SOUTH AFRICA: 9-10 February 2018 Clarens and the Basotho Cultural Village, Golden Gate National Park

While at Golden Gate National Park we took a day trip to Clarens, one of the best-known little towns in Free State.

First, we stopped at some shops on the edge of town and found a humorous weather station sign and a butcher with a large display of old meat mincers.

The main tourist area of Clarens has a number of cafes and shops surrounding a village green.  We had morning tea at the Artists Café where we ordered cheese scones with jam. What we got was a plain scone with grated cheddar cheese on the side . . .

. . . not quite what we were expecting but that’s one of the great joys of travelling. You never know what you’re gonna get.

After morning tea we wandered around the shops.  There were some really nice paintings in a gallery, preserves in the Purple Onion Deli which had an old American car outside (the first of many we would see on our trip) and many shops selling tourist curios. Oliver found a Manchester United sign he wanted to buy but when he realised it actually said Mancester United he lost interest.

Before leaving Glen Reenen at Golden Gate we decided to back track to the Basotho Village for a night as they have a living museum and you stay in a traditional African rondavel. So we booked through Glen Reenen as required. However, upon arrival the staff told us there was no water so we had them ring Glen Reenen to see what could be done.  We were advised that someone from technical support would fix the problem but in typical African style there was no time frame.  We took the gamble that water would arrive that day and chose a rondavel with a great view over the plains below.

We walked up the hill to the living museum and arranged a guide to show us around.  Our guide was a really interesting man who involved us all with great enthusiasm, especially the children which was excellent.

The tour started with meeting the chief to ask permission to enter the village followed by some traditional beer.  Graeme drank first, followed by Nicki who then handed the cup to Oliver (which is a no-no) being the beer lover that he is!

The village had huts from pre-European times through to the recent past.

At each group of huts was an actor dressed in the costume of the time and we too were dressed up in traditional outfits.  There was much laughter as Graeme was dressed as a chief and Oliver the chief’s advisor.

Nicki was dressed in a female outfit from child to maiden through to womanhood and marriage while Oliver and Sophie were dressed as children of the era.

At each part of the village we were offered a corn based food in keeping with the food of that era.  Some of it was a bit hard to eat and we had to discretely dispose of it!

Our guide was amused that Sophie seemed to be on the lid of a biscuit tin in the 20th century kitchen.

In the evening we had a braai (BBQ) and watched animals from our veranda. It had been a great day and we were really pleased at our decision to take the time to experience this.