S1 - Ep 269 - Griekwastad - A Fascinating Country Town in the Northern Cape!
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 5 มี.ค. 2023
- As we drove up to Griekwastad we were greeted by a cemetery and then the monument of Andries Waterboer who was a Griqua captain and a leader of the local community back in the day. Driving up the main road was truly fascinating. We were met with one beautiful building after the other. I personally loved the poles in front of the Mary Moffat Museum where the folks of yesteryear would tie up their horses. This country town is a must-visit with so much to see. The church buildings, the Voortrekker monument and the old swimming pool were great to see even though the pool was out of commission. The Northern Cape province of South Africa is filled with wonderful history. #DustBugs #adventuretravel #southafrica #southafricavlog #travelongravel #northerncape #griekwastad
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Nothing more beautiful in the world than South Africa . Ok now I m going to look at Griekwastad further. Hulle het daai plekkie verniel. Ai tog .
The beauty of South Africa knows no bounds! 😍🇿🇦 Griekwastad is a great place, we loved every moment there! 🚙😁
Another pretty town, and so full of history. I am so glad you guys fill in the historical background. Love the architecture of the past. So sad to see the buildings that have reduced to rubble. One can only imagine how they once looked. Wow! The stain glass windows in the church are magnificent! Hope no vandal goes and smashes them. I particularly love the house with the two windpompe, would be proud to have it as my home. Lovely old trees, have been there for yonks. Yup, I had an idea the high wall was once a public swimming pool. Another very interesting chapter, thank you.
When we drive through a town, we always wonder what it looked like back in its heyday. We don't often happen upon someone as knowledgeable as we found in Griekwastad to help us fill in the blanks, so that was very much appreciated! 👌🏻The town was chock-full of interesting sites and places to explore and we loved it! 😁 I didn't even have a thought that the high wall would be hiding the old swimming pool, I was quite amazed when I watched the footage back and saw that. Always appreciate you hopping on board, thank you! 🤩🚙
That beautifull tree infront of the Mary Moffat museum just left me breathless. It has to be very old. Goodmorning Curtis and Sonia
I'm glad to hear that trees get you like they do us as well. What it must not have seen during its lifetime! 🚙🌳
Beautiful big church…. Yes!
Such beautiful buildings in these old towns. So many of the old swimming pools neglected - some folks must have a fear of water 😄.
It is rather strange how many of the swimming pools in these towns are no more! It's not as if it doesn't get hot anymore! I do wonder about that myself though, one would think that swimming pools would be very popular in this part of our country. 🤷🏼♂️🏊🏼 Griekwastad had many beautiful stonework and other buildings, it was a joy to visit and see them up close! 🏛️🚙
WOW !!! Thanx once again. Beautiful and SO GLAD that you film this BEFORE it all vanish and gets destructed even further !!!! PITY that the LOCAL residents do not jump in and try and save these buildings, side walks, fences and parks on their own accord and make it KNOWN to the world and political parties out there... That's what a few of us do in our neighborhood... Wonderful to take a ride along with you two !!!! xoxxoxoxo
Thank you, glad you enjoyed our visit to Griekwastad. We did too! 😁🚙 Despite the poor condition of some buildings, roads, etc. we still love travelling to all these smaller towns and sharing them with everyone. I don't have a solution for the decay, so we focus on the beautiful that does remain. It's either that or stop travelling and we're not prepared to do that! 🤷🏼♂️🇿🇦
Thanks for another great video. Really appreciate all the information that you provide along with the visuals.
Only our pleasure! 😁🚙 Thank you for coming along on the ride with us to all these interesting places!
Hi you two! Thank you for taking me along on the gravel road with the weaver nests under blue skies. Those big nests, especially those built on the electricity poles along the roads, must be one of the most interesting features peculiar to our country. They never cease to amaze me.
A beautiful town with a long history essentially of the very area in which it still exists. The architecture of the houses and the older public buildings reflect it. I don't know if it was only the excellence of your presentation but I picked up a feeling of peacefulness in the town, which I took with me when we left.
Looking forward to the next trip!
Keep safe!
