the establishments dishing up ostrich steak in the evenings, served by the owners themselves.

Swartberg Pass toll house

The ruin of the old toll house on the Swartberg Pass (here and here) can be found at the start of the pass on the Oudtshoorn side of the mountain. I would have wanted to spend some more time at the ruin getting photographs, but it was hot (around 40 degrees Celsius) and the family was getting impatient in the car.

Baby ostriches

A couple of baby ostriches at one of the ostrich farms just outside Oudtshoorn

Old grave yard

I was driving around the Klein Karoo town of Oudtshoorn looking for something interesting to photograph when I came across this old cemetery. It was surrounded by businesses and a couple of houses with a stone wall and old steel gate in the front. Cemeteries, especially old historic ones, fascinate me, so this was a huge find.

The graves were made mostly of sandstone and the majority were so weathered and eroded that you couldn't see what was on them. I did find some with legible writing on them. This one belongs to Josephus Johannes Keyter who died on 8 October 1856 at the age of 38 years, 2 months and 25 days.

Close to the gate was this monument which looked like a spire. It seemed like it was erected in the latter part of the 1800's as well and was done so by a church for its ministers after they respective deaths.

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GPS: 33°35'20.05"S, 22°12'31.76"E