snapshots: Graaff-Reinet

Tucked into the mountains of the Camdeboo area of the Klein Karoo, like a jewel tucked safely away, is the town of Graaff-Reinet. Though perhaps a bit precariously placed below a large dam that was built with the help of mules and donkeys somewhere in the twenties, this placement gives it its jewel-like green quality in what is a semi-desert region not given to massive rainfalls.

A land with big mountains, empty spaces and wide skies. Something about it takes me back to the western United States, one of my great loves. It is all this and more. For the last year it has been the home to the beautiful Delani Smith. She is amazing. Incredibly intelligent and level-headed except in one regard, she agreed to marry me and move to where I work. So, my good friends S.W. and Jannes van der Merwe agreed to help me move her things. As soon as I left school that last Friday, we got into their Hilux pickup and embarked on a journey something akin to driving to Atlanta from Hobe Sound (time wise) with three guys over six foot in a pickup slightly larger than a Ford Ranger. It was a great time actually.

We arrived at Lootsberg Pass, at magic hour. I have driven through the pass at other times at sunset and have always been angry at myself later for not stopping for photos. This time I asked S.W. if he would stop. He did and you and I are glad that I did. It is breath-taking.

that night and just kind of visited and then Saturday it was bit of sightseeing. Neither S.W. nor Jannes had really been in the town and they enjoyed getting to see it. We went to some museums. The Reinet House, an impressive colonial Dutch style house, was the home of the Murrays for years. Dr. Andrew Murray's father was the Dutch Reformed Minister of the Graaff-Reinet parish and Andrew grew up in that house. It was pretty cool to walk those floors.

The back courtyard of the house.

There were a lot of interesting exhibits in the house. Things like clocks that were less than space conscious, recipes for medical cocktails, things to be thankful in dentistry technology, a giant boot, a gazelle skin slightly larger than a house cat (way to go, "mighty hunter") and a doll house made out of porcupine quills by someone who had way too much time in the 1800s.

One of the interesting things at the house was a Black Acorn grape vine planted by Charles Murray over a hundred years ago. It is the biggest vine in the world (according to the house) and it still produces fruit.

That evening, Jannes and SW and I went to the Valley of Desolation just outside of town. It is a place that, though on a smaller scale than things like the Grand Canyon, is no less captivating. The difference being it is far less crowded and supervised. It is quiet. You sit on the cliffs and hear nothing but the wind and the birds that come whistling through the canyon.

In the background of the second photo (above) is Graaff-Reinet.

This guy saw it in style.

Don't look down. This was a gap big enough to fall into and went down a good 100 feet before you hit your first rock.

Doing a little exploring, finding "faulty towers" that looked like they would crash on our heads, SW showing his immense strength and standing where we probably shouldn't have.

The panorama view is incredible.

Church on Sunday and then Monday was move time. We packed up the furniture and boxes and managed to fit almost everything in, much to the amazement of a skeptical Delani. First, we set off the alarm and no one knew the code, so I improvised.