Mzanzi Travel - Local Travel Inspiration (Issue 5)

Cultural Travel
parts of regions that include the northern Western Cape, the Tankwa Karoo,
Roggeveld, Knersvlakte, Boesmandland, Namaqualand, Griqualand West, the
Riemvasmaak Community Conservancy, the western Karoo, Kalahari and even
up into the Richtersveld.
Here you will find the world of the sheep shearers travelling with all their worldly
possessions and their entire families from farm to farm on their karretjies, small
donkey-drawn carts, from whose ranks developed an associated music genre
immortalised by David Kramer in his show Karoo Kitaar Blues.
In some parts the last surviving San clans still hunt and live as they have done
for thousands of years. It is the world also of the mission stations with their
beautiful churches established by the likes of John Campbell, Robert Moffat
and David Livingstone (see our article in the Hidden Gems section as well as our
feature on the Northern Cape of this edition).
In the west along the Atlantic coast you will find communities of fishermen and
diamond divers. In the northern areas of the Richtersveld and Riemvasmaak
conservancy you will encounter Nama herdsmen on their seasonal treks with
their herds between different areas, as they have done for hundreds of years.
Travelling through these areas, along with dramatic changes in the natural
landscape, you will find delightful little towns with much preserved original
All pictures supplied courtesy of the ATKV, with thanks to
Benjamin Bock.
Bonnets and aprons from bygone days
68 |ISSUE 5|www.mzanzitravel.co.za | MZANZI TRAVEL