Jansenville, Greater Addo

Lying north west of the upper reaches of the Addo Elephant National Park, Jansenville lies in the Eastern Cape's nature and conservation region, an area of roughly 438 000 hectares of managed nature reserves that are committed to protecting bio-diversity, conservation and forming beneficial relationship with local communities.

Of course there are those who dispute the Eastern Cape's claim to Jansenville, and it does indeed lie close enough to Graaff-Reinet and the Camdeboo to allow its sometime annexation by the Karoo, even if much of the vegetation bears a more than passing resemblance to bushveld.

Perhaps it is the grassy plateaus and the easy slopes that allow one to think one has entered the Karoo. Or it is the town's prettiness and its location north of the Zuurberg Mountains in an area known as Noorsveld, where one finds more than a few cactus like succulents known as Noors plants that are not only very beautiful, but in times of drought serve as cattle feed - you can understand why Jansenville has difficulty associating itself with the Eastern Cape.

Jansenville is primarily a hunting and farming town, surrounded by game farms that lies on the R75 past Glenconnor and Wolwefontein. In the past it was the terrain of the nomadic Khoi and cattle farmers. The town lies on the first white settler to the region's original farm, known then as Vergenoegd (far enough).

The town itself offers enough to keep one occupied. If you are a fan of Anglo-Boer War forts, one lies on the pinnacle of a hill just outside Jansenville built in 1901, and the museum building, a fabulously preserved art deco home, is definitely worth a visit.