Op soek na die Watermeid

[Trailrider]

The semi-arid Klein Karoo, which is situated in long valley bordered by the majestic Swartberg and Outeniqua & Langeberg Mountains, is a magical landscape of towering cliffs, crystal clear streams and an abundance of indigenous flora. It's one of the Western Cape's most diverse regions.

The region is hot and dry in summer and has plenty of sunshine in winter, which makes it ideal for road trips, especially bike trips.

History books tell us that this area was first explored by European settlers in the late 17th century. Dutch ensign Isaq Schrijver first penetrated the Klein Karoo by an elephant track that was to become Attakwas Pass. He and his party reached the Olifants River valley in January 1689 where they encountered Khoisan people already living in this rather dry area. In those days herds of buffalo, elephant and kudu still dominated these plains. History books also tell of the "Feather Barons" and their magnificent 19th century ‘ostrich palaces’.

But this area has history from before the 17th century. The Khoisan had already been living here for generations by then and they had their own history, legends and stories, some of which survive to this day. It's one of these legends that peaked my interest - the "Watermeid".

The "Watermeid" (or Karoo mermaid) has been an integral part of Karoo folklore for years. Stories passed down from parents and grandparents, warn children not to go near deep pools in case the "Watermeid" drags them in and drowns them.

Modern man dismissed these stories, saying these stories began as a way to protect children from the dangers of deep water, until archeologists started finding Khoisan "Rock Art" depicting the Watermeid and even groups of these Karoo mermaids.



Could there be more to this story?

In my research about the subject I learned that I was not the first to wonder about this. In September 2006 Wendy Hardie did exactly the same thing. She took film-maker Maya Morgan and went looking for the Watermeid of the Klein Karoo.


(Photo from this website)

They followed a trail of indigenous stories, spoke to people who had firsthand sightings and saw some of the rock art.

'Searching for Mermaids in the Karoo' was screened on the SABC in 2007 an a DVD of the documentary, with an accompanying Guide-book & Map — can be ordered directly by emailing hardie@iafrica.com. So that's what I did.

Here is an excerpt from the DVD:


It's well made and the info (especially contact information of eye witnesses) was a huge leap forward in my research, but amazingly they never spoke to Poem Mooney, leader of the Attakwa Khoi and legendary storyteller. He is an expert on Attakwa Khoi history and especially the Watermeid. I would definately have to rectify that in my trip.

This report will differ from other reports in that this single report will cover several rides to places of interest. Well, that and the fact that this Ride Report has started before the ride is finished. See this as the first RLT Forum "live" Ride Report and become part of the report by joining in on some of the rides (planning thread here). More and more rides will also be added in future when more sightings occur. The Watermeid legend truly is a living history writing it's own chapters as time goes on.

Another new feature in this report will be downloadable Google Earth place marks of each place of interest. In the end I will string these rides / destinations together and create a downloadable "Watermeid route" (with relevant details) for other future who might want to organize a single ride to see all these places.

So did we see her yet? There is only one way to find out:
These "Part" buttons will be clickable and will take you to the relevant post as the posts are added (experiment).

CP Nel Museum / Eporia


Rooiwalle


Eseljagtspoort


Olifantsrivier - Dysselsdorp


Meiringspoort


Boesmans drif


Rock Art


Nieu Bethesda



Pending...


Pending...


Pending...


Pending...

Sources: Discovering the Karoo Mermaid; Searching for Mermaids in the Karoo

[Trailrider]

In 1996 the Watermeid made the headlines in the mainstream media.

It all began with the terrible flood in the Oudshoorn District at the end of 1996. I remember it well because I got married (in George) on the day the rain started. The resulting flood washed ostriches, crocodiles, cattle, farm equipment, trees and sections of tar road through Meiringspoort and Oudtshoorn all the way to the sea. Numerous houses in Oudtshoorn were flooded knee deep by the Olifants river and the damage was such that Oudtshoorn was declared a disaster area. The Meiringspoort road was all but destroyed and some of the guests at our wedding had to take long detours to get back home.



