When I was much younger, I remember a group of us walked across that landbridge that was in the middle of the salt pan, what was this road used for? And is there really a spring in the middle? I have a vague memory of water, black in colour, bubling out of it! Anyone?
???
Hi Mike, I don't know about your spring, but I can recall a "Bottomless" water filled hole near the beach turnoff ( on the right hand side ). It was known as the '' German Well " when we were kids. We would spend hours throwing stones into it.
Nicky. now I'm interested, could you be more specific? is it near the road? is it part of a salt pan? Unbeknown to a lot Of Oranjemunders today, there is at least 3 underground streams that flow under the town from north to south, they feed into the pan, through seepage.... as kids we used to press the hosepipe into the earth and it went down, and the down, and then down, more than 3 metres at least, it never stopped and the water never came ot the top of the hole.....
:o
Mike, it was situated on the right hand side of the road near the beach turnoff heading towards the bridge. It was in a little way from the road, before you got to the turnoff. Another way to describe it's location would be to say that it's just left of the famous chevron sign. You have a pic of it on the site. You turn left at the T - Junction coming from the beach side. It was then on the left hand side of the road, a little way in. Not sure how far in, as the memory is vague. There was always an algae bloom on the surface as well.
I think I must take my girls and the dog for a walk around the area.... there's a lot pans, but i do remember seeing a spot that was dense with different types of plants.....
:)
@Mike, did you ever find the bottomless well?
Is it not perhaps the "oasis" with the bath under the tree... along the water line (north side of swartkops road)?
You've just pricked my memory Nicky......I remember that.....now.
Hi all
My research for the new book has shown that Giel Louw had a farm on the north bank of the river at a spot called 'Sandkraal'. This was just down from Swartkops and just up from the present day golf course. There was a freshwater spring there called Sandkraal - hence the farm name.
Ruening and Klinghardt used to meet there during their explorations through the Sperrgebiet. Approx position was 28° 35' 33.85" S, 16° 27' 17.84" E.
Does this sound like the spot?
There was also a spring called 'Angwigarub' which was about 5 klicks upstream of Swartkops.
Malcom
LOL I realy don't understand all that latitude stuff but Nicky's discription is exactly where I remember it to be. Sort of ..if you were walking to the beach you would cut the corner at the TJunction and walk through the desert quite a way in. I remember us doing that.
Same here Diana, been there many a time, not sure how fresh the water was.
Malcom, I took the honers and Google your spot
To be honest lots of underground water around O'M ... the salt pans were not only fed by sea seepage ,, the story of the orange river with 50 + % being underground ...
I got three springs in my garden when I open the tap water comes out
.....but I know the one Nicky's talking about..so there. Then again I thought MR Borchards was the GM...... drinking-41 .. Lourensford Shiraz..very good.
Hey Alfred
What is that green spot just to the north of the place marker? Perhaps its there?
Malcolm
Will come and ask for directions next weekend Michael.... would like to see it.
Just to add . . . .
There seemed to be plenty of water in the Sperrgebiet during the past, with communities close by. There were Nama villages near Elizabeth Bay, Luderitz, Hottentots Bay, Douglas Bay, van Reenens Bay, near the Klinghardt mountains and Angras Juntas Bay. Chameis Bay and Affenrucken springs were also used. There were much larger settlements further inland.
There was a big village at the mouth of the river and settlements all along both sides of the river and also at Arris Drift and Sendelings Drift. Dunvlei also had an interesting history - it was possibly an island with a lagoon that eventually became part od the southern river bank.
By the way todays Sendelings Drift is not the location of the original Sendelings Drift. The old Sendelings Drift where all the explorers crossed in Namibia was about 8-9 km further downstream near where the old German police station is. Todays Sendelings Drift was called Numedamas in the past. By about 1850 the river had changed its course and the original drift disappeared. So Numedamas was used.
Malcolm
What happened to the original inhabitants?
Briefly, Mike – I don't know
Like much of southern Africa, the Namas moved on when the colonists and settlers started expanding into their areas and of course in Namibia the Germans took over.
Also there was plenty of fighting between the various Khoikhoi clans and tribes (of which the Namas were one) and the Bushmen.
Most of the villages and settlements had disappeared by 1900 as their social structure broke down and their land was seized. Today there's no Nama settlements left between the coast from the Orange River to Walvis Bay, with no traces left in the Sperrgebiet. Only in the Richtersveldt are there some traditional Nama settlements - but this is also disappearing.
There also seemed to be more water in the Sperrgebiet in the past and fossils that have been found near Bogenfels, Grillenthal and Elizabeth Bay are similar to those found in the equatorial-zone mountain forests of Kenya. From fossils found at Arrisdrif, it seemed that the river region was warmer and wetter, more heavily vegetated with woodlands and that the sea level was much higher, with the river mouth only a few kilometres away. Also lizards found today on the mountains such as the Aurus Mountains, are related to species which only occur in higher rainfall regions. These lizards could not have reached the isolated mountain ranges (inselbergs) under present-day conditions, supporting the theory that the region previously received more rain.
Most of the waterholes in the Sperrgebiet are now partially dry and the water is of poor quality - certainly not enough to support villages. There were springs at Grillenthal, Chameis, Affenrucken (which still exists), Kaukausib, Buntfeldschuh and the Klinghardt Mountains. The Obib spring is also still going. North of Luderitz there was freshwater springs at Douglas Bay and further east of Luderitz a swell. So there seems to be much more water than there is now.
Malcolm