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Calitzdorp | Vosburg

Vosburg
Day 5: 20 December 2005 TUESDAY

We reached Vosburg at about one o’clock at night, only to discover the campsite had been locked and the caretaker was nowhere to be found. Fortunately we came across the police who were patrolling the neighbourhood and immediately helped us find accommodation. They even took the trouble to drive us to the guesthouse and waited for the manager to come out and open it up for us, we were deeply grateful for their help. So we met Zelda, the guesthouse manager, at an odd time of the night and found ourselves in an old Karoo house where all of the rooms had been converted into guest rooms.

Since we had this old house all to ourselves, we set on exploring it. Old books and antiques covered the walls. The furniture had knocks and chips in them which told of years of use. The attic attracted most of our attention where we speculated numerous valuable artefacts were laying just waiting to be discovered.

We were searching through the house to find a hatch to the attic when the neighbour driving up his driveway distracted us. We were quite surprised to hear someone else was still awake in this sleepy town, so we went to the window to spy on the neighbour. He drove slowly up his driveway and then must have fallen asleep while he had opened the door, because the lights inside the car was shining and we saw him lying over his steering wheel.

Their dog was barking non-stop, and eventually I followed Etienne to the back door where he looked over the wall to make sure the neighbour was all right. When he did reach the fence he heard the rest of the residence talking and walking up to the man in the car. They must have carried him out into the house, but must have forgotten to close the door, because the lights where still on.

Eventually Vosburg seemed to calm down and Etienne and I had a midnight feast before we passed out from exhaustion.

I was quite taken by surprise to find myself in complete darkness when I opened my eyes. I thought I must have woken up somewhere in the middle of the night, but was unable to see the dials on my watch, so I thought I should pull back the curtains to look at the time by using the moonlight for light. When I did this, a shaft of light blinded me. I had never realized that these old houses were capable of being so dark. When I did manage to pull back the curtains and have my eyes opened to look at my watch, it was almost near lunchtime.

So we took a while before we had repacked the Jeep and could explore Vosburg. It’s a very small town, and when we did speak to Zelda again, we were shocked to discover how many Gauteng and Cape Town residents where permanently staying in Vosburg, so from the sixty-five houses that where there, we wondered how many Vosburgers were still living there.

Zelda’s husband Dawie, had his own business there. Zelda worked in his little shop that was part of the garage that Dawie works at when he had the time. She sold everything from toys to spanners to makeup. Dawie also had the petrol station right outside his garage. He was an interesting character, standing beside the petrol pump with his white hat and red tassel on top of it. He comically said to me that he most probably was the first white petrol jockey that had served me in my life. I just laughed.

We stopped at their local bakery and met Estelle and Wimpie who originally came from Cape Town, but came to Vosburg to escape the busy vibe. They assured us that they had no intension of going back to Cape Town and had been staying there for about six years and have never been so happy. They really did look happy.

They told us an interesting fact that Vosburg was the only town that had six entrances into the town, all being gravel roads. We then heard of houses that were on sale and Etienne and I went to look at them. Before I could blink my eyes Etienne bought a house in the Karoo! It had a large patio facing the street, with three bedrooms and a large kitchen overlooking a large backyard. The backyard overlooked a farm and a beautiful clear sky was seen in the horizon.

We came with so little to the Karoo and left with so many memories and friends that I will have endless daydreams where I will visit the Karoo time and time again. Etienne obviously left with more than just memories…he had ensured we have a Vosburg home in the Karoo to come back to.

A Short History:
The town was named after Mr J Vos and the Van Rensburg family. It was established on the farm Processfontein in 1895. More than 22 buildings there are National monuments
65 houses in total.
6 entrances into the town, all gravel roads.

Additional Pictures:

Forgotten Towns of the Karoo
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