While reporting during the flood someone on the radio joked that the Watermeid must have been washed all the way to the sea. Shortly after a regional radio station (Suid Kaap Sterio) reported that the Watermeid washed up on the beach and was taken to the CP Nel Museum in Oudtshoorn where it was kept in a glass tank. A national radio station (RSG) heard about it and repeated the story. Then all hell broke loose...

The museum was inundated with calls. They wanted to know where the Watermeid was and whether they could see her? People came from near and far, from Pretoria, Cape Town, PE and numerous other places. Some journeyed through the night to see the phenomenon. Then people became angry and riotous because there was nothing to see at the museum. They claimed the museum was only showing the Watermeid to the Whites. Even the police arrived to keep the crowds under control.

The curator announced that the museum's tower will be filled with water for the Watermeid to live in. In the meantime the museum personnel quickly converted a mannequin into a mermaid and hung it in the tower so that people who came from far had something to see. When the people got the impression that it was a money making scam the curator suspended the entrance fee for that week. Finally the people saw her and realizing that it was only a dummy got even more annoyed. There had to be a real Watermeid. It was on the radio!


(Photo from this website.)

Finally the curator told the people that the Watermeid had been returned to the river. Soon after a "seer" in the community claimed to have talked to the Watermeid at Rooiwalle. Another also claimed to have spoken to the Watermeid and apparently the Watermeid told her that her name was EPORIA. Things then finally calmed down.

But it did not end there. Stories of the Watermeide continued to appear in magazines and newspapers during the year. In Van Rhynsdorp a Watermeid caused a youngster to drown. In the Eastern Cape a Watermeid caused such a fuss that the matter ended up in court. In the Moddergat river at Macassar, near Somerset West, one kept a group of youths in a panic for a week. And in Europe the famous bronze statue of a mermaid in Copenhagen was decapitated for the second time since it's erection in 1913.


(Photo from this website.)

Since 1996 the Watermeid appeared in several paintings and shows at the KKNK and the well known Antoinette Pienaar performed a cabaret called "Eporia". In nearby Calitzdorp a special Mermaid Port was bottled and television even screened programs about the Watermeid or Karoo Mermaid.

Asterix and I went to the CP Nel Museum to see the Watermeid that caused all the fuss. We were disappointed to find that the Watermeid had been taken out of the tower since, but the museum personnel was kind enough to get her out of storage so that we could see her. And here she is:



So, our trip had not even started and already we've seen the Karoo Mermaid. A positive start to our trip! Hopefully during our trip we'll see the real thing.


Source: CP Nel Museum

[cassiebotha]

Dis nou vir jou 'n avontuur
TR mag maar

[Trailrider]

So where better to start than the place where she was returned to the river - Rooiwalle. Rooiwalle literally translated, translates to "Red Walls" (and you'll see why!).

I decided to chat to the locals and ask about the Watermeid whenever the chance presented itself. I refueled in Oudtshoorn and asked the petrol attendant if he knew about a mermaid in the area? "A mermaid? No. Never heard of it. What is that?" The Watermeid? "The Watermeid! But of course!"

He has not seen her himself, but he knows about her and absolutely believes she exists. She lives in the Olifants river and has blue eyes, long black hair, pink cheeks and 'n white skin never touched by the sun. She is the most beautiful woman in the world. It is only when you go closer that you realize - it's a fish! And if she gets a hold of you there's BIG trouble...

Well there you have it. The first random person we asked knew all about the Watermeid. We would come to realize later that this was the norm as not a single person we asked was perplexed by the question. Not everybody believed, but without fail everybody knew about her. And the descriptive name is "Watermeid". Try to be PC and ask about the "Karoo Mermaid" and no-one would have a clue what you're talking about.

So off we went, heading South towards George. Just outside of Oudtshoorn you find the Olifants River. Picture looking East:



In the picture above you can see that most of the river is covered in reeds. In the background you can see Rooiwalle.

This road past Rooiwalle (a small connecting road) has been closed because of flood damage (more about that later). Sometimes though, if you're lucky, the gate is open and you can see this phenomenon. And as it happens the gate was open today!



These Rooiwalle must have been formed by wind and water erosion. It's not solid, but formed out of red clay and river stones and there are several places where small "caves" formed.



