Spaceship to the Great Karoo

The Great Karoo enticed me back with its strange natural and human landscapes. I returned to the semi-desert in the height of summer for a weekend aimed at visiting the Valley of Desolation and the Owl House of Nieu Bethesda.

On Friday afternoon after work, I rented a car and rapidly covered the 250km from Grahamstown to Graff Reinet. The landscape turned bigger and drier (Karoo is Khoesaan for "land of thirst") towards the fifth song on the CD. My first encounter was with the owners of Le Jardin Backpackin', an older couple that has turned their home into the backpackers' where I stayed on Friday night. I made a quick dinner then chatted with them and their dogs in the kitchen as I ate and drank half my bottle of screw-cap wine (an essential when backpacking in South Africa). Towards ten, I retired to my room to sleep between the green sheets and flowered bedspread.

I set my alarm to wake the next morning to visit Camdeboo National Park, a new addition to SAN Parks. I did a quick game drive (monkeys, wildebeest, kudu, hartebeest, springbok, ostrich, guinea fowl, mountain zebra), but the focus was the haunting Valley of Desolation. Its rugged pinnacles of dolerite formed by volcanic magma and erosion stand in stark contrast to the backdrop of the endless Karoo plains. I did the one-hour circuit walk along the edge of the valley, taking several stops to reflect on the scenery. Along the way, I met another lone traveller – Pedro, a British born in Spain (hence the name) who co-owns a bar in Bristol so can travel for about half the year. We headed back to Graff Reinet for a leisurely lunch (Karoo lamb chops) and a few drinks in two garden restaurants, then I hit the road again.

At a certain point on the N9, there is a sign with an arrow pointing to a dirt road on the left that says "Nieu Bethesda". It is a small strange town with no petrol station or ATM but plenty of endless starry nights and transplanted artists. What drew me to Nieu Bethesda was Helen Martins (1897-1976) and her "Owl House". After years spent in an unhappy marriage and caring for her severe father, her life suddenly erupted at about age 50 with colour and sculpture. She had the vision (and courage, in this conservative wilderness) to bring light and colour to her personal surroundings. She worked obsessively with the help of local workmen, grinding bottles and mixing cement, to fill her home and yard with coloured glass and cement sculptures, mostly facing toward Mecca. At age 78, suffering from arthritis and blindness, she killed herself by drinking caustic soda. Today she is considered South Africa's foremost Outsider Artist, someone with no art training who creates fantastic, raw, visionary art working outside of the mainstream art world.



















Besides Miss Helen, Nieu Bethesda still has its share of interesting immigrants and locals. On Saturday, I met a lovely family that now runs the book and art store, recently moved from the Cape Town area to try out the town for a year. The mother has lived in many different places and the father repairs violins and preaches in the town and township churches. She invited me to the weekly braai at the tennis club, where I chatted movies and high school romances with her 16-year old son and met other locals. On Sunday, I walked across the suspension bridge to Two Goats Deli & Brewery, run by a Cape Town immigrant. I had a lovely lunch, barefoot in the garden, enjoying his homemade beer (alcoholic and ginger) and goat's cheeses, and kudu salami made by a guy in Graff Reinet. Full of good food, drink, and interesting sights, I jumped in the car to drive back to Grahamstown in the late afternoon light.