East Griqualand - Where the Spirit Roams Free

East Griqualand: Frontier Holiday for Pioneering Spirits

East Griqualand - wide, open spaces and lofty peaks urge the resourceful traveller to 'go where no visitor has gone before' - it's still that kind of place!

zoom Adam Kok III

The Drakensberg World Heritage Site of our western boundary, plus the Swartberg, Bokkiesberg, Cedarberg and Ngele ranges to the east and south, are all alive with opportunities to play pioneer and take that 'giant leap' into unexplored territory. While not exactly maiden ground, but offering spectacular views and the company of black eagle, Cape vulture and lammergeyer, Mount Currie is the focal point of local history - East Griqualand's equivalent of Mount Ararat. Instead of Noah and his Ark, though, Adam Kok and his people - complete with 20 000 head of livestock - came to rest here in 1863, after two years in the wilderness searching for a promised land. Mixed biblical references aside, the Mount Currie Nature Reserve today offers almost 2 000ha of picnic-spots, campsites, self-catering accomodation, the Scout Memorial and walks among small wildlife...highlighted by a pleasant trail to the top of Mount Currie. The round trip should take about five hours - leaving enough time to sample the delights of Crystal Springs Dam... appropriately named lair of rainbow trout, bass and bluegill. Remains of the Griqua's original settlement lie within the reserve - an historical monument, together with their first, cross- shaped cemetery.

zoom Kokstad Library

Adam Kok and his folk spent nine years on the slopes of Mount Currie before moving to the valley floor below... around a makeshift 'palace'. The leader declared this to be his seat of government and named it Kokstad - Kok's Town. When he died in an accident two years later, Adam Kok was eulogised by East Griqualand's first missionary, Rev William Dower, as having left an 'imperishable name in one of the finest districts of South Africa'. A monument marks the site of his grave, while the original Town Hall - built in 1910 - is a National Monument now serving as the local library. The former library - built in 1907 - is also a National Monument, and today houses the Kokstad Museum. Here you'll glean fascinating insights into both Griqua and colonial history...including the eccentricities of Frontier Armed and Mounted Police commander, Sir Walter Currie - the name behind the mountain.

Matatieleis another peak- shadowed town, its 'Ducks have Flown'Basotho name derived from waterfowl-teeming wetland pools and marshes. The local museum - in a building that's ex-auction house, workshop and church - reaches beyond town chronicles to delve into Early Stone Age secrets of the San hunter-gatherers. Visit the nearby Wilfred Bauer Nature Reserve to stroll, picnic, catch fish and marvel at the descriptively named, crossbred zedonk! - we did warn you this place is unique!

zoom Mountain Lake Photo: Max Bastard

Mountain Lake Nature Reserve is a National Heritage Site a little further up(12km) from town, its rolling grasslands and pristine wetlands some 2 000m above sea level. When full, the lake boasts 30ha of deep, trout-filled splendour...with 80 bird species and panoramic views of the Drakensberg range completing a rapturous ambience.

Between Kokstad and Matatiele, the hamlet of Cedarville provides tranquil canoe-borne excursions on its surrounding, water-filled hollows. Also nearby, the carp-abundant Umzimvubu River is an ever-popular recreation ground for locals and visitors alike.

zoom Scenic East Griqualand Photo: Max Bastard

Venturing further afield, the 2-day Bokkiesberg Trail will take you from the Cedarville Flats to a 3-roomed bungalow waiting on the range heights. Swartberg stands at the Kokstad- Matatiele crossroads and, in keeping with the trends of surrounding local history, its original hotel - built in 1922 - now serves as a supermarket and trading store. The bed-and-breakfast hospitality of local farmers is another regional trademark maintained here. And don t forget to reserve your tickets for the wonderfully scenic, steam- train journey to Creighton in the southern Midlands - it happens but once a year and absolutely everyone wants to be aboard!

Filled with astounding beauty and colourful, living history, East Griqualand yet conveys the sense of a vast, open and waiting canvas. Be inspired by the great outdoors...be a creative adventurer - you'll be, after all, following some remarkably singular footsteps into our wild, wild west!

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