Kimberley and Karoo

Africa » South Africa » Northern Cape » Kimberley
May 9th 2008

Published: May 18th 2008

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pwincess

Old Bath

Day one and the road to Kimberley is fine,boring scenery,lots of trucks and speed traps.
Day two and i am skipping forward a little to sunset,when the mosque made us look east!!!
This and the road right behind the caravan park are the two biggest cons. Another irritation is the supply of electricity at the caravan park in some kind of foreign plug style.
apparently this is how all caravan parks operate.This being our second one, i don't know yet.We arrive late -5 ish,the trip took 5 hours ,and are pleasantly surprised to find the Friendly Supermarket is open till 9.
However,the Open Mine caravan park is RIGHT opposite the big hole area,which is the only attraction in kimberley.The ablutions are very well equipped with baths, showers,vanity stations and laundry facilities,with a communal braai area and washing up station.
there is a 24 hour security guard.
The weather is much warmer with a light breeze..
Okay,so back to the start of day two,we walk across the road to the big hole area and explore the old town.This is gold reef city on a small scale, with no amusement park.
If you are interested at all in history and like looking at

Huge Books

historic stuff then do this, it's interesting and the dentists surgery is wicked!!!! Think any of the Saw movies...
R60 gets u into the Big hole viewing point and a tour.The tour consists of a 20 min surprisingly well made south African produced short film about the history of Kimberley and DE BEERS, called “Diamonds and Destiny”
Then onto the hole where your guide explains its size.1087 km deep,250kms of water.3 times deeper than Cullinan and 1 km across.
The bridge that stretches out over the hole sways and i cringe when a large group gets on.
it is however a sturdy looking structure.
The underground mine replica tour is cool, the explosion is wicked, gave me a fright
!!!
Plus you get to see all the old tools and stuff..again think of a Saw movie

We departed the tour ravenous and gravitated towards the nearest bar the Occipital Bar in the old town,where the food was tourist priced-made for people who earn euros,but well made and tasty,and the service was good.
So we made our way back to camp to drink our alcohol and watch the sun go down over the mine dumps with sound of traffic across

Cabinet

from us.
Next we are SUPPOSED to pack up early and drive the 400 odd Km's to Beaufort West for a night-or so in the karoo...um...right now,am keen to get away from the noise,and I've heard the karoo is quiet..
Sunday morning ,I awoke to a local preacher surrounded by a circle of worshippers RIGHT INSIDE the caravan park RIGHT OUTSIDE OUR TENT,evangellically extolling the greatness of God!!!!
Loud,in your face...so not how I wanted to wake up!!!
So,we left Kimberley and got onto the long,desolate road to the Karoo, relatively boring drive.
No scenery.The karoo blows.And blows and blows and blows,its' all thorn trees and dust.
The Karoo National Park is very nice though and the facilities are awesome with little kitchens for campers etc.
After one night and a good meal and some wine later, we left the next day and travelled the 400 odd Km's to Hermanus.Once you leave the Karoo, the scenery gets more interesting,with mountains in the distance,and wine farms EVERYWHERE.

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