SA Rangers on Lion Search Discover an Eland Carcass

By Jennie Glover 21-02-19 10:39

Tuesday marked the fifth day since a lion escape in the Karoo National Park outside Beaufort West, Western Cape. This is according to Nico van der Walt, Park Manager at Karoo National Park who said the search party consisting of 14 Rangers and about six volunteers from neighbouring farms breathed a sigh of relief late […]

Children in the Platteland, South Africa

By Julienne du Toit 15-12-19 12:32

In summer, the familiar rushing sound of the Great Fish River pumping through our home town of Cradock in the Eastern Cape is often punctuated by the excited babble of youngsters as they navigate the gentle rapids on the inner tubes of tractor tyres… writes Julienne du Toit. In the late afternoons, while pensioners watch […]

Moving to the Karoo – Life in a Small South African Town

By Julienne du Toit 03-07-18 21:00

We received a Christmas card a month late the first year we arrived in Cradock, brought to us by our neighbour across the road, Frans Smit. We weren’t disappointed in the crap postal service, and I didn’t curse anyone’s ineptitude. In fact, my husband Chris and I stood staring at the envelope in silent awe. […]

Permission-to-exhale

Why Raise a Princess, When you can Raise a Warrior

By Guest Contributor 18-05-17 11:29

Before I had kids, I watched a friend clear their newborn baby’s nose by sucking out the mucous, as the infant simply could not breathe. With a mixture of incredulousness and admiration, I wondered how on earth he did that, without even thinking twice. Then I became a parent. And with every fibre in my body, […]

route62

Pubs and Padstalle of Route 62, South Africa

By Chris Marais 30-01-17 17:11

It seems, for some of us, that the older we get the more inclined we are to be reckless. Who but the very bravest of long-distance drinkers, big-bike riders and hardened shoppers would take on the awesome pubs and padstalle of Route 62 in the Western Cape? Who but the youngest and silliest of us […]

karoo

Have You Ever Seen The Rain?

By Julienne du Toit 29-12-16 11:18

People who live in the desert love rain. They love it in ways city people don’t understand. In the Karoo and the Kalahari, the horizons are so wide you can see the weather coming while it is still hours away. You can see clouds coalesce and darken over the mountains, then advance, walking on legs […]

the journey man

Diamond Cowboys of Port Nolloth

By Chris Marais 29-08-16 15:04

Decades ago and deep in the Namaqualand desert at a point between Springbok, Steinkopf and the sea, a Cape Town housewife with a squeaky voice steals our hearts. This mommy from the suburbs has requested a tune that plays into our early years, way before Disco, Johnny Rotten, Duran Duran and Really Big Hair stole […]

Old South African Brands

Old South African Brands in the Karoo

By Chris Marais 14-06-16 15:56

I love old signs when I’m on the road. They tell me where I’m going, who lived here, what brands were promoted and what the travelling salesmen flogged to the locals over the decades. Sometimes, on a dusty Karoo trail in the back of beyond, they’re all I have for company. I run across old […]

Living Donation

Kidney and Kindness from Expat in Canada – “She Could Save My Life”

By SAPeople 11-04-16 00:11

Proving old friendships never die, a South African expat living in Canada has offered her kidney to her former schoolmate in Johannesburg, whom she hasn’t seen for decades. And together they are now on a journey to make sure Di gets the kidney she desperately needs, and that awareness is raised about live kidney donations. […]

Karoo

The Healing Powers of Karoo Herbs, Karoo Wisdom

By Julienne du Toit 03-03-16 13:11

There is no obvious way to sneak up on herbalist Antoinette Pienaar and Karoo healer Oom Johannes Willemse. As documented in her well-loved book The Griqua’s Apprentice (translated from Kruitjie Roer My), they live on Theefontein Farm near Beaufort West, which can only be found via an intricate set of directions involving small dirt roads with middelmannetjies […]

