17 things to do in Nieu Bethesda in the Karoo

By Roxanne Reid
The small village of Nieu Bethesda in South Africa’s Eastern Cape Karoo was once a dusty little place no one had heard of. Then it rocketed to fame on the reputation of Helen Martins’ strangely compelling Owl House and Camel Yard. But there’s much more to it than the Owl House. After making multiple visits over the past few years, here’s my pick of things to do in Nieu Bethesda in the Karoo.

​About 50km north of Graaff-Reinet in the Karoo heartland, Nieu Bethesda began life as a church town in 1875. Its biblical name means ‘place of flowing water’ and was the inspiration of Graaff-Reinet’s Reverend Charles Murray. Once most famous for Karoo lamb and agriculture, today it’s better known for the ‘outsider art’ of the Owl House.

It’s a small village of gravel roads, where sheep and horses are more likely to be roadblocks than other vehicles. Walk the streets to admire the many attractive old buildings, watch horses drink from the water furrows (see point 3), or go in September to see the pear trees in full white blossom. Although there are lots of activities to keep you busy, don’t miss out on some stoepsit – just sitting chilling on the verandah to watch the passing parade. 

A pretty little suspension bridge crosses the Gats River

How did such a tiny, unknown backwater of a village become so famous? Well, playwright Athol Fugard bought a house there in 1970 – now a self-catering guesthouse. After he wrote The Road to Mecca in 1985, a play based on Helen Martins (see point 1), visitors started wanting to visit the Owl House (see point 2). And that led to the birth of guesthouses and restaurants to service their needs. Artists and creative people also began to make the village their home. Here are some reasons to visit this pretty little rural hamlet.

The Athol Fugard House is now a self-catering guesthouse

1. Visit the Helen Martins museum 
No, this is not the same as the Owl House. Visit the Helen Martins museum in Martins Street before you visit the Owl House, which is around the corner but accessed from this museum. You get tickets for the Owl House here too. Watch an introductory video about Helen and the Owl House, and browse old photos and letters. See from a collection of photos how pretty she was when she was young and get an understanding of how having what is now thought to have been undiagnosed bipolar disorder affected her. A letter to her lover Johannes Hattingh says: ‘I am in hell, the days get heavier and darker.’ She committed suicide by drinking caustic soda in 1976, but not before creating the Owl House and Camel Yard as her creative legacy.

To help you find your way around, download a map of the village here or get a copy from the tourism office at the Helen Martins Museum.

2. Experience the Owl House

The Camel Yard is packed with Helen Martins' weird creations

Opened to the public in 1996, Helen Martins’ Owl House is unique, an outpouring of her creative drive. Inside, walls and ceilings are painted in bright colours and patterns, all covered with glass chips that she used to grind in a coffee grinder and spray onto the paint while it was wet. There are lots of mirrors too. Despite the light and mirrors, sensitive people usually tune into the gloominess and darkness too. The Camel Yard outside is chockfull of cement and glass figures, inspired mainly by the bible, and the poetry of Omar Khayam and William Blake. They include humans, owls and camels, as well as churches and strange creatures that are half man, half beast.

Read more about the Owl House and Camel Yard

3. Explore the water mill and water furrows

The old mill dates back to 1860

Water furrows provide water to the village from a spring on the hill

​Take a stroll up and down some of Nieu Bethesda’s streets and you’ll see the old leivore (water furrows) that provide water to the village. Locals feed water into their gardens and plots using smaller gated channels. All the water comes from a spring above the village, and if you cross the suspension bridge to the other side of the Gats River opposite the Owl House you can still see the old watermill that was built in 1860. The original old wooden wheel was replaced by a metal one long ago.

