Goedverwacht: A time capsule of a bygone era
CAPE TOWN - Tired of Covid-19’s four walls surrounding you and compelled by that heavy post-lockdown yearning for open spaces and remote locations?
Well, September marks the arrival of spring and the expectancy of balmy weather for the outdoors, and there is also the possibility of SA moving back to lockdown level 1.
So, get ready to venture out. Weekend Argus photographer Ian Landsberg looks at possible staycation destinations.
Goedverwacht, meaning high expectation, is a small village on the West Coast, nestled in the Piketberg Mountains between Piketberg and Velddrift.
Lined with old-style and modern homes, many still with the original thatched or tin roofs, the quaint little settlement is a time capsule of a bygone era.
It originated from the cattle farm, Burgershoek, which was established in 1810 and owned by Hendrik Schalk Burger who left it to his slave, Christiana Maniesa and her five children.
When Maniesa’s last child Hester died, the descendants decided to sell the farm to the Moravian missionaries in 1889 for 750 pounds.
They, with the help of locals, built a beautiful church and parsonage with local stone which is still in existence today.
Other interesting buildings are the school, Mission Store and a watermill which now houses the museum.
For more information about the town, which is 144km (1h50 minutes) via N7 and N1 from Cape Town, contact the Goedverwacht Tourism Office on 083 252 7538 / 078 316 3988.
Weekend Argus