ANN GADD heads into Tankwa Town in the Karoo to tick off an age-old item on her bucket list. The wild and wonderful celebrations of AfrikaBurn.
I'm driving north on the longest piece of road in South Africa with no towns in between. It's the R355 — 215 kilometres of tyre-eating gravel. Just after Ceres, when the R46 and R355 split, it becomes a dirt road that continues unrelentingly through the Karoo to Calvinia. This road, I have been told, is the penance one pays for the pleasure that is AfrikaBurn.
We pass other 'Burners' changing shredded tyres. The road rolls out hot, with dust so thick at times it's hard to see, and my initial enthusiasm starts to wane. Here's where the dreaded Stofadilus flatulenticus and the klipvis — tyre demons deluxe — strike, leaving your tyres and your ego in tatters. (Local farmers offer repair services along the road during The Burn).
I've heard stories of wealthier participants flying in to the site of the event — a private farm called Stonehenge next to the Tankwa Karoo National Park — and avoiding this right of dusty passage. Right now, it seems like a splendid idea.
On we trek. Roughly 80 kilometres from Ceres, we find an oasis in the form of the Tankwa Padstal, owned by the Langes — Hein, Wally and wives Susan and Henrietta. Burnt to the ground by an arsonist in 2014, its resurrection is a heart-warming story of public generosity and participation.
Bikers, cyclists, Burners and the general public donated money, building supplies and a bizarre mix of items (from pitchforks to tractor parts), to create an eclectic general store, bar and restaurant that sells everything from relishes, to banjo strings, to hats, to boerie rolls. After an ice-cold brew has quenched my desert-parched throat, we continue north.
Bu hikaye SA Country Life dergisinin April 2017 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Giriş Yap
Bu hikaye SA Country Life dergisinin April 2017 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Giriş Yap
The Little Car That Could
The new Hyundai Atos is proof that budget-friendly vehicles can be fun
Cowboys Never Cry
GEORGE ROBEY rides the range outside Ficksburg with one of Africa’s great cowboys
Family Stays
Make some beautiful memories at one of these countryside getaways
Art from the Heart
Watching blacksmiths at the forge, painters at the easel, cabinet makers at the chisel, and wandering the woods with a famous calligrapher in small, bespoke gatherings is what the Prince Albert Open Studios project is all about
Lighthouse Over Yonder
A shipwreck road trip from Bredasdorp to Danger Point is a fine way to spend a day drifting over the Agulhas plain
Up and Away In The Amatolas
A burgeoning settlement of people enjoys the good life among the mountains, mists and forests of Hogsback
The Salt Shepherd
ALAN VAN GYSEN finds out how a farm boy the Vleesbaai skaaplande became as dedicated to big waves as he is to sheep
Time Holds on Longer Here
Do not blink as you take the R62 that runs through the Eastern Cape Langkloof, warns OBIE OBERHOLZER. You might miss the strip of tar to the tranquil village of Haarlem
Place of Refuge
People have been escaping to the remote Winterberg mountains in the Eastern Cape for hundreds of years, writes MARION WHITEHEAD
The Place Of Roaring Water
In Augrabies Falls National Park, cultural projects are creating a thunder akin to the mighty Orange as it plummets into its famous gorge