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Published: February 18th 2007
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The Suikerbosrand Nature Preserve, which includes the Diepkloof Farm Museum, is southeast of Jo’burg and has the highest point in Gauteng Province. You can see Jo’burg from the distance when taking the preserve’s driving tour. We spent the day there and toured the museum, drove the 60-km driving tour, and hiked a 4.5-km trail.
The Diepkloof (“deep canyon”) Farm was first established in the 1850s by the Marais family, who were Boers. Later, one of the 9 children built his own brick house on the same property. The farm was one of the few not completely destroyed during the Anglo-Boer War, and what remained has been rebuilt to original standards as much as possible. The buildings are made from stuccoed locally-made half-baked brick. The farm buildings include the original home, the machine/wagon barn, the school (classroom, storage and the teacher’s quarters), and the son’s home. Although I don’t think they used cow dung for the floors, much of the rest seems very authentic. Springbok skins are used as rugs and seat cushion material, and the original painted interior walls have been restored. Period furnishings, dishes, etc. are throughout the homes, and the school has painted chalk boards for the pupils.
main house and sheep
Note the tall lightning rods to protect the thatch. Stone kraals (corrals) were still in existence for livestock, and there were sheep and geese living on the farm. The family cemetery has been kept up and was quite interesting. Some of the headstones were carved out of slate. A museum with interpretive materials for the area going back to Iron Age days on up through the farm’s heyday is a nice supplement to the actual structures, and there is a café for visitors, although it was closed the day we went.
A modern visitor’s center for the nature preserve is also available, although the interpretive materials in it are outdated. There were few visitors while we were there. The geography is full of rock outcroppings, and it was used as building material by the earliest settlers as well as the farmers. There are still remnants of the 14th to16th century stone structures built by the early inhabitants, and the trees tend to grow next to the rocks because in that way they are more protected from the wildfires that frequent this area. Historic kraals would have been cattle pens with circular residences around the central kraals, protecting the cattle as the wealth of the community. Later, different configurations
inside the main house
This is the living area. There were 3 bedrooms - presumably one for the parents, one for the boys, and one for the girls - and a kitchen in this house. Yes, for 11 people. developed, but in some cases one can still see the circles of trees and vegetation marking the stone structures on the hillsides.
Wildlife is abundant at the preserve, as evidenced by lots of droppings and tracks on and near the driving trail even before we saw any of the animals. There were several species of antelope, zebra, baboons, and many smaller animals. We saw the antelope and zebra from a distance, as it was later in the day, and they had moved to the lower veld. Had we arrived earlier or late in the day, we might have seen them much closer up. The preserve has such differences in elevation that distinct types of grasses and plants have developed in the higher and lower areas, or velds. The lowveld has “sweet” grass and trees which the animals prefer, and it is called the sweetveld. The highveld is called the sourveld. To encourage the animals to use the sourveld, the water sources are placed up high. We saw several baboons, and it was interesting to see how they interacted, even from a distance. The preserve has a pair of nesting eagles that we did not see, and many weavers and
other birds. We stopped at the picnic grounds and fed nut bits to the birds. We also saw a couple of beautifully colored lizards. The preserve is surrounded by a 4-meter fence to protect the animals, and a wide fire-break has been burned next to the fence that showed up as a very green belt from the new growth that comes after a fire has removed the old.
There were many species of aloes, and we saw proteas blooming with their striking flowers. Bob was also impressed by the cabbage trees, but we didn’t get a good picture of one. Their leaves are the color of cabbage but shaped more like oaks, in a kind of close shape next to the trunk - loose leaves, but not a lot of branching.
We really enjoyed both the historical experience of the farm and the natural experience of the preserve. They have longer trails and camping facilities, and maybe sometime we can go back and have a weekend trip instead of a day trip.
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rentia potgieter
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Goeiedag Ek is n Gr 3 onderwyseres van L/s Voorwaarts. Ons wil graag ons klassies bring vir n uitstappie. Die kontakno. Bestaan nie, sal graag wol bel en meer inligting ontvang. Rentia