Arguing for Historic Elim, South Africa

One of the most pleasant surprises that we experienced in South Africa was when we decided to make a stop at a historic town, declared as a national monument, on the way to the Boland region from The Republic of Swellendam.

Elim, a Moravian mission station established by German missionaries in 1824, retains much of its original textures, scoring high both in authenticity and integrity. Backdropped by the Capefold mountains, this quaint town is one of the few remaining ones in South Africa still owned and managed by the church. Here are five things to definitely love about Elim:

ONE. Technological Advancement: The white churh’s 1757-built clock is regarded as one of the oldest working public clocks in the country. It is also ran by a long mechanism driving the two clockfaces mounted on both gables of the building, making it the only clock with an axle length of 26m there is to find.

 

TWO. Town Planning and Vernacular Architecture: Its central axis leading directly to the church, which is flanked by two rows of nearly identical single-storey houses, is a delightfully neat sight. These houses differ a lot from the more ubiquitous Cape Dutch gabled houses. The carefully carried out town planning is not hard to notice.

 

THREE. Memorial to a Historical Event: In front of the town’s library, which is housed at the former school building, is the only monument dedicated to freed African slaves in South Africa. It was ereceted in 1938, four years after the abolition of slavery in the Cape.

 

FOUR. Engineering Feat and Water Control: Elim is home to the oldest functioning watermill in South Africa, which is also declared as a national monument on its own right in 1974.

 

FIVE. Intangible Cultural Heritage: Renowned for its uniform thatched roofs, which are reminiscent to those found in Friesland in Germany, its residents are considered to be some of the best thatchers in the world. Utilitizing only restios locally found in the region, this aspect of Elim is clearly its most distinct living tradition that has been passed down from one generation to the next.

All these elements, together with the fact that there were no other tourists roaming around when we were there, made our three-hour stay in Elim very memorable and fulfilling. Also, while there is no German-built colonial space listed yet as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the potential of Elim to be one is quite promising and is something that South Africa should consider.

Cape Floral Region Protected Areas

Inscribed in 2004, followed by an extension in 2015, with the following justifications:

Criterion (ix): The property is considered of Outstanding Universal Value for representing ongoing ecological and biological processes associated with the evolution of the unique Fynbos biome; and,

Criterion (x): The Cape Floral Region is one of the richest areas for plants when compared to any similar sized area in the world. It represents less than 0.5% of the area of Africa but is home to nearly 20% of the continent’s flora.  The outstanding diversity, density and endemism of the flora are among the highest worldwide. (source: http://whc.unesco.org/pg.cfm?cid=31&id_site=1007)

A large part of my personal satisfaction in being able to tick this site off last 2016 stems from the fact that not only were my friend and I able to see the three nature reserves that form the Table Mountain National Park (i.e., Table Mountain, Silvermine and Cape of Good Hope), but, more importantly, we was able to pay proper visits to seven out of the eight protected areas that make up the inscribed serial property. We only missed out Groot Winterhoek Wilderness Area.

 

 

Table Mountain National Park embracing Cape Town as seen from Bloubergstrand beach

 

 

Different kinds of fynbos in Kirstenbosch Botanic Garden with the “Tableback” part of the Table Mountain in the background.

 

The Cape floral kingdom is a truly unique ecosystem dominated by the fynbos,  a plant vegetation (i.e., proteas, ericas, restios and some lilies) that practically only exists in this corner of the world.  Kirstenbosch Botanic Garden, which is the only botanical garden in the world located inside a UNESCO natural world heritage site, provides a bird’s eye view of the different species of fynbos that thrive across different habitats, and it would be best to start one’s travel here. We, however, started with the Baviaanskloof moved towards Table Mountain, then went up to the Cederberg, and finally made the botanical garden our last stop upon returning to Cape Town.

 

Cape Floral Region: the smallest floral kingdom in the world, the densest, and the most threatened as well, a patrimony of the world of the highest order.

 

 

Here are some of the highlights:

(a) the beautiful mountain scenery provided by the Swartberg Pass and the Merringspoort Pass. Both connect the Little Karoo and the Great Karoo, and are great feats of mountain engineering;

 

Ericas (a kind of heaths) growing among the rocks on top of the freezing cold Swartberg peaks.

 

 

The world-famous Swartberg Pass and the montane fynbos that cover the landscape

 

(b) the rock formations of the Cederberg and its extensive collection of ancient Bushmen paintings (we stayed overnight in the wilderness to see the Sevilla rock art trail);

 

The rock formations of the Cederberg mountains, the only place where the fynbos called rooibos thrive. It is cultivated to make a tea drink of the same name (or red tea in the West).

One of the 3,000 year-old rock paintings made by ancient San people in the Cederberg near Clanwilliam.

 

(c) the coastal white sand dunes and game drives in De Hoop Nature Reserve and Protected Marine Area;

 

Constantly reshaped white sand dunes of De Hoop show how strong the coastal trade winds are in this whale-watching area.

 

 

Spotted a herd of Bonteboks, the rarest of African antelopes, in the grasslands. Other animals spotted were ostriches, Cape buffalos, wildebeasts, kudus, and various birds.

 

(d) views of Strand, Stellenbosch, Franchshoek, Botrivier and the rest fo the Boland area/wine region on top of the Hottentots-Holland mountains;

 

At the highest point of Sir Lowry’s Pass in the Hottentots mountains, which caught wildfire a few days after we passed through it in getting to Cape Town.

 

Inside one of the heritage wine estates in Stellenbosch with the Boland mountains in the background

 

(d) scenic coastal drives along the Cape of Good Hope and Kogelberg biosphere reserve — very enjoyable!;

 

 

A tourist imperative: a photo shot with the Cape of Good Hope marker inside the Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve

 

 

The mountain-to-sea view as one traverses the Kogelberg Biosphere Reserve along the coastal road.

 

and (e) the imposing beauty of Table Mountain as seen in and around Cape Town – indeed a true world-class landmark! Also memorable was the walk along the penguin colony in Simon’s Town, which is part of the inscribed property as well.

 

The top of Table Mountain beginning to be covered by the “table cloth” clouds

Cape Town and Cape Bay as seen from the Table Mountain

 

 

Overall, the outstanding universal values of this serial property is not hard to understand and appreciate. Each protected area is different from one another, and all of it are definitely worth visiting.

 

Another species of the endemic protea, South Africa’s national flower

 

PS. Special thanks to Wolffie for making the trip possible and wonderful!