It is not often that you can visit a place and experience a myriad of radically different things in a short distance. In Hartbeespoort or Harties, you can visit a South African version of the Arc de Triomphe on the dam wall, a Zoo with various animals from around the world, and a Massive Windmill that gives you the feeling of the Netherlands but with the produce of wonderful South African cuisine.
Please come with me on this action-packed photographic journey in which I will show you a wonderful piece of South Africa. I will also muse about the ethics of a zoo in our modern era. (I will leave this for the very end because this is about traveling and not politics!) I hope you enjoy this little piece of my country and what we have to offer if you ever come and visit here.
The South African Arc de Triomphe
You drive in what feels like a jungle, and then it hits you from the front. A very out-of-place monument.
I am not from the area, so I saw it and wondered: Am I dreaming? Am I drunk? Where did this come from?
You climb out of the car and walk to the base of the arc. It is decorated in fancy decor. The street lights remind me of my visit to London, UK.
But I am quickly reminded I am in South Africa, and in a poorer area.
Various street vendors try to sell nuts to you. You get that strange feeling in your stomach that you are not really safe, and you see the graffiti against this stunning building.
Why, I wonder, why.
But I would reckon this is not unique to our country. Although it feels like it is worse here. Poverty rules. Alas, the front side is still pretty. But I also think to myself, why build a mini Europe in Africa? Oh, the irony in my own statement. Obviously, that was the goal of colonialism.
One wonders, when will all these reminders of the past lose that historical connection? Or will it only come from total destruction? Again, hard questions with grey answers. But I think it is an uncontroversial statement that this monument is out of place in the middle of kind of nowhere.
Information on the arch is scarce. I have no idea why though. Searching the internet, I could not find anything concrete. There is one Facebook post in which some detail is given about the arch. It was built around the 1920s and the reason was to give structural support to the dam wall. It is funny how something as big as this has so little information about it online. Or I am looking in the wrong places!
A Massive Windmill at the Jasmyn Farmers' Market
On the other side of the dam, you will find the Jasmyn farmers' market with its massive windmill.
Here you will find various activities. A massive bookshop with various historical artifacts, fresh produce that will make your mouth water, a couple of restaurants, stalls with local delicatessens like biltong, and various gardens filled with the most beautiful flowers.
This restaurant uses the windmill in a very creative way. They also have one of the quickest serving times I have ever experienced. When you order your drinks, it is less than 5 minutes till they arrive. Ordering food is the same. They have a small menu (in my opinion the best!) but they probably prep a lot of the food beforehand as they have so many customers.
After having that lovely dinner, you can stroll through the bookshop. Before entering the bookshop, you can walk up the staircase of books!
A lot of artifacts in the bookshop have historical significance, but they are a little bit politically driven. I opt not to post them here for I hope obvious reasons. Alas, the bookshop had some good titles! But like so many bookshops, they do not have a philosophy section.
But they had these old books (I do not think they are for sale) and if you look closely you can see Montaigne and Rabelais.
As you leave the farmers' market, you see this sign. I wonder if I can buy a constume and rock up with it next time. I need to test if they will actually enforce this!
Hartbeespoort Dam Snake and Animal Park
Zoos, or animal parks or whatever they want to be labeled, always sit strangely with me. There are so many reasons for and so many reasons against, but one can see the struggle in their behaviour. Especially birds of prey and big cats need vast open plains to roam and fly.
But these animals are locked up for us to look at. In any case, here are some photographs of these magnificent animals. I will also write some commentary on images. Sorry if this section is a little on the philosophical and political side.
What feels like hundreds of snakes are locked up in small individual enclosures. I wonder if they ever let them out into bigger enclosures. I cannot think how it needs to feel to be stuck in the same cage day in and day out.
Some of the photographs came out so good, so here are just a few. I want to share them here with you.
Chimps are also not supposed to be locked up. This one, for example, urinates on people who walk past him. I am no expert, but this is not normal and I guess it is a coping mechanism.
One can see the face with all its anguish.
Some of the small apes or monkeys also look so sad, and the photographs feel like I am on the other side of prison bars.
The meerkats are also always a favorite. They look so cute, and luckily their enclosure is somewhat bigger than the others.
Some of the animals look like they want to escape:
And lastly, what I feel is the biggest shame, is the big cats and similar animals.
Postscriptum, or A Sad Ending to a Happy Post
Sorry about the sad-ish ending. It is what it is though. Some of the animals are rescued, which makes sense. And where else can you get so close to these magnificent animals? But is this enough reason to lock them up? Grey area in moral reasoning, I guess.
In any case, I hope you enjoyed this virtual journey with me through the arch, to the windmill, and to the animal park! This is a unique mix and match in close proximity. You can do everything in one day. And it is not that expensive. Some of it is for free, but kind of risky.
All of the photographs are my own. Either taken with my Nikon D300 or iPhone. The musings are also my own unless stated otherwise. Safe travels!