Free State: Reach for the stars

16 September 2016 - 02:00 By Staff reporters

The ostrich, a strapping young male, kept pushing and prodding at a set of very large eggs, blocking my view of the Eiffel Tower.

I'd not fallen down a rabbit hole or through the looking glass; rather, I'd driven to the top of Naval Hill in Bloemfontein for a look at an oversized statue of Nelson Mandela and the planetarium, both set in the 250ha Franklin Game Reserve, one of only a few reserves in the world in the middle of a city.

I'd also been told that if I looked hard enough towards the industrial side of Bloem, I would see a replica of the Eiffel Tower.

I didn't. No matter - the panoramic view was spectacular, brutalist architecture and, severe drought aside and apart from the single, bewildered ostrich, we saw a giraffe and family of zebra outside the only digital planetarium in sub-Saharan Africa.

We caught the end of a show and lay tilted back in our cinema-style seats looking up at the "night sky" and contemplating the mysteries of the universe.

We - the TOMSA/Sunday Times Finders Keepers team - found the Eiffel Tower by chance a day later while looking for Maphikela House in the historic township of Batho.

We stopped for a photo and then did yet another U-turn in our attempt to find the home of Thomas Mtobi Maphikela, who in 1935 was a founder member of the ANC in Bloemfontein.

The law at the time stipulated that residents were not allowed more than one house, so he built a double storey, which became a prominent ANC meeting place.

When we eventually tracked down the house it was not open to visitors but our unplanned meander through the township with its collection of original, post-Victorian, red-brick houses was well worth the trouble.

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Our decision to visit the township had followed a visit the day before to the National Museum's Batho exhibition. Founded in 1918, Batho was described by many as a "model location" when compared to others of the time.

The houses had been built to architectural plans, the town had an orderly layout and many of the homes had gardens.

I loved the exhibition, a multi-faceted history of the township: sound clips of interviews with elderly residents; a fascinating collection of old photographs; a collection of memorabilia - a pass book, for example and an old sewing machine; a replica of a typical brick house; and a life-sized projection of a film of a street in Batho, complete with passing residents, cars and dogs. It is all very evocative.

There was plenty more on offer in Bloemfontein: an orchid house and a botanic garden and some wonderful galleries, museums, restaurants and pubs. Some we crammed in, others we put on hold for the next time. As a gateway to the Free State, Bloemfontein promises that you will never be bored. And then delivers in spades.

ART OF THE AGES

MA Farquharson discovers that, for art lovers, the province blooms with all sorts of works that tell our various histories

'To the rest of the country, the term "Free State" may conjure images of mielie fields and conservative volk, but those who venture there will find a much more cosmopolitan air - at least in the southeastern part that we visited.

Exhibitions in Bloemfontein and surrounds reveal that art is blossoming in the province, from the decorative and serious to the mystical and tourist-minded.

Each piece added to the story of the procession of invaders who settled here before being ousted by the next conqueror in line.

The latest invaders are the tourists, who include expats living in Lesotho. For them and the Gauties, who spend long weekends here, the shops along the border burst with items involving windmills, flowers, animals and, most often, paintings of rustic types and middle-class nudes.

At the same time, artist Johnny Selesho celebrates the ordinary person with, for example, his large sculpture of a ragged mother and her children, all burdened with parcels and bags, ponderously struggling onwards.

Take a step back in time and it's the turn of the political propagandists to plant their flags: a gigantic statue - unveiled by President Jacob Zuma in 2012 - of Nelson Mandela has been put on top of Naval Hill.

Another example is one of the statues at the National Women's Monument of a noble Boer being seen off to fight the British by his heroic wife, who is calmly holding her baby.

On the other side of the artistic divide, and from another era of occupation, the Oliewenhuis Art Museum's excellent permanent collection includes landscapes by Gregoire Boonzaier and Pierneef of two striking rock formations nearby, which we immediately recognised when we drove past them the following day.

We also took in the folk art of the Basotho at the beautifully situated cultural village adjoining the Golden Gate Highlands National Park.

And our last trip into the past led us to about 1650, to some San rock art in the Tandjiesberg between Clocolan and Bloemfontein.

This site is on the farm of John Liguori, whose father, Angelo, rediscovered the paintings in the '40s. John drove ahead of us to the foot of the hills, gave us the keys and a guide by JHN Loubser of the Bloemfontein National Museum and left us to it.