Aan die Boer, Vergewe Ons…

By SAPeople Contributor 16-01-16 13:24

Ek is nie ‘n boer nie, ek en my man het ‘n hoewe buite Bloemfontein waar ons met lusern boer en ‘n paar skape het. Vandag was vir my ‘n sielsdodende dag. Ons Damara ram Oupa het vandag net gaan lê. Hy het goeie jare gehad en het vir ons baie dragtige ooie gegee. Ek […]

To the Farmer: Forgive Us…

By SAPeople Contributor 16-01-16 13:47

I am not a farmer. My husband and myself have a small holding just outside Bloemfontein where we farm with a few sheep and lucerne. Today was a heart wrenching day for me. My Damara ram “Oupa” refused to stand up. I tried everything to get him to get back up but alas. He was […]

Droogte Hulp

South Africa’s Drought Angels Step Up

By Julienne du Toit 29-04-21 18:13

The vicious El Nino conditions of 2015 have created democratic South Africa’s first truly devastating drought. Not since 1992 has so little rain fallen on the land. Never has our water supply infrastructure been so vulnerable. Six out of the nine provinces have been declared disaster areas. Just before Christmas, the Director-General of the Department […]

Cape Town South Africa

5 Typical Things People from Cape Town Do

By Mark Wijsman 17-11-18 14:51

Someone from Cape Town recently told me that living in this city for 6 years does not make me a Capetonian. Apparently the official integration period is ten years, and I had to work a lot harder on my accent. Eish. Problematically, this caused my identity crisis to reach new heights as I already felt […]

Gaynor Young on Getting into a State!!!

By Gaynor Young 06-11-15 11:42

After my accident, whilst in a coma, Absa, set up an account for me. They generously deposited money into this and let it be known that it was available for public donations towards my medical expenses. Twenty-five years later, I am still banking with them! Recently I wrote to the Chief Financial Officer and I […]

A Karoo Farm School with a Difference

By Chris Marais 08-11-15 11:05

A Climax windmill spins and creaks quietly alongside a dirt road linking Colesberg with the blue horizon. There is a cool morning breeze and a few sheep bleat in the distance. Soon, though, they are drowned out by the distant roar of a straining engine. A school bus appears, emblazoned with the words ‘Hantam Community Education […]

Karoo Diary: The Friendly Horse Road

By Chris Marais 25-10-15 10:58

It’s about 160km, give or take a metre or two on either side, from the House of Light & Shadow in Richmond, Northern Cape, to the Karoo Roos padstal outside Middelburg, Eastern Cape. That’s if you venture out on the R398, a dirt road that embodies all that is intriguing about the Karoo: big spaces, […]

Karoo Diary: Draadkar Fever (Wire Car Festival!)

By Chris Marais 04-10-15 13:17

If you want to taste excitement in the air, come to Philipstown this week. They’re counting down the days before the Wire Car Festival, the local event of the year. Wire cars, or draadkarretjies, are big around here. The young boys of Philipstown will do just about anything for a wire car fashioned by one […]

South African Rugby…As Explained by a Foreigner

By Mark Wijsman 25-09-15 15:34

After years of living in Cape Town as a Dutchman, I was able to integrate as much as possible into society. When I wrote about the tradition of the South African Braai, and thereafter on many other observations of typical South African life, I realised I was always avoiding writing about rugby, perhaps the country’s biggest […]

Bicycle Cape Town

Cape Town is Really Not Bicycle-Friendly (Yet)

By Mark Wijsman 17-09-15 10:12

It’s not hard for any Dutch person, such as myself, to adjust to Cape Town. It’s substantially warmer and richer in nature than our own country. We’ll cope with the occasional safety concerns and learn to be a bit more patient spending two years of our lives at Home Affairs. However, not being able to cycle […]

Nama Riel dancers, South Africa

Karoo Diary – Dancing in the Dust

By Chris Marais 15-09-15 16:44

This is no five-step waltz, no quadrille, and by no means is it a cakewalk. It’s more like a cactus tango or a dusty Jitterbug, this Nama Riel dance they do so well out here in the Northern Cape Karoo. It’s ‘Stomp the Yard’ in Calvinia, Williston, Brandvlei and beyond. The cheering crowd forms a square […]

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