Blog - Page 12

“I was very lucky to meet Nelson Mandela before he passed away, and I just thought, ‘Why not do this?’ Izzard said. “I seem to be able to run, it helps raise some money, it might inspire someone else to get healthy, and it’s good for me. Maybe I can capture people’s imagination and make it work.”

Matjiesfontein is reputed to be the most haunted town in South Africa. The history of this Karoo oasis includes; fortification during The South African War (formerly known as The Anglo-Boer War) as headquarters of the Cape Command, refuge for Jamieson Raid reformers, and the venue of controversial war crimes hearings.
With such a colourful history, many stories abound of ghost sightings, though they are after all just stories—or are they?

There are no malevolent ghosts here. The ghosts of Matjiesfontein are said to be both playful, and even mischievous, or they are totally unconcerned with events around them

Link your Karoo road trip with a Victorian sojourn in Matjiesfontein, to the awe-inspiring sight of the Valley of Desolation; and finish off in Nieu Bethesda with a visit to one of the Karoo’s most precious cultural treasures, the Owl House.

Olive Schreiner, one of the first voices of literature and feminism in South Africa, lived in Matjiesfontein for a number of years.

Matjiesfontein is a place saturated with history—you simply have to walk down its quiet main street to feel the hum of the past all around you.