Those weaver nests are incredible! A lot of them aren't inhabited anymore, but the activity at some of the ones which still are, sometimes blows our minds! 🐦 The atmosphere in town was indeed peaceful, you got the right vibe! 👌🏻 At the same time, the history is deep and intense here and it was good to visit some of the historical sites in town. I was happy to finally visit a town I've heard so much about, especially in the news in recent times. We appreciate you coming along. 😁🚙
Hi guys what an amazing place so historic I was grasping building after building love the rail outside Moffat museum for tieing up your horse the waterboer memorial with little cannons was great the stain glass in the church was great .the hanging tree intriguing the Voortrekker monument stunning loved the oxen heads lovely high school sad to see part of it left to ruin same with the swimming pool the sports facilities always amaze me in these old towns thanks for a gem of a video cheerio till the next one
We really enjoyed exploring Griekwastad! There is certainly a lot of history there and so many buildings to help tell the stories. I absolutely loved the hitching rail in front of the museum, it was amazing to me that they're still there! I could actually imagine horses standing in front of that very building! 🐎 I'm always so happy when you enjoy an episode, it's great sharing our experiences with you! 😁🚙
Irony of the sundial missing parts is that in Africa time has no value and is not needed :(
In the whole scheme of things Griekwastad is is sa nice place, i could go stay there :)
Griekwastad is indeed a very nice town and with so much history to boot. I simply don't understand the culture of destruction which seems to have taken hold in the country in general, that really gets me. 😥🤷🏼♂️ When we travel, we also have no concept of time, so our sundial also breaks every five weeks, but we put it back together again very quickly. 🚙⌚
Thank you for Griekwastad. Such a once beautiful town. Such a rich history but majestic buildings that are abandoned and deteriorating. Such sad facts of life. It was a nice journey with you. Keep it up
As always, when we're in a town and even now thinking back a few weeks later, we can only remember the history and what remains of the buildings. While we're saddened by the destruction we very often see in the towns we visit, we're more often overwhelmed by the beauty of a place and its people. Thanks for coming along again! 😁🚙
Amazing how green it is. Remember it as a very very dry area. These towns are special and the simplicity of the lifestyle is what appeals to me. Just love the hospitality of the people in general
I agree with you! We were just as surprised by how green it was in this area. 🌳💚 We found the town and the folks in the town awesome. We met two very interesting residents who know so much about the town and its history, it was a joy to visit Griekwastad. We love exploring and this place is an explorer's dream. One interesting thing followed the other in quick succession, it was fantastic! 🚙😁
Hi, I grew up in Griekwastad.
My parents are still there.
I stayed in the Meisiekoshuis and my brothers where in the seunskoshuis, the burned down building.
We swam in the dorpswembad.
Had huge athletic days on the sport field.
I lived there from 1978 - 1994
Big memories
Thank you for sharing all those special memories with us! You spent a lot of time in this area, so you must know it very well. We appreciate you watching our video of your old hometown! 🤩🚙
We had a lot of fun there as kids.
Geen aflevering zonder meerdere NG kerken 😇. En zoveel prachtige, en bouwkundig zeer verschillende, exemplaren in deze stad. Ondertussen ben ik met mijn ‘inhaalslag’ van jullie eerdere afleveringen al bijna bij nummer 100. DustBugs bingewatchen is beter dan welke Netflix serie! Wat prachtig het stadje Darling met geweldig museum. Mattheus’ smalle en brede weg …. mijn gereformeerde overgrootouders hadden exact dezelfde afbeelding in huis! De brede weg leek mij altijd de leukste totdat je naar het einde keek 🔥🔥🔥. Dank voor alle info over Waterboer, boeiende geschiedenis over dit gebied.
It's just impossible to just drive by these churches when they're so beautiful! 💒 The history of Griekwastad is indeed fascinating! I'm glad you enjoy catching up on all our videos, there certainly are enough of them to keep you almost as busy as Netflix! 😁🚙 I think the wide road looks the nicest to everyone. I'll never forget when I saw a painting of the wide and narrow roads for the first time as a youngster, it had a big impact on me, as it sounds like it had on you.
Just loved those beautiful white clouds against that blue blue sly quite stunning. Pity load shedding prevents from seeing some sights. The restaurant was lovely with people sitting under the trees in the shade. Execution tree were you able to find out something about it, sounds gruesome. Another lovely town , thank you so beautiful and green.
The clouds and blue skies were indeed spectacular and we found ourselves looking at them hundreds of times a day! 🤩☁️ The only problem loadshedding really creates for us during the day, is that we often can't look up info online during that time. It seems as if they lose all cellphone signals in some towns during loadshedding, which must be quite frustrating for the townsfolk. 💡We haven't been able to find out much about the Execution Tree, other than Andries Waterboer hanging criminals there. 😨🌳
Back to my kinda town. Remember, with sadness, going to a friend's (Pixie Schreuder played Cravenweek rugby for Griquas) funeral in the early 70s. The good die young.
That is indeed a sad memory. 😥
Hello Dusty People! Curtis, it's a pity that you didn't send the drone up when you were hoping to catch a glimpse of the Andries Waterboer grave site. Just a thought, I called out from the backseat but you made as if I was not there 🤣👻
You're so right! What an excellent idea! 👌🏻🏛️ I never heard you calling out from the backseat and never even thought about it, but will certainly try to remember to use the drone in a situation like this going forward, weather permitting of course. Thank you for the suggestion! 🚙😁
Those clouds were superb!
Agreed, just loved the clouds in this area of the Northern Cape! 🚙☁️
massive bird nest deffently some sort of cryptic lives in those :)
Incredibly intricate structures! 🐦
The area around the execution tree must be haunted by all those executed souls😳😳😳😳
Griekwastad, the town or village made infamous by perhaps one of the most gruesome murders in recent times. The NG Church looks incredible, I have a suspicion that the membership may have increased due to the aforementioned incident. The town is waiting patiently for its next revival, it should be a prosperous place with agriculture, mining and renewable energy driving its economy. I enjoyed your indepth showcasing of the place though. Was that Sonia in the garden of the restaurant?
