Ouma Dora Jacobs

An interesting site I found next to the Somerset East Museum was the grave of Ouma (Grandma) Dora Dotyi Jacobs. Ouma Dora was born in May 1880 and was 122 years old when she died in January 2003. At the time she was the oldest living person in the world.

She was laid to rest in a special place under the trees next to the museum. To get to her grave one has to walk down a path between the trees and the grave is in shaded clearing. Standing there looking at the grave one realises how a peaceful spot and perfect last resting place it made.

Edible Bracket

I stumbled on this bracket fungus growing on a tree stump in Somerset East. Back home I found the following information about it. Edible bracket fungus is normally found on dead hardwood trees in summer and autumn. It normally grows up to 350 millimeters wide and 5 millimeters thick either singly or in clusters. The cap is normally smooth but leathery or woody in texture. The colours range from white to creamy while they can have a fragrant spicy smell.

Tidal pool sunrise

The sunrise reflecting in the tidal pool at the Point in Mossel Bay

For more sunrises, sunsets and other pictures featuring the sky, visit Skywatch

My Boet's wedding

I never really thought that my brother (my Boet) would ever tie himself down in marriage. He is too much of a free spirit for that. Or so I thought. Last weekend my Boet got married. I, of cause, was his Best man and like I said in my speech, "I may be the Best man, but I'm not the best man at the wedding. He was. So I just referred to myself as an awesome guy." Here are a couple of pics I snapped in between my "awesome guy" duties. (You should have heard the rest of my speech)

Slachters' Nek Rebellion

Just outside the Karoo town of Cookhouse stands a monument in remembrance of the Slachters' Nek Rebellion. The Slachter's Nek Rebellion was a Boer uprising against the British colonial power believed by them to be hostile towards the Afrikaner farmers. The rebellion came to an end on 9 March 1816 when five rebels were hanged in public at Van Aardtspos close to where the monument stands.

Four of the nooses broke during the procedure, as the hangman who came to perform the execution had not realised that there were five to be hung, and old rope had to be used.  The four whose ropes broke, and the public, pleaded for their lives, but Col Culyer ordered that they be hanged a second time and more ropes were obtained. The picture above is part of the Slachter's Nek exhibit at the Somerset East Museum.

Somerset East NG Kerk

One of the main landmarks in Somerset East in the Karoo is the Dutch Reformed Church (NG Kerk) in the main street (Nojoli Street). The proposal of the local Heemraden to erect a Dutch Reformed Church in 1825, was accompanied by the submission of a design in which Cape Dutch and Gothic architecture were cheerfully blended. The Eastern facade had a Dutch Renaissance tower rising from an impressive thatched nave.

The foundation stone was laid in 1830, but the building was not ready for consecration until 1833. It was enlarged in the 1870’s and was modified in the 1950’s. The building was again restored in the early 1970’s. The first minister was the Rev. George Morgan. He was followed by the Rev. John Pears and the Rev. Jan Hendrik Hofmeyr, who's statue stands in front of the church's main entrance.

Ref Hofmeyr's statue, like the church, overlooks the main street, part of the town as well as the
Boschberg mountain behind the town.

Walter Battiss Art Gallery

Situated just down the road from the Somerset East Museum in the Karoo town of Somerset East, one will find the Walter Battiss Art Gallery. Anybody involved in the South African art industry would know who Walter Battiss was. Walter Whall Battiss was born in Somerset East on 6 January 1906 (died 20 Aug 1982) and is generally considered as South Africa's foremost abstract painter. From 1938 Battiss paid several visits to Europe where he met various successful poets and painters. It was during this time that he forged a lasting friendship with non other than Pablo Picasso.

The gallery was opened by Battiss in 1981 and is housed in an English officers' mess which was built in the early days of Somerset, and once belonged to the Battiss family. The gallery houses the largest collection of Battiss' work in Africa, and was fully restored in 1999.