Holidaymaker, Mike:
Every four or five years we holiday in Graaff-Reinet for a week or so. This time was slightly different because I brought people who had never been there before.
"What are we going to do there for a week?" they wondered. But as usual, we ran out of time before we ran out of things to do.
The dam looked lovely, the town looks clean (for the most part) and everyone we encountered seemed very friendly.
The only significant disappointment was the shocking state of the municipal campsite. It is very sad to see how what was once an asset to the town has become nothing more than a dumpsite, with pilfering and environmental degradation happening with impunity in broad daylight.
The other disappointment was the massive yellow square that has been erected in the park - ostensibly to photograph the Valley of Desolation. While these frames might have some (obscure) merit in an urban environment, placing such a monstrosity in a largely unspoilt environment is questionable to say the very least.
It completely perverts the sense of place and is a staggering example of how out of touch with nature our species actually is.
Those two issues aside, we had one of the nicest holidays we've had in a long time. Graaff-Reinet has so much to offer and, in the words of a passing stranger up at the Valley of Desolation: "Volgende keer moet ons beplan om langer te bly..."