4. Visit the Kitching Fossil Exploration Centre

At the Kitching centre, you can see how fossils are exposed from rock

The Kitching Fossil Exploration Centre uses info boards, models and videos to tell the story of early mammal-like reptiles in the Karoo in the Permian period 253 million years ago – way before the first dinosaurs ever walked the earth. It’s named after James Kitching, who grew up in Nieu Bethesda and later became famous because of his knack for discovering fossils. He became professor in palaeontology at the University of the Witwatersrand. From the centre, you can go with a guide to see fossils still embedded in the rock of the riverbed nearby.

5. Explore the Art Route

See wonderful fabric art at the Bethesda Arts Centre of the First People

Nieu Bethesda has an active art scene and you can visit various art, sculpture and pottery studios in the village. My favourite because it’s so different is the Bethesda Arts Centre of the First People. It showcases the work of various artists working with fabric and linocuts, with the appliques illustrating /Xam (a KhoiSan group) mythology as a centrepoint. You’ll find animal fables about the hare, meerkat, eland, and praying mantis illustrated in huge, vibrant pieces of fabric art. There’s always someone on hand to explain the culture and beliefs that inspired them. They really are spectacular so don’t miss a visit here.

Probably the most intriguing little building in Nieu Bethesda

Next door and part of this complex is the quirky three-storey Bethesda Tower that has accommodation at the top and a shop and café on the ground floor. I haven’t tried the food here but it deserves a second look if you’re visiting the Bushman museum, even if only to admire the fairytale tower.

Other galleries and places of interest to art lovers include Helen Martins’ Owl House and Camelyard (see point 2), the Stone Folk of Ongeluksloot (see point 14), the Infinity Gallery, Gregg Price Art Gallery, and Coert Steynberg Art Gallery.

6. Duck in to a bookshop

The tiny but well-stocked bookshop

If you love quirky bookshops full of buried treasure, duck into Dustcovers in Hudson Street. It’s stuffed full of pre-loved books, from collectable Africana to good fiction and light reading – or, as its Facebook page puts it, ‘damn fine reads’. You might meet one of the owner’s dogs as a bonus.

7. Eat at Nieu Bethesda restaurants

Stirlings @ The Ibis
For a tiny village, Nieu Bethesda has some excellent restaurants and food experiences. Top of the pops for me is a visit to Stirlings @ the Ibis Lounge for gourmet Karoo dining. Enjoy lunch or dinner inside or outside in the courtyard. There are only a few tables so it’s best to book ahead to avoid disappointment. On an earlier visit to Nieu Bethesda, we stopped with few expectations and left wishing we’d discovered this lovely place before our last day.

The Karoo Food Experience at Stirlings @ The Ibis is a voyage of discovery

The focus is on seasonal, local, organic, and sustainable ingredients, thanks at least in part to the restaurant’s own vegetable and herb garden. There’s an a la carte menu that includes items like skilpadjies, lamb chops, lamb or chicken potjie, and mutton or veggie curry. But do yourself a favour and don’t miss the unforgettable ‘Karoo Food Experience’ that takes you on a journey discovering new flavours in six plates. Hear the story of how they forage, grow and source their ingredients.

Chef Barbara Weitz calls herself a ‘cook’s apothecary’ and adds a bit of magic to everything she touches. She has a passion for food and for plants, and loves to share new flavours that guests may never have tasted. For instance, you may be treated to delectable flavours of unusual ingredients like African wormwood, wild mint, wood sorrel, or agave blossoms. One of our favourites was refreshing sorbet made from the fruit of the Queen of the Night cactus. ‘We just want everyone who dines with us to enjoy the space, and the love and energy we put into creating each meal,’ says Barbara.

The restaurant is open from Fridays to Mondays, and booking is highly recommended.

Barbara and husband Johan took over The Ibis in September 2017 after spending 14 years in the safari industry in Tanzania. They also offer B&B accommodation, with rooms looking out over a garden courtyard with a swimming pool.