A short walk up the hill led us to a rock overhang, protected by a sort of cage. Once we had unlocked the gate, we were alone with the paintings. The only sounds were birds, the clicking of the camera and our occasional comments as we tried to sort out all the images packed together on the overhang.

The closer we looked, the more of the small figures - mostly in a blood red - we could make out.

Information boards were helpful in teasing out some of the images, but in general no one is sure what these delicate, precise little paintings signify.

For some reason, this was a sad place. Maybe it was because of the veil of leaves which only allowed a dappled light into the mouth of the cave, or because it was quiet, or because of the images of nasty, spiky beasts, picked out in white, attacking human beings.

According to an information board, these are depictions of "apocalyptic dogs". The San abandoned the area around 1650 when herdsmen who had migrated from up north arrived.

To see the rock art, first book with John Liguori on 051-924-2475, pay R40 a person, and return the key and book to the farmhouse.

THE ROADSIDE ATTRACTIONS

THE NATIONAL WOMEN'S MEMORIAL AND ANGLO-BOER WAR MUSEUM

To make the depiction of the suffering of the Boers more relevant to the South Africa of today, a little more information on, for example, the black casualties of the second Anglo-Boer War has been added.

So, amid the black granite slabs listing the names of the tens of thousands of white women and children who died in British concentration camps, is one engraved: "April ... M", or "Kind/Child/Ngwana", or "90 Africa" - presumably the number of blacks named Africa who died.

In addition to a war museum and various statues, the memorial boasts two rectangles of cement celebrating re-enactments of the Great Trek. The first was laid down in 1938, and contains the impressions of wagon wheels, the cloven hooves of oxen, and shod feet. In contrast, the 2013 slab bears footprints and the tracks of a Toyota 4x4. - MAF

DETAILS: Monument Avenue, Faunasig, Bloemfontein, phone 051-447-3447 or 051-447-0079 or see www.wmbr.org.za.

FRESHFORD HOUSE, BLOEMFONTEIN

IF you think your juicers, designer pods of ground coffee and Le Creuset pots and pans are the last word in modern kitchen chic, visit this recreation of life for Bloemfontein's well-off in the 1890s and early 20th century. There you'll find a waffle iron so heavy it could fell an ox: it has the simple recipe - in German - cast in the outside of the top half.

There is also a peach-peeling device that DIY expert Suzelle must surely have got her apple-and-drill idea from. The house was designed by John Edwin Harrison shortly before the Anglo-Boer War for his bride. Learn about not being allowed to lie on your bed for an afternoon nap (you'd upset the feather mattress) and how to spruce up a bed with fake linen. The museum won't blow your socks off, but it is fun. - MAF

DETAILS: 31 Kellner Street, phone 051-447-9609 to book a guided tour.

THE AFRICAN CAROUSEL

In the garden of the wondrous Oliewenhuis Art Museum, itself enough of a reason to visit Bloemfontein, stands the African Carousel, a piece of interactive public art comprising a troupe of magical creatures all willing and able to take you for a Harry Potter-style ride. The 16 mythical beings range from winged horses to colourful chameleons, and were made by seven artists as part of a nationwide project that aimed to show how art could be fun and physical, yet still aesthetically serious.

The carousel took three years to complete and is an absolute delight. I couldn't wait to get onto the back of a sturdy wooden turtle and, while typical fairground music played, I caught a glimpse of a flock of sheep, a giant fish strapped to a stone and a great big mosaiced frog, just some of the art dotted around the lovely lawns of the museum's sculpture garden.

DETAILS: Oliewenhuis Art Museum, 16 Harry Smith Street, Bloemfontein, phone 051-447-9609. Open daily except Good Friday and Christmas Day.

THE CHURCH CAVE

Near Ladybrand, close to the Lesotho border and set against a sandstone mountain, is St Augustines. Originally a mission station established at the turn of the last century, today the pretty chapel and outbuildings operate as a conference centre with bed-and-breakfast facilities. But it's the cave behind the buildings that's worth seeing.

There has been life in the cave since the Stone Age. You can still see ancient San paintings on the walls between a plethora of more recent graffiti. In the late 1800s the cave provided the first Anglican missionaries a place to shelter and worship. Legend has it that it was also the hiding place of the great Basotho prophetess Makhetha Mantsopa who fled the Kingdom of Lesotho when threatened by her brother, King Moshoeshoe.

