Free State
The central Free State metamorphoses from grassland interspersed with small granite outcrops in the west to magnificent sandstone hills in the east.
The capital of this province is Bloemfontein, an imposing but unattractive town which has some surprisingly good museums, including the National Museum, the old Fourth Raadsaal (parliament) of the old Free State Republic, the National Afrikaans Literary Museum, and the Oliewenhuis Art Gallery. By far the most interesting is the National Women’s Memorial and War Museum, telling the chilling story of the Boer War and the British concentration camps (where 26,370 women and children died) from the Afrikaans perspective.
Outside Bloemfontein, the southern Free State is home to the Gariep Dam, a massive 374 sq km (144 sq miles) reservoir, built for irrigation and hydroelectric power. However, the State’s most interesting scenery lies in the eastern highlands, on the Lesotho border. From Bloemfontein, hills rise steadily as one heads past Thaba’nchu, the old seat of the Basotho kings, to Ladybrand, the main route into Lesotho. North from here are Ficksburg, which has an annual cherry festival in spring and the new-age settlement of Rustler’s Valley, which hosts an annual music festival in autumn. Further to the northeast is the Golden Gate National Park, verging on the KwaZulu-Natal Drakensberg, characterised by massive weathered sandstone cliffs tinted a multitude of shades of red, yellow and orange.
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