Close-up shot of the wall:



I find this very interesting. I would love to hear a geologist's opinion on this.

I parked my bike for the purpose of scale - look at how big this is!



The road here fell away into the river a couple of years back. Because of the nature of these Rooiwalle I doubt if this road will be opened ever again.



And this is the deep hole in the Olifants river where the Watermeid was said to have been returned to the river. I can certainly believe that there could have been drownings here in the past (most of the stories go hand in hand with drownings).



We did not see anything resembling the Watermeid (and luckily, if we did, we were safe on a high spot! ) but this certainly is a unique and beautiful place. Well worth a visit!



But where did it all start?

She first appeared in reports in 1875 at a place called Eseljagtspoort...

[buzzlightyear]

Lyk my die watermeid se hande is andersom as gewone mense s'n 

Lekker interessante trippie die 

[Trailrider]

Dis nou vir jou 'n avontuur
TR mag maar

Cassie waar is jou fotos van Rooiwalle?

[Trailrider]

Tok-tokkie - what is your opinion on this?

[cassiebotha]

TR ek sal dit ook post vanmiddag. 
Daardie kamera het die rooi grond nogal goed afgeneem. 

[Trailrider]

In 1875, a farmer named Mr D Ballot from Molensrivier recorded a story told to him by an elderly bushman named "Afrikaander". This bushman spoke of a "spirit" that took the form of a woman and grabbed passers by to drown them in the river. She reportedly lived under the water at Eseljagtspoort.

So we went and had a look!



Today I took my youngest - Kermit - with. The Watermeid catches children and if we're to have a hope of seeing her we'd need bait. We were unsuccessful yesterday but at 12 years Asterix may be a tad too old.



Eseljagpoort is in the Langkloof North of the Outeniqua mountain range, just East of Paardepoort. It's a small poort where the Eseljag river flows through a small mountainous area.



The Eseljag river is not a big river and we found the deep waterholes in the poort easily. Beautiful spot!



There are lots of reeds here as well. Several of the Watermeid sightings and stories had reeds in the story.



Kermit took these photos close to the water...



...but we didn't have a bite. She was too smart for us today.

The view looking further North:



The river flows in a Northerly direction here and the water will (if it ever gets past the Kammanassie dam) end up much further South where the Gouritz river flows into the sea.

Cassie also joined us on today's ride and from here we headed further into the Klein Karoo towards Dysselsdorp (in a round about way). We had some very welcome rain recently and as usual any water crossing was a source of entertainment!

Cassie:



Kermit and I:



Cassie recently upgraded from his Yamaha XTZ125 to this Kawasaki KLX250 and he's enjoying every minute on the bike.



Some scenery en route to Dysselsdorp:



Kermit enjoying the exploration side of this trip:





Recent rain = green Klein Karoo:



During my research about the Watermeid Dysselsdorp frequently came up. Dysselsdorp is situated next to the Olifants river and between Meiringspoort and Oudtshoorn so if a Watermeid inhabited these waters it's makes sense that there would be several sightings in this area.

So of course that was our next stop...

[Trailrider]

Riding into Dysselsdorp I saw a man standing at his garden gate, just looking at the world pass by. So I stopped for a chat.

Meet Samuel Levin:



Samuel was not born in Dysselsdorp, but he grew up here from an early age. He is a well travelled man (been al over South Africa; Cape Town, Durban, Johannesburg) and he knows the Watermeid stories well. Not more than a year ago his brother-in-law was caught and drowned by the Watermeid in the Olifants river. His brother-in-law? Yes. According to Mr. Levin the Watermeid catches both children and adults. (wait, what!?? )


(Photo by Cassie)

Have you seen the Watermeid? "No, I have not, only in books. And I am quite certain that I don't ever want to see her."

What does she look like? "She is half human, half fish. Her upper body is human and she is a beautiful woman with long black hair."

Is she a spirit? "No, she is as real as you and I."

Mr. Levin described the drowning of his brother-in-law in detail. This is a man that could swim, but he suddenly disappeared under the water and didn't resurface. Divers recovered the body. It's a sad story as this man was the provider of a family. Mr. Levin fears that one of his grand children will also be caught when they play near the river.