She found sanctuary - and Christianity - at the mission station. She died at the mission and is buried nearby, alongside the founding fathers. Today the cave is a pilgrimage site for followers of the Zionist Christian Church and a consecrated Anglican church. Candles were burning when we entered the dim little space, and we passed a number of pilgrims both on the way in and out.

DETAILS: For a guided tour, call Steve Shone on 082-550-4555 - SS

BASOTHO CULTURAL VILLAGE

I wasn't champing at the bit to visit the Basotho cultural village set in the Golden Gate Highlands National Park but I'm happy to say that I ate my words along with a delicious sample of fried corn. Beautifully designed, the village is styled around a courtyard set as a progressive timeline that represents the cultural, social and architectural lifestyles of the Basotho people from the 16th century to modern day.

It's a carefully constructed piece of living theatre through which you are not only gently guided but often given a starring role, as I discovered when I was dressed for my wedding with the chief by one of his senior wives.

The tour starts in the chief's homestead with a sip of traditional beer and permission to continue your tour, followed by a visit to the chief's bone thrower who gave the bravest of us a reading. Each tableau is more absorbing than the next, usually accompanied by an engagement of all the senses, whether it be touching household objects, tasting local food or listening to traditional instruments.

Sadly we missed the chance to have a traditional meal of motoho (porridge made of sorghum) or dipadi (toasted ground maize) at the premises restaurant. Booking is essential. - SS

DETAILS: The village is 55km from Harrismith. R70 adults (R40 children) for a 45-minute guided tour, available on the hour between 9am and 3.30pm. Book in advance through Mmasi Mosikatsana on 072-340-1277 - SS

THE BLANKET SHOP, CLARENS

The most engaging experience we had in Clarens was the time spent in the Blanket Shop run by octogenarians Gertie de Jager and her sister Minnie di Mezza. Their father began what was then a general trading store in 1946 and from the outset he traded in the famous Basotho blankets.

The sisters took over in 1970. Gertie, whose patter is worthy of a comedy award, will escort you into the back room filled floor to ceiling with blankets traditionally worn by Basotho men. When they started the business, the blankets cost four pounds.

Today they cost over R1,000 and the market which was then solely Basotho people now includes a great many tourists. The British introduced the idea of wearing blankets rather than skins during the Victorian era and to this day they are an integral part of Basotho culture. The sisters sell the real McCoy: pure wool, carrying the Lesotho royal seal of approval, and made under licence in Johannesburg.

They come in a variety of deeply symbolic patterns and in a range of colours. Whether or not you want a blanket (and they are hard to resist) a visit to the Blanket Shop and a chat with Minne and Gertie will make your day. - SS

DETAILS: 499 Naauwpoort St, Clarens. Open Monday to Saturday

PRESIDENT BRAND GRAVEYARD

Young Dirk Venter was so appalled by the state of this gem - which should be one of the tourist highlights of Bloemfontein - that when he recently returned to his home town after a stint in Pretoria, he went to the municipality and, in May, got permission to adopt the cemetery. Since then, he and his friends and family take to the site about once a week to clean it up.

The cemetery is actually five graveyards in one: for presidents of the Boer republic of the Orange Free State, for the ordinary (white) citizens of Bloemfontein, for Jews - although the separate entrance is now a ruin - for those who died in the concentration camps, and for British (and Dominion) soldiers. It needs a lot of work but is well worth a visit. - MAF

DETAILS: President Avenue and Church Street, opposite the old fort.

SANDSTONE ESTATES

Seun Koen will sweep you off your feet with his love for trains, automobiles, ox wagons and Sherman tanks. He's one of 45 employees on this spick and span estate which boasts a huge collection of historic agricultural machinery, military vehicles and narrow-gauge steam engines which operate regularly on the 26km-long railway round the farm.

Seun seems to know the story of every machine stored in the eight giant sheds and, like most of the employees, he needs to be able to yoke up a different team of oxen every day to make sure the beasts stay in training.

The various collections are a magnet for enthusiasts from around the world, and it all comes together in the Stars of Sandstone festival during which dozens of locomotives are steamed-up and tractors and tanks roam the fields.

