South African Country Life – September 2019

Y

our typical helicopter view

of De Rust at the back end

of the Klein Karoo  a tiny

settlement at the foot of the

craggy Swartberg range,

Prince Albert lying thataway through the

Swiss Roll rock lines of Meiringspoort Pass,

on the opposite side of town the road leads

to Dysselsdorp with its hilltop church and its

switchback Via Dolorosa, past a few million

stop-gos, a padstal or two and finally deep into

Big Bird Country. Oudtshoorn.

There are dragon’s teeth rows of red-stone

hills, pea-green fields of onions, sheep and

their shepherds, curious clusters of ostriches,

the neatly pleated patterns of the Cape Fold

Mountains, swathes of lime-green lichen and,

lurking deep in the poort, a waterfall where (the

old men say) Karoo mermaids frolic when the

moon is full. It’s just another magical dorp in

the mountains.

Driving into De Rust from the Willowmore

side,Ray’sCoffeeShopis ontheleft.That

gangofburlyblokesyouseeonthestoep

gatherseverydayat 7.30amto solvethe

problemsoftheworld,theprovince,theKlein

OPPOSITE: The 7.30amCoffeeClubbersgatheratRay’sCoffeeShopattheentrancetoDeRust.Fomleft:Eimjal

Brits, Willie Immelman,KallieBurger,JanVenter,ErnstvanBiljonandRayFewell.TOP:DeRust,theKleinKaroo

village at the foot oftheSwartbergrange.ABOVE:Thered-stonehilllandscapesoutsideDeRust.

http://www.countrylife.co.za 019 September 2019

DE RUST TOWN OF THE MONTH