Today we went to Bela-Bela on a town tour. At first I wasn't excited about this, simply just because I've been living here for 4 years. What more could they tel me that I had already known? Well it turned out to be a lot. Firstly I wasn't even aware that we have an information centre, so that was a surprise to me.
The grave yard I was aware of, but I never knew anything about it. So today i learned a couple of things here, firstly that the Voortrekker people were buried here. I also learned that Bela-Bela once was filled with natural springs. Christina Pretorius was buried here, she was General Andries's wife. They were traveling around the country went she got sick and decided that he should move forward. She stayed behind , hoping that the hot springs will cure her. She never got cured and she eventually passed away.
The African market isn't really all that interesting to me. But this is a big attraction to tourists, especially tourists from over seas. Here you will find things that resemble Africa. Most of the objects that are found here are hand made. This is also very interesting to tourists.
The block house... Well i had no clue at all that it existed. This was mainly used to protect the railway. The interesting part to me is the thickness of the walls. You wouldn't believe me, but its about a half a metre thick. The people that lived in the block house, made their own crops outside. The windows of the building is very small, this is necessary so that nobody can enter.
The silos is run by NTK. This is where all the grain is processed and taken care of.
The township is a safe place. It is usually seen as a dangerous place, and people avoid going here because of rumours. There is nothing funny about the township, normal people also live here. They are just easily judged and this needs to be eliminated. Comming to the township on a Saturday and Sunday is nice to just relax. People come here to visit the jazz bars and also to buy goods.
| NO: | TIME: | SITE: | DIRECTION: | COMMENTARY: |
| 1. | 09:34-09:44 | Information Centre | When entering Bela-Bela , from the Pretoria highway you just drive straight into the waterfront. The information centre will be found here on your left side, next to ocean basket. | It is very organised. The stuffed animals catch your eye. There are pamphlets about tourist attraction located in this area as well as other areas. |
| 2. | 09:50-10:00 | Grave Yard | When entering Bela-Bela, turn left and drive over the bridge. Then turn left, carry on with the road until you see spar, then turn left again. At the next stop sign turn right. At the next stop sign located next to spar, turn left. Now you will see the grave yard on your left. | This is where the Voortrekker people were buried. General Andries’s wife Christina Pretorius was buried here. Vandalism is located here. The grave yard is sort of in the middle of town. It’s located behind the municipality. The biggest grave located here is Christina Pretorius’s |
| 3. | 10:05-10:25 | African Market | When entering Bela-Bela turn left then go over the bridge. Keep on the left side of the road and carry on with it. Shoprite is now on your left side. You can park here, the market is right next to Shoprite. | This market is run by entrepreneurs from across Africa. Most items are indeed handmade. These entrepreneurs like to bargain, so be aware. This sight is more for tourists that come from overseas. |
| 4. | 10:30-10:40 | Block House | Before entering Bela-Bela from the Pretoria highway, you will find a road on your right hand side. Take that road and continue. Drive slow for you will find the block house on your right not far from your turn off. | This building is tree stories high. It was used to protect the railway. This building has gun shots on the outside, or so it might seem. It has very steep steps. Windows that are very small and the wall are about a half a metre thick. |
| 5. | 10:43-10:50 | Silos | From the Block house. Turn right. Carry on with the road, slowly. Not far from the block house you will find the silos also on your right. They are very big so you can miss it. | Silos are usually an odd number. There are 7 silos. They are approximately 34.7 metres wide. These silos are holders of grain. This is where is they take care of the grain. |
| 6. | 10:52-11:02 | Township Tour | From the silos, turn right and continue for about 300metres. Then take the first turn off to your right. | Here you will find nice jazz bars and also shebeens. BBK is the most famous jazz bar in the townships. Here you treat every person as an equal. Don’t go looking for trouble. They also have spaza shops were you can buy varies items. |
We left Sondela approximately at 09:19. We arrived 09:33. It took us approximately 15 minute to get to town.
Lucas was our driver, a very important person that is needed on a tour but not always credited enough. . .
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