My trip to Bloemfontein was made by air on the efficient and cheap internal airline service in South Africa. My five flights inside the country cost me a grand total of $700. It costs almost that much to fly from Kingston, ON to Toronto, a distance of 300km. Instead I was comfortably ensconced on a 737 and offered a free sandwich and drink - take heed Air Canada!
After a short flight I arrived at the very small Bloemfontein (hereafter shortened to Bloem) just as towering thunderclouds moved across the veldt. For in flying from Cape Town my trip had undergone two changes. I was now in the flat central plains of South Africa, and it was starting to get rainy. Little had I known when booking my trip that the summer is the rainy season in South Africa - perhaps I should have read that part of the guide book more closely. It did not really get in my way and in fact it made some of my off road adventures a little more exciting. I picked up my rental vehicle - a Toyota Hilux 4x4, and headed into town. I had invested in South African maps for my GPS and was grateful for them now as it guided me flawlessly to the inn at which I was staying. I had chosen to stay at The Hobbit Boutique Hotel based on the recommendation in the Lonely Planet guide book. I had not known
until I read it that Bloem was the birthplace of JRR Tolkein, of Hobbit and Lord of the Rings fame. Now he left when he was 2 and never returned, but that does not stop the proprietors of the Hobbit Inn from capitalizing on their famous toddler. The place unites two older (1921) houses in a residential neighbourhood and has a certain hobbitty feel to its winding corridors and wood pannelled rooms. The bedrooms in the Hobbit Hotel are named after characters in the Tolkein oeuvre; I was lodged in the Samwise Gamgee room, a large well appointed room with a bed that probably would be too high for an actual hobbit. One curious aspect of rooming in the Samwise room was that I was required to make breakfast for whomever was lodged in the Frodo Baggins room! That was taking this Tolkein thing a bit far!
My first day was spent around Bloem as I wanted to see the sights there including the museum. I also had to track down some monuments to the British and Canadians. My first trip was to the tourist information centre where my intent was to take the hop-on-hop-off tour bus I had seen advertised in a flyer at my hotel. On arrival at the info centre the nice lady told me that the bus only ran during the World Cup - 8 months ago. So no luck, I was forced to drive around town. I did pick up a map indicating that the Canadian monument was nearby so I set off guided by the GPS voice. It turned out that the Seaforth Highlanders monument and the Canadian monument were in the same park, on opposite sides of the fence belonging to the Bloemfontein Zoo. I let you guess on which side the Canadian one sat. After paying my way into the zoo I began to look for a way around to the memorial. Now zoos are not one of my favorite places (see my blog post on the Bamako, Mali zoo in my other travel blog - Hot to Mali). They always seem sad and full of neurotic animals itching for freedom and to bite your face. It was the same here. There were of course the obligatory monkeys in cages and the big cats. But especially in South Africa, where not 50 km from the zoo you could see lions and elephants, it seemed awfully lazy to cage them up for our amusement within easy reach of a McDonalds.
After a short flight I arrived at the very small Bloemfontein (hereafter shortened to Bloem) just as towering thunderclouds moved across the veldt. For in flying from Cape Town my trip had undergone two changes. I was now in the flat central plains of South Africa, and it was starting to get rainy. Little had I known when booking my trip that the summer is the rainy season in South Africa - perhaps I should have read that part of the guide book more closely. It did not really get in my way and in fact it made some of my off road adventures a little more exciting. I picked up my rental vehicle - a Toyota Hilux 4x4, and headed into town. I had invested in South African maps for my GPS and was grateful for them now as it guided me flawlessly to the inn at which I was staying. I had chosen to stay at The Hobbit Boutique Hotel based on the recommendation in the Lonely Planet guide book. I had not known
until I read it that Bloem was the birthplace of JRR Tolkein, of Hobbit and Lord of the Rings fame. Now he left when he was 2 and never returned, but that does not stop the proprietors of the Hobbit Inn from capitalizing on their famous toddler. The place unites two older (1921) houses in a residential neighbourhood and has a certain hobbitty feel to its winding corridors and wood pannelled rooms. The bedrooms in the Hobbit Hotel are named after characters in the Tolkein oeuvre; I was lodged in the Samwise Gamgee room, a large well appointed room with a bed that probably would be too high for an actual hobbit. One curious aspect of rooming in the Samwise room was that I was required to make breakfast for whomever was lodged in the Frodo Baggins room! That was taking this Tolkein thing a bit far!My first day was spent around Bloem as I wanted to see the sights there including the museum. I also had to track down some monuments to the British and Canadians. My first trip was to the tourist information centre where my intent was to take the hop-on-hop-off tour bus I had seen advertised in a flyer at my hotel. On arrival at the info centre the nice lady told me that the bus only ran during the World Cup - 8 months ago. So no luck, I was forced to drive around town. I did pick up a map indicating that the Canadian monument was nearby so I set off guided by the GPS voice. It turned out that the Seaforth Highlanders monument and the Canadian monument were in the same park, on opposite sides of the fence belonging to the Bloemfontein Zoo. I let you guess on which side the Canadian one sat. After paying my way into the zoo I began to look for a way around to the memorial. Now zoos are not one of my favorite places (see my blog post on the Bamako, Mali zoo in my other travel blog - Hot to Mali). They always seem sad and full of neurotic animals itching for freedom and to bite your face. It was the same here. There were of course the obligatory monkeys in cages and the big cats. But especially in South Africa, where not 50 km from the zoo you could see lions and elephants, it seemed awfully lazy to cage them up for our amusement within easy reach of a McDonalds.
I did find the Canadian 
memorial, standing next to the zebras. Its construction was funded by the Imperial Order, Daughters of the Empire or IODE, for short. These ladies also paid for all the Canadian headstones I would later see on the battlefields. A fine bunch of ladies whose organization exists to this day - though I'm not sure what they do now there's no Empire to be an Imperial Order for. The memorial is a quite attractive obelisk with the names of the missing engraved on its four sides.
memorial, standing next to the zebras. Its construction was funded by the Imperial Order, Daughters of the Empire or IODE, for short. These ladies also paid for all the Canadian headstones I would later see on the battlefields. A fine bunch of ladies whose organization exists to this day - though I'm not sure what they do now there's no Empire to be an Imperial Order for. The memorial is a quite attractive obelisk with the names of the missing engraved on its four sides.After wandering the public district of Bloem I headed to the Boer War Museum. This is a very impressive building, with gardens surrounding, on the outskirts of town. The grounds contain the memorial to the thousands of women and children interned by the British during the latter half of the war in concentration camps. Thousands died of sickness in these camps that were created to isolate the population from the Boer guerillas. Around the monument are three statues that depict aspects of the Boer experience. Departure, deportation and bitter enders refusing to surrender. In side the museum has some amazing epic paintings of the war and all the paraphanalia one could want.
After my day in Bloem I walked to a neighbourhood restaurant and had a great bottle of South frican wine...and some food of some sort. Tomorrow - Kimberly and the early battles to relieve its siege.
1 comment:
Last month i was in Bloemfontein with my family. It is very beautiful city of South Africa. I have visited almost all tourist places of this city. I will again make a plan to go there.
Post a Comment