DETAILS: On the R26, between Ficksburg and Fouriesburg, eastern Free State. The next Stars of Sandstone will take place from March 30-April 7 2017. See www.sandstone-estates.com- PA

EATING ON THE RUN

Seven on Kellner Restaurant and Bar, Corner Kloof and Kellner streets, Bloemfontein, 051-447-7928. Open Monday-Saturday.

A lovely old Bloemfontein house which has been restored - with a dash of unusual but surprisingly appropriate décor choices - is home to this upmarket restaurant.

But more important than the working fireplaces and napkin rings of old Lucky Star pilchard cans, are the interesting food combinations.

These include onion marmalade used to spice up a burger, or a pizza topped with brie, cranberry and rocket. The beef fillets were excellent, although my pork fillet on honey roasted sweet potato with an apple and cream sauce could have done with a dash more seasoning. But overall, a great experience. - MAF

The Cabin Farm Stall and Deli, on the R26 between Clocolan and Ladybrand.

Farm stalls ain't like they used to be: this one is a cosmopolitan mini-mall of hard-to-resist local crafts and recycled goods - and sophisticated food with unusual ingredients and great presentation. And, unlike malls in the city, you can enjoy an actual view of hills and countryside while you tuck into the substantial fare, which looks as good as it tastes.

Of course, being in the heart of cherry country, expect to eat the best cherry pie ever come November. - MAF

WHERE WE STAYED

SUN WINDMILL LODGE, BLOEMFONTEIN

4 Stars

After a hard day's travelling and sightseeing, checking in to the Windmill Lodge on a chilly winter's night in Bloemfontein is like doing one of those "trust falls": you simply collapse into the welcoming comfort and understated plushness of the hotel and your worries are gone.

Before taking to the large, comfy beds in the lodge, you could visit the Windmill Casino on the other side of the large landscaped parking courtyard, take the kids to the playground on the corner, or succumb to the plasma TVs in each room.

Breakfast is served in a large sunny lounge looking out to the pool. There are also several eateries in the complex linking the hotel and casino, such as Rosies Brasserie, an Ocean Basket, the Golden Nugget Spur and Matsuya. - MAF

DETAILS: Windmill Lodge, Bloemfontein. Call 051-410-2000 or see www.suninternational.com/windmill/rooms.

RATES: From R1,200 a night for a standard twin room.

BLACK MOUNTAIN LEISURE AND CONFERENCE HOTEL

Step through the sliding doors of your room of a morning, and beyond the hotel grounds a sea of golden grass runs across the valley to the base of Thaba 'Nchu, the mountain, which gave the hotel its original name - the Thaba 'Nchu Sun.

The rooms have recently been redone and the casino is now one of several banqueting-cum-conference halls on the premises, but the giant reception area has the usual enormous '80s water feature, and Diamond Lil's bar retains its décor, although the dancing girls have been replaced by pool tables.

The hotel runs like clockwork - but friendly clockwork - and the Maria Moroka Nature Reserve, where you can go for game drives, is truly a balm for the soul.

DETAILS: Groothoek Dam Road, Thaba 'Nchu District, phone 051-871-4200, e-mail info@blackmountainhotel.co.za or see www.blackmountainhotel.co.za.

RATES: From R950 for a standard twin room to R1,100 for a deluxe room, incuding breakfast. - MAF

METCOURT AT THE FRONTIER INN AND CASINO

3 Stars

There was plenty of room at the inn in the other little town of Bethlehem. In fact the welcome at the Metcourt at the Frontier Inn and Casino couldn't have been warmer. Built from the sandstone blocks so characteristic of the area, the three-star establishment offered us bone-weary travellers friendly, efficient service and large comfortable rooms, with - an unexpected treat - a capsule coffee machine.

The Golden Gate Spur is right next to reception so it's the go-to choice for residents. I've not been to a Spur for over a decade, so it was a nostalgic experience - the waitrons still do a rousing happy birthday, the steaks are still basted in a secret sauce and all meals are still accompanied by a mountain of chips and onion rings.

Last year the hotel was voted "Best 3-star Hotel Accommodation in the Free State" in the annual Lilizela Tourism Awards.

DETAILS: Johan Blignaut Drive N5, Bethlehem, phone 058-307-6000, e-mail info@frontierinn.co.za or see www.frontierinn.co.za.

RATES: From R700-R1,600 but see the website for special offers. - SS