Antie Evelyne se Eetplek

Antie Evelyne's restaurant may be small, but portions are hearty

Antie Evelyne se Eetplek
This restaurant in the settlement of Pienaarsig is in Evelyne Olifant’s front yard, with a corrugated iron roof for shade. It seats around 20 people and you might meet other South Africans or guests from overseas. Enjoy traditional boerekos like chicken pie, Karoo lamb chops, caramelised pumpkin and vetkoek in generous portions. It’s good old home cooking at an affordable price, and a chance to support a local.

​Antie Evelyne has created the restaurant as a way to be self-sufficient, and though she’s getting on in years now she and her helpers still deliver a great experience you’ll remember. She also runs a free soup kitchen and does her best to keep the local kids away from alcohol, drugs and violence. Phone 083-8735526 to book ahead so she knows how many to cater for.

Zalig
Diagonally opposite the Owl House is Zalig where we had fabulous crisp, thin-based wood-fired pizzas. My vegan one had beetroot and butternut with some walnut sprinkles but no cheese and looked as fabulous as it tasted. My husband had a pulled lamb pizza with minted yoghurt, which he couldn’t stop talking about. They also have about half a dozen pasta dishes, as well as curries, and Moroccan lamb tagine. There’s a pub in an old shed in the garden where they gather to show sport events. Closed on Tuesdays.

Other Nieu Bethesda restaurants

You'll itch to explore Die Waenhuis restaurant building with its unusual decor

Other restaurants in the village include Die Waenhuis for dishes like lamb chops, lamb neck, lamb/wagyu/chicken burgers, and butter chicken. Open Mondays to Saturdays for dinner, and Sunday lunch. Bruno’s offers pizzas and Karoo dishes, The Village Inn is popular for breakfast, fish and chips, or burgers, while you can sit out under the trees at the Two Goats Deli (see point 8) to nosh on cheese and cold meat platters.

8. Go beer tasting or wine tasting

Cheese platter for two at the Sneeuberg Brewery and Two Goats

Cross the river from the Owl House to find the Sneeuberg Brewery and Two Goats Deli in Pienaar Street. Try a sample tasting of Karoo ale, honey ale and dark beer, with a cider or ginger beer thrown in for good measure. Then order a glass of the one you like best. You can order toasted sarmies or – my favourite – a bread, cheese and kudu salami platter, all made by owner Andre Cilliers. There are chairs inside or under trees in the garden at the back, so the kids can entertain themselves while you enjoy a casual and relaxing hour or two. Coffee beans are roasted on the premises too.

If wine is more your tipple than beer, try to plan your visit to Nieu Bethesda for May when the annual Stoep Tasting Wine Weekend takes place over two consecutive weekends. Join other wine tasters to stroll the streets from stoep to stoep and sample some of South Africa’s best wines. For more info, email karoowineclub@gmail.com.

9. Admire the village church

Nieu Bethesda's church was built in 1905

Back in the 1870s, when Graaff-Reinet was still seven or eight hours away by ox wagon or donkey cart, the locals decided they needed their own church. The building that was used from 1878 is now known as the Old Church Hall. The splendid ‘new’ church we see today dates back to 1905. Unless you’re there on a Sunday, you won’t get to see the inside, which has seating for about 700 and still has its original gas chandeliers from the days before electricity came to the village. It’s one of the prettier churches of the Karoo, with an elegant tower and a clock that still chimes to remind locals and visitors of the passing of time.

10. Walk a labyrinth

Walk the labyrinth at the Gregg Price Art Gallery

Looking for peace and relaxation, or a slow meditative walk? Find the stone labyrinth outside the Gregg Price Gallery on the corner of Grave and Martin streets. It’s based on a 13th-century labyrinth at Chartres Cathedral in France. Artist Gregg Price and his wife created it as a way to remember their son. It’s open to everyone, including visitors, to explore in whichever way suits them best.

