Should you find yourself on the R531, travelling through bushveld and past towering trees in the foothills of the Drakensberg, you are pretty much travelling along the border between Mpumalanga and Limpopo.
If you’re heading north-west, the crags and mountains will give you a proper welcome just a few kilometres from Kampersrus, with the top of Mariepskop now clearly visible. At 1947m above sea level, this is one of the highest peaks in the northern Drakensberg. Should you be completely enthralled by the sight of the mountains, however, you will probably miss Kampersrus.
This village lies about 30km southwest of Hoedspruit, sheltering among the marula, leadwood, knob thorn, weeping boer-bean and buffalo thorn trees. A sign at Fueland filling station and convenience store next to the road announces to travellers: “There’s life here! Come and have a look.”
AT THE END OF 1936, Broer and Langie Maré bought the land that is now Kampersrus. Most residents wouldn’t describe it as a village or a town; they regard Hoedspruit as the “town” and Kampersrus – with its two small shops, primary school, fuel station, church, bar and restaurant – as more of a suburb.
When Broer began laying out the erven, he changed the name of the farm from Bedford to Kampersrus, thus commemorating Louis Trichardt and those who camped here in 1838 on their trek between Schoemansdal and Lourenço Marques (Maputo today).
Some of the Maré descendents still live on the slopes of the mountain: there is Broer and Langie’s daughter, Ina Smith, as well as two of her children and some of her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Ina, now 81, lives on the same property as her daughter, Marietjie Janse van Vuuren. Around the corner, her son, Stephan Kemp, owns and runs Littlebush Private Lodge.
Denne historien er fra Summer 2021/2022-utgaven av go! Platteland.
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Denne historien er fra Summer 2021/2022-utgaven av go! Platteland.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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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.
