Gariep Dam and Cradock

We continued along the foot of the mountains and entered the Free State Province.  Not a lot to tell you about this area, except that the views from our ultra-modern lodge overlooking the Gariep Dam were nothing short of spectacular.  The next morning we had a private tour of the Dam before we moved along to the historical town of Cradock.

This area is the Free States largest nature reserve, a combination of 36,487 hectare Gariep Dam on the Orange River plus an 11,237 hectare game sanctuary on the northern shore.  From the dam, 200,000 hectares of land is irrigated by means of a tunnel of 83.8 km, delivering water to the upper valleys of the Fish River  and then from another 13.2 km tunnel to the Sundays River.  The dam covers 374 square km and with a supply of 455 million litres of water to the dry Karoo region around it, the hydro electric scheme generates 600,000 kilowatts of power as well.

View of the Dam from our balcony

Turn a little and we saw the marinas and
multi-purpose waterways

The marina directly below
our hotel

Another stunning hotel

Approach to hotel

The dam tour guide...hey, that's funny!

Below the dam

Loved this sign deep in the
bowels of the dam

A treat for the kids

Our group emerges from 7 stories down
and out into the sunlight

Lezanne and Bob celebrate
the release of water below the dam

And off it goes, providing nourishment
and power to thousands of homes and farms

Lying on the banks of the Great Fish River, on the site of what was intended as a Boer fort to contain the Xhosa who competed for grazing grounds for their cattle in this part of the Cape, is the town of Cradock, a serene but typical Karoo farming town.  Considered the capital of the Cape Midlands, it is renowned for production of some of the best wool and mohair in the country.  The Great Trek originated here and the ostrich boom of the early 1900's brought prosperity that is resurging now with the demand for fine leather and low cholesterol meat.  Many of the streets are lines with Ilex Oak trees.

The town is filled with historical buildings, markets and low end shops.  This is pretty much the only place where we were asked to hand out money or food to young men hanging around outside the grocery store.  I asked a clerk if these people were starving and an elderly resident in line in front of me told me that she volunteers at a church that provides meals to everyone who needs them.  The boys get you to buy them food and then they sell it to someone else.  Security guards shoo them away, however they find a way to engage you before you get across the parking lot to the sidewalk.

Die Tuishuise in Cradock (our accommodation) is an elegant collection of beautifully restored Victorian era craftsmen's houses.  This frontier town sits at the eastern edge of the Great Karoo.  More than two dozen Tuishuise line Market Street up to the Victoria Manor, a grand old colonial hotel from the days of Cecil John Rhodes, Olive Schreiner and the droves of adventurers who passed her en route to the hinterland.

The little house we shared with
Maureen and Jiri

Pretty garden passage between
the houses

Our sweet bedroom had an ensuite
bathroom that was twice
the size of the bedroom.  Fresh flowers
in vases were placed around
the rooms and we discovered fresh
flower petals on the bed

Isn't our living room gorgeous?
We even spent some time sitting
in it.

The front of the hotel. You can see
the first of our houses behind our truck

The historic Dutch Reformed
Church, overshadowed by my
favourite tree

We had a lot of fun in this town.  Great food, great people.  Bob engaged the neighbour in conversation.  He was sitting in our garden and she came out of a little cabin at the end of the yard.  She is a police officer at the hotel for a police conference.  She works in Pretoria however attended a conference in Vancouver a few years ago.  She loved that part of our country and would like to see more.  Bob told her that we love what we've seen of her continent as well.