louis

The house where I stayed in the Tankwa Karoo National Park.  The buiilding looks very much like it did, when it housed the farming family. It has 3 bedrooms, a big entry hall that served as lounge, a huge living kitchen and a bathroom that are all still in use. The floors are polished mud/dung and on the other side of the house there is a verandah that is the length of the house - where people have shade all day. One can see that they had quite a big open hearth for cooking, etc. in the kitchen. I can imagine in the winter, with snow a foot deep, that a good fire in the hearth would keep the house warm. Modern amenities that I had at my disposal are a fridge/freezer and a wall plug running on solar power. The cooking hob run on gas. Warm water comes from a wood fired donkey boiler. I didn't use the wood, because the water was warm enough from the boiler standing in the sun, for half a day.

The family history is contained in a pamphlet for visitors to read. If I remember correctly, two-and-a-half generations eked a living here and the farm was abandoned around 1970 and the building restored around 2004 for use by visitors. The story is about dreams, hardship, etc. The first owner worked as a labourer on a neighbouring farm and dreamt about owning this farm. He opened a general dealer that served the people in the area. The shop operated during the times that he was off duty. He married the daughter of the farm where he worked and 5 years later, bought this farm. There is a little graveyard about 500m from the house, that also elaborate on the family history.

One of the things I picked up, was that if a child made it through birth, the next milestone was 3 years. Those who lived to see 3 years, had a more than average chance to reach the ripe old age of 20. Births were seldom registered before 3 years, as it would save you from travelling to register the death. The people in the area knew about births and deaths, but the authorities did not.

The picture was taken in the late afternoon. See how the mountains change colour, the further they are from the observer. If far enough, they would look blue.