And still Logan pressed forward.  He discovered some big subterranean water reservoirs in the vicinity of the village and with a water pipe system fed the village and the railway station with water – steam trains need a lot of water to operate and Logan saw the need and the gap.  If you take a walk in the village and cross the mostly dry creek you will stumble upon the first reservoir near the sparkling blue swimming pool. 

On the cards for Matjiesfontein was a tennis court, a golf course and a cricket pitch as cricket was the main sport at the time in England.  In 1901 Matjiesfontein hosted a cricket match between South Africa and England.  Logan also toured England with is very own cricket team with its very own interesting story!

Still Logan pressed forward to put Matjiesfontein on the map.  Thanks to him it was the first village in South African that had electric lights and a waterborne sewerage system.  As an excellent destination marketer interesting names that visited Matjiesfontein, after arriving by mail boat, was Lord Randolph Churchill, the father of Winston Churchill and the sultan of Zanzibar.  Local names of the time that you will recognize is Olive Schreiner, who rented a house next to the hotel, Cecil John Rhodes and Lord Roberts during the Anlgo Boer War. 

The present-day hotel was erected by Logan as a hospital and the turrets were used as lookout posts during the Anglo Boer War.  He also raised his own mounted corps, at his own expense, and was wounded twice in the war.  James Logan must have been a wealthy man as all these projects required, apart from vision, lots of money.

In 1968 Dawid Rawdon bought the property and put in a huge effort to renovate the hotel to its former glory and opened it in 1970.  He was also the brain behind The Drostdy Hotel in Graaff Reinet and the Lanzerac in Stellenbosch.  This will also then explain the car in the museum branded with the word Lanzerac – I was wondering about this.   In the plus/minus 130 years of existence the town was owned by only two families!

Matjiesfontein is an unexpected step back into time in the middle of the Karoo and a welcome relieve to break the monotony of your trip and worth to explore. 

Feel free to listen to Dr Dean Allen on VoiceMap as he takes you on a walking tour through the village and share some interesting titbits. 

https://voicemap.me/tour/karoo/historic-tour-of-matjiesfontein/sites

ooOOoo

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We were up early as to be ready to hit the road at 06:00 when the curfew lifts and before the Karoo heat creeps into the day.  Our first planned stop was to have a champagne breakfast in Seweweekspoort to welcome some new things that we had worked hard on to get into place.  A first stop of many during the day to to capture some moments and moods.

The pass is approximately 17 km long and and crosses the river no fewer than 23 times. Almost all the bridges over the river have been upgraded and completed.  Do take care still, because you might encounter the odd roadworks in progress. 

First back to a bit of history.  The pass was completed in 1862 by Adam de Schmidt, brother-in-law of the renowned pass-builder Thomas Bain. The initial work was done by a team of Italian prisoners. Look out for the ruins of the original toll house on the northern entrance of the poort – that is the Laingsburg side!

From here on the scenery changes around every bend to reveal the vast expanses of the Great Karoo – impressive stone ridges, wide open roads and some dust devils on the horizon.  We even spotted a farmer’s creative artwork to mark his farm entrance. 

Arriving in Laingsburg the first thing you will notice is the rainbow bridge which was one of the causes of the Laingsburg flood disaster of 25 January 1981.  Trees and all sorts of debris brought down by the river got caught on the bridge causing a blockage and a dam wall effect. The water from the three rivers could not pass underneath the bridge fast enough and quickly raised filling the town with water and turning it into a dam.  Albeit a sad spot it creates beautiful photo opportunities.  The loss of life in Laingsburg was a hundred and four men, women and children.  A hundred and eighty five houses, a home for the aged, school hostels, four rondavels and twenty-three business premises were destroyed.

The most important thing for us is to make every road trip memorable, no matter how far or where you are going.   

How do we do it? Pack some interesting road food and stop at an unusual spot to enjoy our breakfast or lunch.  You may have been to the same spot before, but change something in your routine to get a different experience.  Put an effort in to make every road trip different to create a new memory.

What 2020 with all its difficulties taught us , is that life can be unexpected and short.  Live your life to the best of your abilities!

oOo

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