12 Things The Bushveld Taught Us

During the filming of our latest Weg Agterpaaie TV series, Sophia van Taak and Toast Coetzer drove 4 000 km and spent five weeks in the outer districts of the North West and Limpopo to see what makes the Bushveld such a fascinating place.

1 The voorwêreld is vast

In the Bushveld, you’ll often hear people talk about something called “die voorwêreld”. They will ask visitors from Gauteng: “Het dit al daar by julle in die voorwêreld gereën?” Or sometimes they’ll joke that a farmer went to look for a wife in the voorwêreld.

Generally speaking, the voorwêreld refers to the busier areas closer to the cities. Apparently the expression originated in Alldays, which is north of the Soutpansberg. In the past, the huge region from Swartwater, past Tolwe and Alldays to Musina was called “agter die berg” (behind the mountain). Everything south of the Soutpansberg was “voor die berg” (in front of the mountain), or the voorwêreld.

Now you know!

2 Check your shoes!

When night falls in the Bushveld, you’ll want to sit closer to the fire. The further north you go, the bigger and more venomous the critters become.

On the Cape coast, you’re lucky if you see a little Cape horseshoe bat fly past your stoep; outside Musina clumps of Wahlberg’s epauletted fruit bats hang in the trees every night.

We spent many a night in a lapa where sharp teeth, a python’s skin (bottom left) or intimidating horns were mounted on the wall. We saw some of the biggest lionesses we’d ever seen in Madikwe Game Reserve; even the insects of the north are more intimidating than we’re used to, like ground beetles that race around your feet like quad bikes.