Quiver trees of Kenhardt, camels and the deep Kalahari

The most remarkable feature of Kenhardt on the Karoo-Bushmanland border is the magnificent quiver tree forest just outside the little town.

Out on the Kenhardt-Cape Town road are hundreds – perhaps thousands – of these shallow-rooted, photogenic plants. In the late afternoon and early morning, they are golden sculptures on dark dolerite ridges.

In eras gone by, these quiver trees would have seen the passage of millions of trekbokke, never-ending waves of migrating springbok, passing by. It seemed that the trekbok population was endless, but they were hunted so relentlessly that by the arrival of the 20th century, South Africa’s greatest wildlife phenomenon had dwindled to pitiful numbers.

The farm where most of the quiver trees are found used to be open to visitors. But perhaps inevitably, there were drunken vandals, and it is now fenced off. Still, there are some spectacular views of them, and on the road to Verneuk Pan, you’ll see even more.

Kenhardt remains an area with rich history, conveniently situated on the route north to the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park. The Kenhardt Hotel has the longest stoep you’ll ever see. There are spectacular camelthorn trees in the town (and quiver trees feature as garden plants). 

Whatever you do, don’t miss Oma Miemie’s Café and Bakery, where you can find the finest lamb pies and pecan nut pies, plus other produce from the region.

Kenhardt at sundown – a special kind of Kalahari light. (Image: Julienne du Toit)

It’s Hotazel

It’s not really hot as hell in Hotazel. Granted, this being the Deep Kalahari, it warms up to nearly 40 degrees C in the summer months, but that, to quote Tom Jones, is ‘not unusual’.

The legend of the name of Hotazel goes back to a time, shortly after World War 1, when a bunch of land surveyors had a drinking session out in the red sands and, while discussing the place over a glass of Cape Smoke brandy, called it ‘hot as hell’.

The name stuck.

A farm was marked out, set up and when the ubiquitous ‘man with the cleft stick’ pitched up to determine where the underground water lay, he found manganese deposits instead. So the miners moved in – and they never left.

Sometime in the 1950s, Hotazel was registered as a town and the manganese mining continues to this day.

Police camels used to roam the dune lands around Hotazel (Image: Chris Marais)

The area around Hotazel is pure Kalahari bush. This is where the famous Camel Patrols, the old-time version of the police Flying Squad, used to traverse as they chased the bad guys and tried their best to register wandering San Bushman clans, which was a bit like catching mercury drops.

One of those said ‘bad guys’ was a desperado called Scotty Smith, who was the legend equivalent of Australia’s Ned Kelly – or America’s Machine Gun Kelly, for that matter.

Scotty Smith’s specialty was fine horses. He could not resist the dubious lures of Kalahari horse rustling, but he was a cheeky one. He would even join in on search parties that were looking for him.

Hotazel is not without its historical charms…

Keimoes on the river

The vineyards and water wheels of Keimoes are world-famous, and in a good year, its raisin crops are exported throughout the globe.

It was also once infamous for being the origin of the Keimoes Dop, a kind of informally distilled liquor that would stack up against the strongest moonshine ever made in the southern states of the USA.

Keimoes is now part of the popular Kokerboom Food & Wine Route that takes in Upington, Kanoneiland, Riemvasmaak, the Augrabies Falls and Kakamas as well. Visitors wanting to experience this route need to set aside at least a week of travelling time – there’s just too much to see and enjoy along the way.

Downtown Keimoes, on the Orange River. (Image: Chris Marais)

Every few years, the Orange River floods from rains upstream. At times like these, Keimoes is besieged by people coming to see the rising waters.

Despite the fact that the livelihoods of many of the seasonal fruit workers are in dire jeopardy at this time, a carnival atmosphere reigns. Kids play in the side spills and canals, chasing crabs and posing for the ‘flood tourists’. 

Away from the river, the Keimoes area is also the heart of the Outback of South Africa, a magnificent rockscape of mountains and quiver trees.

More than 115 years ago, pirates used to operate all along the Orange River, causing devastation to farmers and travellers alike. Sir Thomas Upington, Attorney-General of the Cape, took on the river pirates and caught their leader, Klaas Lucas. Legend has it that it was Lucas who named Keimoes, which means ‘mouse nest’ in Koranna. For the capture of Lucas, they named the principal town of the area after Sir Thomas Upington, then Prime Minister of the Cape Colony.

Contemplation in Calvinia 

Calvinia is like a fine single-malt whisky. Once you let it settle on your palate, you are entirely charmed.

In spring, the little town at the edge of Namaqualand covers itself with daisies. You play through clouds of flowers at the local golf course where, scant weeks before, you were putting on desert dirt.

The Calvinia Museum is the Imaginarium of the Upper Karoo.

Exhibit #1 in the local world of weirdness is a four-legged ostrich chick, forever stuffed in an attitude of musing contemplation, wondering to itself why the hell it’s got four legs.

Drive down one of the back roads and you will pass the bakery, festooned with priceless junk gathered from many old farms, townships and derelict shops. Stop and meet the owners, Dirk and Sonja van Rensburg. 

Or, for something a little more stately and literary, there’s the Hantam Huis complex of guest cottages, which even includes a special Book House for visiting writers. Have supper at the Hantam Huis and ask for something involving Karoo lamb.

Calvinia sights on an early morning photo stroll. (Image: Chris Marais)

And just when you think Calvinia cannot possibly be more intoxicating, you meet the local doctor’s llama herd. And then you meet the local doctor, Erwin Coetzee, who will tell you:

“When we first arrived here from up-country, the local people seemed reserved”, he said. “They call new arrivals here ‘rolbossies’ – tumbleweeds. After we’d been here for two years, someone asked me where I intended to go next. I said I wasn’t sure, but that I knew where my body would go – right up there to the town cemetery. After that, we seemed to be accepted as part of Calvinia.” DM



For more stories on the Karoo from Julienne du Toit and Chris Marais, try their Karoo Roads series of books, priced at R350 (landed) each.

The Karoo Quartet Special (Karoo Roads 1 – 4) consists of more than 60 Karoo stories and hundreds of black and white photographs. Priced at R960 (including taxes and courier in South Africa), this Heritage Collection can be ordered from [email protected]