Offbeat Karoo Part II
OK, so they might be a little crazy. The might swim upstream. They might be slightly off-beam. But these eccentric characters and their escapades are what gives the Karoo a lot of its magic. Come and meet them. Don’t be shy – most of them don’t bite…
The West
Westward ho, deep into the Little Karoo and just outside Barrydale you’ll find Ronnie’s Sex Shop. But you’ll have to settle for a cold beer and a souvenir T-shirt because this is a sex shop with a twist. All Ronnie Price ever wanted to do here was run Ronnie’s Shop and sell vegetables from his farm. But some wag inserted the “sex” part in the sign and soon people were pitching up for a bit of this and that. So Ronnie opened a bar, which is now world-famous as a stopover for overlanders and bikers.
The Village
One of the jewels in the Karoo Crown is Matjiesfontein Village, just off the N1 between Cape Town and Johannesburg. They’ve all stayed over at the Lord Milner Hotel: the Sultan of Zanzibar, Cecil John Rhodes, Olive Schreiner and all the English cricketing greats of the late 19th Century. The first ‘Laird’ of Matjiesfontein was Jimmy Logan, and the last laird was famed hotelier David Rawdon, who died recently. But the village will be kept intact – and the magic of Matjiesfontein will endure.
The Festival
Now for something completely different, out in the driest part of the Karoo: the Tankwa Desert. In spring, you find bright splashes of colour dotting the parched grey landscape. But in April there’s something else going on in the Tankwa: the AfrikaBurn Festival, based on the North American event called Burning Man. Each season Afrika Burn grows with the arrival of a new tribe.
If you ever thought South Africa was just a semi-rogue state, a crime-ridden social hole in the ground, where corruption, deceit, rampant politicians and greed ruled, then AfrikaBurn hits you like a cool, fragrant evening breeze of fresh young thought and creativity.
The Junk Man
Let's drive north to Calvinia and visit my mates Dirk and Sonja van Rensburg. They run a series of bakeries around the Karoo, a funky little b&b at their place in Calvinia and will show you a backyard that celebrates old junk turned into new art. They have their own ideas about life in the Karoo, their very own perceptions and a refreshing lust for adventure. Don’t challenge Dirk and Sonja to join you on a madcap trip to Timbuktu – they’ll do it at the drop of a freshly-baked bread roll.
Calvinia, by the way, is also where the local doctor farms with lamas, drives around in a golden Rolls Royce and parks it next to the world’s largest postbox. Go up there – you’ll see I speak the truth.
The Mall & The Brigade
We begin our slow loop back east on the R63 to a little village where, to your amazement, we will soon be drinking the best milkshakes in the Karoo at a place called The Williston Mall.
Don’t be fooled by the diminutive, dusty mien of Williston. It’s one of my favourite haunts in the Karoo. They have a marching band called The Williston Brigade that blares forth through the streets on Sunday mornings, waking saints and sinners alike. They have a winter festival the likes of which you’ve never seen before and many, many legends from the old Nama times. But they also have Pieter and Elmarie Naude, two madcap artists who have also turned their courtyard into a haven for creative signs and scrap – and brought a modicum of life to the Upper Karoo settlement.
The Diva
I’m still getting to know the Carnarvon-Loxton area, but what I’ve seen so far I really like. I attended a charity performance in Loxton where herbalist and diva Antoinette Pienaar turned a simple old church hall into a smoky New Orleans after-midnight French Quarter revue with her powerful presence and lovely voice. She lives on a farm near Beaufort West and takes instruction from her shaman, Oom Johannes Willemse, who knows the ways of the veld and the wiles of a jackal better than most.
The Goths
I apologise for the slight detour, but we must now go south on the R381 to Fraserburg to visit my new Goth friends, Daniel Johnson-Barker and Debbie Morkel. They wore long leather jackets way before the Twilight book/movie series of vampire lifestyles was the vogue. They’re both collectors of junkyard stuff (I grew up in a Pretoria scrap yard and now I see many of my Karoo buddies are also into found highway objects and so now I am finally making the connection) and creatives who work for overseas clients. And yes, they’re completely harmless.
The Legs
At last, we do the long haul back to the N1 and go north to Richmond, minding the Knights of the Shady Trees as we go – speeding fines are such a bore. Apart from having a horse museum and an annual Booktown Cultural Festival, Richmond also has Darryl Conelly, an ex-Jo’burger who runs Karoo-Zing – a very funky shop indeed. Look for the shop with the sexy leg and the milk cans outside.
The Mermaids of the Owl House
From Richmond, head across to Middelburg and then go south to Nieu Bethesda. How can one do a Funky Karoo piece without mentioning Nieu Bethesda, which is getting funkier by the day? Helen Martins’ Owl House and Camel Yard are the official main attraction, but this village in the mountains knows how to celebrate life – and eccentricity. It has drawn to its bosom all manner of interesting people who will feed you, water you and entertain you with their art and their stories. From the annual Fugard Festival to the New Year’s Eve March of the Lanterns to any number of weekend performances by travelling troubadours, Nieu Bethesa rocks.
The Visitors
For the last item on your Offbeat Karoo tour, may I suggest you venture north again, this time to the Free State town of Smithfield and our very own Alien Research Centre. Come and meet Henk Swanepoel of the Pig Out Restaurant. His business card reads: “The Search for Complex Signals”. Henk’s an interesting fellow, really great to talk to, and ever-prepared for The Big Day. And you know what I mean by that…
Text & Photography by CHRIS MARAIS
