'On the road again....just can't wait to get on the road again...'
I'm just so grateful...it's like God re-wired my brain to driving, making turns, merging on the 'wrong' side of the road! SO grateful for that, cuz I had been worried about that....
So this is what the 'Free State' looks like....this is where the Afrikaaners moved to, leaving the lush, wonderful coastlines cuz the Brits outlawed slavery....umm....yeah.....anyways.....let's just call it the South African 'Kansas' ;)
But what a sunset, no?
The hotels we stayed in had these jokes on the cup coasters....
hahaha....love it!
And now we have arrived at our destiantion: Kimberley!
That is the BIG HOLE or the world-famous diamond mine that helped put Kimberley on the map....
Th is our hotel....
It's kind of fun....they took these old Kimberley buildings and brought them together and recreated an 'Diamond Rush' downtown...reminded me of Alaskaland in Fairbanks....
And there it is! This is the place where Rhodes began his empire....
They were mining here up until WWI, when they had to close down....by the end of the war, the hole had filled with water....there are STILL diamonds down there, but since it's a national park now, you have to leave them be....
Oh how interesting...a Rothschild involved with Rhodes...hmm....
ILLUMINATI SCUM! :)
What a pretty church....Dutch Reformed of course ;)
Sol Plaatje was one of the founding members of the African National Congress. He travelled widely, translated Shakespeare into his native language, etc.
He lived, and then later died in Kimberley....
This is the Monument to the Glorious Dead....
The Afrikaaners/Boers laid siege to Kimberley....Kimberley held out though....
It's intersting how IMPORTANT the siege was to Kimberley's history, etc. Other than diamonds, the siege of the Boer war is THE defining moment of their history...
'If I were a rich man...'
Love it!
This is now McGregor museum, but in Rhodes' day was the Belgravia Hotel...
He actually stayed here during the Siege...
Interesting info....
Rhodes is one of the Brits who wanted to annex the Boer republics...starting the war if you will - Ordo ab Chao...
Rhodes made the diamond mines and shafts 'open' to women and children who wanted to escape the shelling of teh Siege....
These are children who were born during the Siege...
This is the Africana library....
A lady volunteered to show us around...she was SO cool and knew so much...really nice....
Here we are....
Ya got that?!
This was SO cool to see! These were books my mom bought when I was little and were always there with me my whole life....like seeing an old friend...
and these as well...oh how I loved me an encyclopedia! SO much info, so much to learn!
So fun to see you guys again...
This is SO funny...reminds me of post-communist Eastern Europe....
These are the portraits of the mayors of Kimberley from...like the past 90 years or so...they used to hang in City Hall, but now, since they are symbols of the Apartheid regime, they are now in this library....SO interesting...revisionism!
This is Rhodes' corner where he would sit and read his books...
And yes, that is the portrait of a black mayor. Kimberley had black mayors as well, but they were later seen as 'traitors'....
This is the Kimberley Club...only the 'creme de la creme' could come in here back in the day and Rhodes, who would sit in 'his corner' in the library, would sit there, looking through the window and make sure only those allowed in, entered...
This is Rhodes' office at the DeBeers diamond company....
DeBeers were brothers who owned a farm. Diamonds were found on their farm, and then the 'rush' happened. They wanted out/tired of prospectors asking them if they could dig, so they sold their farm....
Rhodes later formed the DeBeers Diamond company, which in my opinion is an illegal cartel that artificially keeps the price of diamonds elevated...but I digress....
and that is the mine! LOL...not much to look at from up top, eh?
So that was it....Kimberley was an interesting stop on our way from Jo'burg to the coast, but I enjoyed it...it reminded me of Fairbanks...had that same 'Gold Rush' feel to it ;)
