Bathurst / Kasouga / Alexandria

BATHURST

The British 1820 Settlers landed in Algoa Bay (Port Elizabeth), travelled by oxwagon up the coast, crossed the Kowie River in Port Alfred, and established the small village of Bathurst, only a 10 minute drive away from Port Alfred today.  It became an administrative centre, and buffer between the Cape Colony and the Xhosa people who migrated across the Great Fish River. Many of the original settler houses and other buildings, have been preserved and so it retains much of the look and feel of an English village . There are many historical monuments scattered in and around Bathurst, with the Pig n Whistle being the oldest licensed premises in South Africa.  Other places of historical interest include St. Johns Church, the oldest unaltered church in South Africa, and the Wesleyan Chapel, both of which were used as places of refuge during the numerous Frontier Wars which took place when the indigenous Xhosa peoples crossed the Great Fish River, which formed the Cape Colony Boundary, in search of grazing for their cattle. Bradshaw’s Mill contains a working water wheel and is a National Monument, as are many other buildings in the village.
The Toposcope, erected on a hill on the outskirts of the village, marks the spot the 1820 Settlers locations were surveyed, and here plaques record details of these settlements.  Some travelled further inland to farm in the rural areas around Bathurst, while others decided to remain and ply their trades there.  Later more settlers departed for Grahamstown when it became the military administrative centre, replacing Bathurst as such.  On a clear day, one can see from the Great Fish River in the east to Kwaaihoek near Boknes and Bushmans River villages in the west.
The Agricultural Museum is well worth a visit.  The largest man made pineapple in the world stands in the grounds of the Pineapple Experimental Farm on the outskirts of the village.  This is the centre of the pineapple industry and videos are shown in the Big Pineapple as it is known.  From here there is a spectacular 360 degree view of the surrounding farms, Port Alfred, and the Indian Ocean beyond.
A short distance from the village centre is the Water’s Meeting Nature Reserve and Horse Shoe Bend, with wonderful views of the Kowie River below.  There are many hikes in the area and with the indigenous forest around the village, and down to the river, makes this a bird watchers paradise.  The Moya Park Reserve is a must for ardent twitches.
Many well known artists and crafters have settled here, and many attractive shops and studios are found in the main street, as well as a variety of restaurants.  Something for everyone to enjoy, and only half an hour’s drive to the former ‘frontier’ town of Grahamstown, which was the second largest in the country after Cape Town way back when.   It developed as a military base and many people moved there from Bathurst eventually as many where artisans.  As a result many churches, schools and Rhodes University were established as it grew in size.  The National Arts Festival, second only to the Edinburgh Festival, is takes place here each year in July.  Bathurst is thus on the border of the area now known as Frontier Country, so called after many wars between the British and Xhosa peoples  in the region from the Great Fish River, border of the Cape Colony, over a period of 100 years.  The Great Fish Point lighthouse stands 76 meters above sea level at the mouth of the river. which is 25 kms east of Port Alfred.  Fort d’Acre, was one of many forts built here and along this river, to the interior of the then ‘Cape Colony’.

KASOUGA/KLEINEMONDE

These are farming areas with a variety of homes and holiday accommodation near the sea, and along the banks of their respective rivers.  Farming here is in the  main pineapple, chicory and beef cattle.  Many of the farms have small game on them, and Kasouga has the largest population of the endangered small Oribi and Antelope in the country.   These are unspoilt holiday destinations popular with families in particular, who enjoy all that being ‘beside the sea’ has to offer, plus accommodation on some of the working farms nearby as well.

Previously called a similar name by the Standlopers which then turned into Kasouga which means ‘Place of the Leopard’!  People way back when and till today call it ‘a nature lovers paradise as it is not commercialised – “A place to allow you to be yourself” one young lady is quoted as saying.  It is considered by some to be one of the earliest Eastern Cape Resorts!  An elephant tusk was discovered in the area about 10 years ago and estimated by the Albany Museum to be about 200 years old – so this area was really full of elephants.

ALEXANDRIA

Originally named Oliefants Hoek because of more than 200,000 elephant which lived in the area.  Fresh water springs in the dunes at Woody Cape, was their water supply, and for Alexandria itself.  It is a small farming village, established in the mid 18th Century, with both Voortrekker and 1820 British Settler history.  Karl Landman (his monument is nearby), one of the first Voortrekkers who left the Cape, settled here for a while.   Prior to this the area was inhabited by the San and Khoi, plus the Xhosa peoples.  Some of the best dairy farms in the country are found here, plus it is the centre of the chicory industry.  The second largest chicory factory in the world is on the outskirts of town.  Nearby is the southernmost pineapple farm in the southern hemisphere.  Of historical interest are the old Dutch Reformed and Anglican Churches, with the Sculpture Gardens where the renowned sculptor Maureen Quin’s artworks form a unique display,  a must see attraction.
A short drive down to the Indian Ocean, takes you to Woody Cape Nature Reserve, 25 000 ha in extent, which is now part of the Marine Section of the Addo Elephant National Park.   The Alexandria dune fields which extend from Algoa Bay to Woody Cape, are bordered by coastal indigenous forest, and are the largest, shifting coastal dune fields in the Southern Hemisphere.  They consist of a surface area of about 15 800 ha, stretching over 50 km in length, with a width of up to 4 km in places.  It is the site of many shell middens dating back 5 000 years and evidence left by the San people who lived there along the coast.  The 2 day Alexandria Hiking Trail begins at the SANParks Office in the Woody Cape Forest, as does the 8 km ‘Tree Dassie Trail’ through the forest itself.  A considerable diversity of birds, including the westernmost population of the trumpeter hornbill, plus crowned hornbills, crowned eagles, Stanley’s bustard, narina trogon and Damara terns, are found here.   Mammals found here includes bush pig, bushbuck, Cape Grysbok, steenbok, common duiker, and  the Vervet monkey.