The vast Karoo is a place that has long inspired stories and legends, not only about its intrepid inhabitants but also about the spirits that seem to haunt these parts. They wander aimlessly along deserted roads, lend their sinister presence to living rooms, lurk in hallways and spook anyone having to visit an outhouse in the dark. There seems to be a ghost behind every Karoo bossie.
My mother was raised in the Karoo, so I grew up listening to stories about ghosts; the spirits of the Middelburg district struck sheer terror into me. Years ago, my partner also had many tales to share about the strange events his friends had experienced at Warmwaterberg, the old Victorian spa between Barrydale and Ladismith in the Little Karoo. Mischievous spirits were especially fond of enjoying themselves in the sanatorium. On a particular occasion, one of his friends spent the night there alone and told of how he could hear ghosts splashing about in the Roman bath next to his bathhouse.
Another friend and his wife recall a wraithlike woman in a long black dress arriving at their camp site in search of a drink. And after spending a night at the same sanatorium, another friend stopped drinking entirely and took to attending church again…
In the past, a dominee or priest would be summoned to banish such otherworldly spa-goers, and many of these restless souls did eventually vanish – yet a few apparently still lurk around. If you’re staying over at Warmwaterberg, a polite greeting is the best approach when encountering someone – human or apparition.
We traversed the Karoo in search of stories and tall tales involving ghosts, to get a sense of why this sparsely populated region seems so appealing to wandering spirits.
Ghostly origins
Esta historia es de la edición Winter 2021 de go! Platteland.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor ? Conectar
Esta historia es de la edición Winter 2021 de go! Platteland.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor? Conectar
There are few secrets in Verlorenvallei
All platteland towns have that one famous (or infamous) character who knows everyone's business. Meet Livia Hoogenboezem, the keeper of every piece of gossip in Verlorenvallei...
Make magic with winter's abundance
This winter menu is our invitation to look beyond the bewildered herb garden, move out of your comfort zone and bake a loaf of bread, appreciate the beauty of a head of cabbage, and invite the rain gods to the table to feast with you on venison pie, pudding and cake.
It takes a family
Christian Fry and his fiancé, Pippa de Lange, arrived at Dombeya with just a day to spare before the Covid-19 hard lockdown commenced in 2020. Their purpose was to save the Fry family farm from being sold. They've settled into life in their Elands River Valley haven now but continue to dream big and work hard.
For the love of birds...
They may be called birdwatchers but they are in fact using their ears. As Johan van Zyl discovered on his maiden outing as an \"avian tourist\" with BirdLife South Africa to find the 450 bird species that live in the Garden Route and Little Karoo.
To the babbling brooks of Sabie
Roughly every five years, Jaco and Jens Reverchon get itchy feet. They hopped around Cape Town, moved up north to the Greater Kruger and then, recently, put down roots next to the Sabie River where they live a peaceful life with their animals.
Creativity & community in Dinokeng
The driving force behind the successful Makers Village in Irene has now implemented the same concept in Cullinan, creating an incubator and exhibition space for entrepreneurs and artists. Platteland dropped in at this budding creative hub to find out what it's all about and came away impressed.
Willie Strauss Never an idle moment
A variety concert... that is how to approach your life and career when you want to survive as an artist living in the platteland. So says singer, lyricist and radio food expert Willie Strauss, who entices visitors to Die Sinkstoor in Cullinan with traditional offal and his mother's Bushmanland boerekos.
To die for
How do you avoid the tourist avalanche if you live in an Afromontane forest where holidaymakers descend in December? You drive to lonely outposts in the mountains of the Cape, says photographer Obie Oberholzer, and you make pictures rather than take them.
1 Fiat 500 2ha 4 boys...19000 miles!
When the go-cart that an engineer father had built for his four sons couldn't handle the tufty terrain on their 2-hectare plot in Montana, Pretoria, they hunted down a Fiat 500 in a salvage yard. They only wanted its suspension system, but Mom intervened, the car was saved, and those little daredevils clocked up an impressive 19000 miles - all without leaving the plot.
SUTHERLAND Cold town, warm hearts
Life in Sutherland in the Northern Cape isn't always easy, but even those who leave tend to return. Come with us to find out why.