Indeed. Off-camera we actually chatted at the Execution Tree about just that. An execution in the distant history of the town and a murder in very recent history. It's easy to forget about all of that though when one drives through this place. There was just so much to see, it was a tourist and explorer's dream! I hope with you for that economic revival, which the town and area desperately need. We met some very interesting and knowledgeable people in town and it's always great to chat to folks who are so passionate about their town. Nope, Sonia wasn't in the shot when I filmed the garden of the restaurant. 😁🚙
Will someone give us more details about the execution and infamous murders in the town.
@@vkaitakirwa 15 year old Don Steenkamp murdered both his parents and raped and murdered his sister on the family's farm outside Griekwastad. A movie has been made about these murders aptly named Griekwastad.
@@funkdunk thanks. So gruesome.No wonder the details were left out.
Enjoy watching your videos. Another interesting town. Looks sad though. Like it has had a better history.
I know you have limited time on your hands, but do you ever get to see if museums and the like are open?
I'm glad you enjoy our videos, we enjoy making them! 😁 I thought Griekwastad was a great place with so much to see! Museums and such are tricky. For the most part, they're closed in the small towns we get to visit and we often say in our videos when places are closed. I've ventured into a few museums in the past, but get caught up and we simply don't have the time to spend hours in one place of interest. We want to see as many places as possible in the limited time we get to travel. We much prefer chatting to the locals and exploring by car anyway. The buildings, streets and other artefacts we get to see on display roadside are more than enough to make a town interesting for us. 🚙
You should give us a review of the Renault at some stage please! The good, the bad and the ugly :)
I'm not in the review business, but I'll give you a summary of my thoughts right here. Keep in mind we're only two people, not fussy travellers and are also not into speed anymore. 😁 Good: reliable, comfortable, economical, high ground clearance for a sedan. Bad: shaky at higher speeds, not much power. Ugly: can't think of anything, I think it's actually quite cute. All-in-all, we love it and can't imagine doing our travels with any other sedan out there at the moment. There you have it! 🚙😍
@@DustBugsTravel thank you so much! It seems to get you everywhere ❤️
Having brass plaques being stolen for the metal value has actually spread up to Canada too.
That's crazy, I would never have thought that we would hear about it happening in a First World country like Canada too. 😳
Marry Moffat's grave is near Caia, Lower Zambezi. The origin of the Griekwa tribe........rondom 1735 het 'n Europese droster matroos 'n Grigriekwa Khoi- Khoi vrou geneem. Uit die verhouding is Adam Kok 1 gebore, die stigter (proginator) of Griekwa tribe. Hul verlaat Piketberg/ Swartland en migreer noordwaarts weens konflik met die Kaapse regering. Hy neem verskeie matrose, Boesmans met hom mee. Hy dwing met geweld inboorlinge, Koranas, Mantatese en die Thlaping stam onder sy beheer.....die stam het later verdeel onder sy nageslag, naamlik Adam Kok, Waterboer en Barend Barends
Adam Kok 11
Thank you for the interesting info! 👌🏻
Adam Kok was the founder of Kokstad in East Griqualand. The municipality has his statue and many of his descendants still live there
That was Adam Kok lll.
@@bigvee6900 thanks for the correction. Was Adam Kok 111 a grandson of Adam Kok 1?
Thank you both for the info. 👍🏻
Hi guys as you know love these blogs so helpful for me when I come over but if I may ask could you keep translating Afrikaans into English please .
Such fantastic shots you take but I do worry about you guys going off the beaten track like you do.
We do try and translate most of the Afrikaans into English, but editing is a huge job and I may overlook some odd pieces here and there. If we don't put the translation on-screen, we may verbally relay the English version. We're always super vigilant, regardless of where we travel. Safety is my main priority when we're on the road. I appreciate your concern, thank you. 🚙😊
Are Thorn trees the same as Camelthorn trees?
I'm no expert on trees, but I think one gets many tree species with thorns, but they're not all camelthorns. 🤷🏼♂️🌳 When we're not sure what a specific tree with thorns is called, we call it a thorn tree. 😁
N pragtige dorpie elke jaar daar gaan kuier op die plaas by my oom hulle vandag al oorlede neef nog op die plaas onthou in die 70 tigs toe so baie plase af gebrand het n groot vriend sy lewe verloor agv.brand hartseer gewees my oorlede oupa en moeder in Griekwastad groot geword familie op plaas begrawe en ander in dorp besiek noh so af en toe Griekwastad en Posmasburg ,broer se kinders bly in Postmasburg en het plaas in Griekwastad op die Witsand pad
And I will only say...so much fun was had here in Griekwastad in the seventies...but the fun is gone and only ruins are left..how sad to see the town now like this...what a disappointment.
We didn't know the town back then, but we thought it was a great place to visit with many interesting places and buildings and very friendly folks. We make a point of finding the beauty and looking past the decay and destruction. If we didn't, we'll stay at home and never travel anywhere. 🤷🏼♂️🚙 At least you gave the good memories that'll last forever.
@@DustBugsTravel Aag ja...maybe i am just a grumpy old man today..🙈