11. Take a donkey cart ride around the village

Jakob with two of his donkeys

Chances are that if you visit over the weekend, you might see Jakob van Staden and his donkey cart resting under a shady tree or walking along the streets of Nieu Bethesda. Climb aboard for a gentle stroll through the village as Jakob fills you in on some of the history and points of interest along the way – the old church, the new church, Compassberg mountain which looms over the village, Athol Fugard’s house. Listen to his tales of the old days, when Helen Martins was still alive, or about when his donkey cart participates in local weddings. It’s a great experience for both kids and adults. Jakob’s contact number is 072-9879831.

Read more about our donkey cart ride

12. Wander through the cemetery

The graves in Nieu Bethesda's cemetery date back to the 1700s

If you’re like me and have a fascination with the history that lies buried (see what I did there?) in cemeteries, go for a walk through Nieu Bethesda’s cemetery. You’ll find old and new headstones, some elaborate and others much simpler. Read stories of a month-old baby, a soldier felled in action near Nieu Bethesda during the Anglo Boer War. Some of the older graves have tombstones made from rock slabs and the oldest I found was from 1830. Apparently there’s one that goes all the way back to 1786, though time has faded the carvings on many of the rock tombstones and lichen has eaten into them, making them hard to read.

13. Go stargazing
Without street lights, the stars stand out brighter than ever in the clean, dry Karoo skies over Nieu Bethesda, so don’t forget to look up at night for some star gazing and to marvel at the brightness of the Milky Way.

14. Discover the Stone Folk

The Stone Folk - a series of 10 stone and wire figures in the natural landscape

Travel north along Martin Street and you’ll discover the Stone Folk of Ongeluksloot at Doornberg Farm. After 6.7km, look for a small wooden arrow on a farm gate on your right saying ‘Stone Folk’. These wire and local stone sculptures are a permanent outdoor art installation created by Ryno Greef. The stone figures in Namibia’s Kaokoland and Marcella de Boom’s piece ‘The Dance’ outside Loxton in the Karoo inspired the artist to create them. Open and close the gate behind you, and drive a short way to a parking place. Then start walking along a path to the right of the first figure with a spear. Take the left fork over a dry riverbed after about 10-15m, which will take you closer to the other sculptures. Some of the ten figures sit and some stand, one even does a handstand. The whole route is less than a kilometre.

15. Ride a mountain bike
Walking the gravel roads is always a pleasure here, allowing time to notice small details. Another good way to experience the village in all its quirkiness is to take a lazy ride around on your bike, stopping here and there for shopping or coffee. If you’re more energetic (and fitter), there are mountain bike trails at Ganora Guest Farm and a circular Compassberg trail which is about 93km, with an optional extra 28km.

16. Find fossils and Bushman paintings

JP Steyberg is an enthusiastic and knowledgeable guide to the ancient fossils at Ganora

Even if you don’t stay at Ganora Guest Farm about 7km from the village, you can visit for the day if you book in advance so you can fit in with overnight guests for the activities. Ganora’s website says it all: ‘Give us one day and we will give you 250 million years.’

During your visit, you’ll see JP Steynberg’s amazing collection of fossils in the farm’s museum, all of them pre-dating the time of dinosaurs, with most of the mammal-like reptiles, from big to small, being around 250 million years old. JP and his sons have found all of these fossils on the farm over the past 25 years. He will infect you with his enthusiasm for these ‘stone bones’ and can take you on an excursion into the veld to find fossils still embedded in the rock.

Other activities on the farm include hiking, biking (see point 15), and visiting a shelter with 7000-year-old Bushman paintings, 600-year-old Khoi paintings, and some Anglo Boer War engravings.

Read more about our Ganora experience

17. Climb the Compassberg
The Compassberg is the highest free-standing peak in the Eastern Cape at 2502m and a climb to the top is popular with hikers who like a challenge. It’s on private land so the best way to get permission and directions is to WhatsApp Brenda on 082-5966475 beforehand. Don’t try phoning as there’s no signal away from the farmhouse and she’s often out. (You can also ask her about accommodation at the farm.)

