The farmhouse
today is a wreck and once fertile lands carrying thousands of acres of maize
now stand unused - but Vivian is trying to enter into community agreements
with the new African landlords to use the lands in a win-win situation.
Day twelve - Kokstad,
14th October 2007
I left Kokstad early with Milner Snell. We explored the famous Ongeluksnek pass today - the route that nearly destroyed the Griqua spirit in the early 1860s.
We arrived in Kokstad and met Vivian and Barbara Haviside who were taking us in their four wheel drive. Barbara's parents once owned a farm in the Ongeluksnek valley - it was taken away in the late 1970s as part of the homeland policy brought in by the white South African government.
The farmhouse
today is a wreck and once fertile lands carrying thousands of acres of maize
now stand unused - but Vivian is trying to enter into community agreements
with the new African landlords to use the lands in a win-win situation.
Barbara and Vivian come into the Ongeluksnek valley most weekends so they no the place and the new farm owners very well- this soon became apparent as we stopped off at various farms and he chatted to the African men and who now lived in the white farmhouses.
The trip up the Ongeluksnek pass was simply amazing and this classic - image right - of the "loo with a view" sets off the beauty of the place. I was so lucky - a fire two months earlier, rain the day before and clear skies today created a perfect formula for photography. Never had the Ongeluksnek looked so stunning.
Composite image of Ongeluksnek pass from half way up lookng back down.
After passing
through the border post on the South African side I took some photos - the
road becomes impassable just a few hundred metres beyond this checkpoint
- how the Griqua came down this pass with ox wagons defeats me! The slopes
are near vertical in parts!
We then returned o the Kenira stream below and had lunch while a few locals fished nearby.
It was the off to Queen's Mercy where a decree by Queen Victoria in the late 1800s saw two waring African tribes separated by the Ongeluksnek valley - thus the name. t Queen's Mercy Vivian took me to his hidden place he appropriately calls "Gods' Window" - click on image below to get a proper idea of how amazing the scenery is.
Composite image of view of Ongeluksnek Valley taken from "God's Window"
Then back to Matatiele and, as the sunset, back to Kokstad... for an early night as tomorrow I am off to Grahamstown.
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On the road to Matatiele |
Leaving Kokstad |
Droewige Toestand valley |
On the road to Matatiele |
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Matatiele from the |
Haviside's deck |
On the road to |
Ongeluksnek |
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The oldest school in the region |
Ongeluksnek valley - |
deserted white farms |
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Queen's Mercy where Adam |
Amazing views... lands where |
Vivian wants to cultivate |
2 brothers and 3 sisters |
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More deserted white farmhouses |
The old Haviside farmhouse |
now a crumbling shell |
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Vivian and Barbera Haviside |
"Black occupation" and the |
Ongeluksnek Valley |
road |
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No plumbing so an |
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Bushman paintings |
Amazing scenery |
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Where Vivian would like |
to establish a B&B |
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The site of the spring where |
the Griqua first rested. |
Illegal hunting of game with |
Rare flock of Crested |
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The Cranes in flight |
The scenery just gets |
more beautiful |
Sotho |
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Horseback |
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The amazing Mariazell mission |
The Mariazell Cross in the |
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The Mariazell Mission |
The wall of the Drakensberg |
Loo with a view |
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The hills start getting steeper |
and become mountainous |
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Imagine taking an oxwagon |
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Looking back down |
S African border post |
Guards stamp my book |
The Ongeluks Nek Pass - |
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In nomansland on the way |
This route is still used by |
That's the valley to the left |
The road soon becomes |
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The road soon becomes |
A lone man walks up the |
pass with his horse |
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Coming back to S Africa |
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The amazing views |
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Coming back into the |
Ongeluksnek valley |
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My stamped book |
Lunch by the Kenira river |
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The Mariazell church tower |
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An amazing church! |
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To ring the bells |
The interior of the |
church - all handmade |
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All the stonework |
was handcrafted |
Above Mariazell |
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A backpackers |
The view from the site of |
the cross above Mariazell |
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The crypt and the |
natural stone towers |
Clouds break the light |
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Views from the site |
of the big cross |
national anthem for Scott |
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Scott at the site of the cross |
More views |
On the road to Queen's Mercy |
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The "drinking hole" at |
Queen's Mercy |
Emjoyimg the view at "God's |
Window" above Ongeluksnek |
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Bustard bird |
All telephone wires now stolen |
More beautiful late |
afternoon scenery |
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Coming back to Matatiele |
On the road to |
Kokstad |
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