South Africa – The Hantam Highway is one of the longer tourism routes in the country, making use of the N7, R27, R63 and N12. As such, it provides not only natural beauty, but insight into different communities. It covers the West Coast, a large slice of the Northern Cape, the Southern Free State, and finally ends its journey in Bloemfontein.
While I have driven the Hantam in a single journey, over the years I have often returned to different sections. So, climb behind the wheel…
Our journey starts in Vanrhynsdorp (you will probably have reached the town via the dramatic mountain pass if you have come from the West Coast).
While magnificent flowers dazzle this area in August and September, making it a great time to undertake a Hantam journey, there is much to attract visitors at any time of the year.
Vanrhynsdorp (www.capewestcoast.org) is where three botanical areas meet: Nama-Karoo vegetation; the succulents of the Knersvlakte; and Cape fynbos. The town was twice occupied by the Boers during the Anglo-Boer War. Nowadays, the old prison is home to the Van Rhyn Cultural History Museum (www.encounter.co.za/van-rhyn-cultural-history-museum).
Travelling East, the first town is Nieuwoudtville (www.hantammunicipality.co.za), situated on the Bokkeveld Plateau, and often referred to as the “bulb capital” of the world. Wild flowers and fynbos abound. In season, check out the Nieuwoudtville Wild Flower Reserve and Oorlogskloof Nature Reserve. The Waterfall Reserve offers a pretty waterfall and small walking trail. Especially in flower season, locals offer traditional dishes to visitors. Nieuwoudtville’s sandstone church is a national monument.
Outdoor activities include birdwatching, hiking, cycling, 4x4 routes, and paragliding. An ordinary sedan car can easily tackle some of the scenic back roads, such as one which passes a magnificent stand of quiver trees (www.nieuwouldville. com/quiver-tree-forest).
Lying at the foot of the Hantam Mountains (from which the highway gets its name) is Calvinia (www.hantammunicipality.com). Try to overnight in the Hantam Huis, which offers accommodation in the “Nagmaal” homes of farmers – used when they came to town to receive communion. An authentic Karoo building also houses a popular restaurant (www.tripadvisor.co.za; phone: 027 341 1606) offering traditional Karoo fare such as skilpadjies (lambs liver wrapped in the fatty membrane surrounding the kidneys). There’s no accounting for taste!
The town’s Neo-Gothic style church is a national monument.
Williston (www.karoohoogland. co.za) began life as a Rhenish Mission Station. Take in the funky Vlieënde Piering (Flying Saucer) craft shop.
Lying south of the Karoo Mountains, Carnarvon (www.kareeberg.co.za) is home to a museum which focuses on the area’s cultural history. The corbelled houses, for which the district is famous, give insight into the lives of early settlers. For security reasons, due to marauding stock thieves, they had no windows. The 6m-high ceilings and thick walls were cool in summer, and the rocks held the heat of the sun in winter. You can stay in some of them (phone: 023 571 1265; e-mail: hooglandtourism@ telkomsa.net).
On a more modern, scientific front, the Square Kilometre Array Telescope (www.skatelescope.org) is located 100kms north-west of Carnarvon. It is the world’s largest and most sensitive radio telescope.
Artists are increasingly seeking out sleepy Loxton (www.loxton.org.za), where many typical, well-preserved Karoo houses doze in the sunshine. This is the remote Karoo at its best.
Victoria West (www.ubuntu.gov.za) is a delightful period piece, which lends itself to walking tours through the town, or while sitting on the stoep of one of the charming B&B’s gives visitors a chance to enjoy life in the slow lane. The Apollo Theatre, an art deco delight, was built by a Greek immigrant.
Vosburg (www.kareeberg.co.za) has some lovely heritage buildings. Keurfontein farm has San rock art (www.nightjartravel.com/rock-art/keurfontein).
The Great Diamond Rush is brought to mind in Britstown (www.emthanjeni.co.za). Fortune-hunters stopped off here on their way to the diamond fields, and the museum is housed in a former church. Now head for Prieska (www.siyathemba.co.za) on the banks of the Orange River; and Strydenburg (Town of Strife) which got its name because there were so many different opinions as to what name it should be given.
Hopetown (www.northerncape. org.za), on the banks of the Orange River, was where the first diamond was discovered, setting in motion the rush. White-water rafting, game-viewing, hiking and birding are on offer. Doornbult Farm was the site of a concentration camp during the Anglo-Boer War. There is a blockhouse, while numerous battlefields line the highway to Kimberley (the Hantam Highway does not include this town).
Orania (www.orania.co.za) is famous as the town purchased by a group of Afrikaners with a view to creating their own volkstaat (people’s state). A 2m-high monument pays tribute to that much-loved treat – the koeksuster; while a statue of HF Verwoerd, the architect of apartheid, looks down over the town.
Vanderkloof (originally the PK le Roux) Dam is the second-largest in South Africa, with the highest dam wall in the country. Visitors can indulge in an array of water activities; fishermen might enjoy a stopover at the Selous Fly Fishing Lodge (www.selous.co.za); while hikers can take on wilderness trails in the Rolfontein Nature Reserve (www.vanderklooofdam.co.za).
Philipstown, founded as a church centre in 1863, was named after Sir Philip Wodehouse, a governor of the Cape. Its sandstone Gereformeerde Kerk (Reformed Church) is a national monument.
We then cross into the Free State, where Lückhoff (www.Luckhoff.org) was made prosperous by irrigated crop and merino sheep farming along the Orange River. Highlights are the Gunpowder House, from the Anglo Boer War; a monument to the Great Trek; and the Dutch Reformed Church built from black stone found in the area.
We are now nearing the end of our long journey. Koffiefontein (www.Koffiefontein.co.za) started out as a coffee stop for transport riders in the 19th century. There is a coffee-cup memorial at the entrance to the town.
Fauresmith (www.Fauresmith. co.za), established in 1849, is the second-oldest town in the Free State. (Philippolis is the oldest). It is the only town in South Africa, and one of only three in the world, where the railway line runs down the centre of the main road.
Our last stop, before the highway ends in Bloemfontein, is Jagersfontein (www.jagersfontein. co.za), once a flourishing mining village. Two of the 10 biggest diamonds ever found came from this mine. Visit the Glaasstudio Craft Shop (www.openafrica.org).
Myrtle Ryan, Sunday Tribune