​The drive from Nieu Bethesda village to the farmhouse will take about an hour. The hike, classed as moderate to difficult, starts at the foot of the mountain, which is 8.5km from the farmhouse. You can drive there in a bakkie or any other high-clearance vehicle. From there the hike to the summit is about two hours, maybe longer, depending on your level of fitness. The reward is a wonderful 360-degree view of the surrounding Karoo from the top. The descent also takes about two hours.

Note: Start early and don’t attempt this hike in bad weather. It’s much colder on the mountain than in the village. Also, rain, snow and wind are not your friends.

If you’re a keen hiker, you might also be interested in the five-day, 100km Nieu Bethesda Camino, a slack-packing trail. For more info, email info@slackpackingthekaroo.co.za.

Nieu Bethesda accommodation

Nieu Bethesda offers everything from luxury to basic backpackers and camping

As you can tell by this list – which doesn’t even include everything to do in this tiny town – there’s more to do here than you could possibly squeeze into a day visit. Luckily, Nieu Bethesda offers a wealth of overnight accommodation, from self-catering to B&B, farm stays to backpackers, even camping right in the village or on a farm nearby.

If you’ve never visited Nieu Bethesda before, I’d recommend staying at least three nights, even more if you want to relax, enjoy the peace and quiet, and reap the benefits of slow travel. See some of the accommodation options available here.

Best time to visit Nieu Bethesda
Nieu Bethesda lies in a semi-arid area, where the average annual rainfall is about 130mm. May to September have the least chance of rain, while January to March are the wettest months, meaning the vegetation is at its greenest and most photogenic.

Sheep are more likely to be roadblocks than other vehicles on the gravel roads

​If you don’t wilt in the heat, you’ll enjoy the months of October to March, when maximum Celsius temperatures get to the high 20s or mid 30s. April to September are generally cooler with maximum temperatures in the mid-20s. Although winter days are mostly sunny, winter lows – especially in June, July and August – reach an average of around 4 degrees, while zero to negative temperatures aren’t uncommon, especially when it snows. This is a time to enjoy red wine or hot chocolate around a crackling log fire.

Visit Nieu Bethesda in September to enjoy an explosion of pear blossom

I particularly love September in Nieu Bethesda because it’s cooler than mid-summer and you get to enjoy an explosion of gorgeous white pear blossom. Keep in mind some of the annual events in Nieu Bethesda when you plan your visit – whether you want to participate in that event or avoid that time because the village is likely to be busier. For instance, there’s a Pumpkin Festival at Easter, Stoep Tasting wine weekends in May (see point 8), and a Garlic Festival in early November.

Horses drinking from the leivore (water furrows) that line the streets of Nieu Bethesda

Top tips for your visit to Nieu Bethesda

• There’s no ATM in Nieu Bethesda so bring cash and credit cards with you. Most restaurants accept credit cards.
• There’s no fuel station so fill up before your visit. The nearest towns with fuel stations are Graaff-Reinet (about 55km away), Middelburg (about 105km), and Cradock (about 140km).
• If you want to enjoy the Karoo Food Experience at Stirlings @The Ibis (see point 7), book ahead!
• Always lock your vehicle and keep valuables like laptops, phones and cameras out of sight.
• Please don’t encourage kids to beg by giving them food or money. Yes, there’s poverty in the local township but the best way of ensuring your money goes to those most in need and to food rather than drugs, is to buy food vouchers at Die Winkel general store on the corner of Muller and Hudson streets.
• There’s more than one website sharing useful Nieu Bethesda info. For more, check out these:
  • https://nieubethesdatourism.co.za/
  • http://www.nieu-bethesda.com/
  • https://www.karooheartland.com/nieu-bethesda/
  • http://www.nieubethesda.info/

You may also enjoy
The Owl House Nieu-Bethesda: a world Helen Martins created
Things to do in Graaff-Reinet
Camdeboo National Park: the ultimate guide
Guide to the Baviaanskloof Wilderness Area, Eatern Cape

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Copyright © Roxanne Reid – No words or photographs may be used without permission from roxannereid.co.za