Mr. Levin gave us clear directions to the spot where the drowning occurred so we just had to go and have a look.

(On a side note: Later when I got home an internet search revealed that the Oudtshoorn Local Paper did report that a man drowned recently in the Olifants rivier, suddenly disappearing below the water and not coming up again. Out of respect for the family of the deceased I decided not to include that link in this report.)

We hit the road to look for the waterhole. Unfortunately the river is some ways off the road on private farm land just beyond that field:



A closer look:



We decided not to trespass so we rode to the farm house to ask permission to go to the river.



We stopped in front of the farmhouse and was greeted by the farmer's wife. I was hesitant to tell her we were searching for the Karoo Mermaid, but I told her about the research, the stories and why we wanted to see the water hole. She knew all about the Watermeid. She told us that the Olifants river had several deep water holes and invited us to have a look at the deepest one not far from the house (we walked there). The farm's irrigation water is pumped from this hole:



According to the lady of the farm the depth of this pool is unknown, but it certainly is very very deep and fed by a fountain. They once had a free diver who dove down with a rope to try and measure the depth, but he could not reach the bottom.



She also told us that someone drowned here several years ago. He never resurfaced and the body was never found. The drowning Mr. Levin spoke about was at a different spot though.

And once again the reeds...



I asked the Farmer's wife if I could photograph her but she declined (it might be safer not to go around photographing farmer's wives when the farmer is not present anyway ).

Today's experience, having spoken to more locals and about specific events, was much more "real".

Next I go to see the place best known in the Watermeid stories: Meiringspoort.

[Dusty]

Very interesting RR   would like to join you on some of your searches

[Kola]

  TR

Some of these pools that I would love to get permission to go and dive in...

[Trailrider]

Very interesting RR   would like to join you on some of your searches

That's a given.

[Trailrider]

TR

Some of these pools that I would love to get permission to go and dive in...

Dit sou great gewees het om 'n duiker saam hê. Hoe diep kan so "free diver" duik? Hy was nogal 'n recce.

[Kola]

Dit hang maar van die free-diver af.

Freediving World Records - Men
Discipline                              Result           Competitor      
Static Apnea                      11:35           Stephane Mifsud   
Dynamic Apnea with Fins      250 m           Alexey Molchanov   
Dynamic Apnea without Fins   213 m           Dave Mullins   
Constant Weight with Fins      124 m           Herbert Nitsch   
Constant Weight without Fins  95 m           William Trubridge   
Free Immersion                      120 m           Herbert Nitsch   
Variable Weight                      142 m           Herbert Nitsch   
No Limits                              214 m           Herbert Nitsch   


Dit laat my dink aan die "26m bottomless pit"

Naby ons in Pretoria is 'n quarry waarvan niemand ooit die bodem kon kry nie so diep was dit.
Ons het altyd daar gaan swem.
So 'n paar jaar terug toe gaan duik ons een Saterdag daar en kry die bodem op 26m

Ek sal baie graag die poele wil gaan explore as ek kan toestemming kry by die plaaslike mense (maar 'n mens moet dit baie stil probeer hou).

[Trailrider]

26m! Dis darem vrek diep. Daai rivier is nie juis groot nie.

Die Meiringspoort gat is 9m. Iemand wat in die water is en probeer af duik kan nie so diep af gaan nie? Want oor jare kon niemand daai bodem ook raak nie.

[Umdani]

Wat van daai diep gate by Tsumeb. Toe ons in die Army was het hulle ons vertel dat die goed wat soos in kilometers van mekaar af is verbind is met mekaar. Het self daar geswem, maar vir 'n plaasseun was dit maar 'n skrikwekkende ervaring!

[Kola]

Ons gaan nou OT hier.

Jy praat seker van Otjikoto - dit is nog 'n plek waar dit die moeite werd is om te gaan duik met die regte kwalifikasies en toerusting.

"Otjikoto is situated close to the mining town of Tsumeb. Part of an underground river system, the lake was exposed when the roof of what was a large dolomite cave fell in. The lake is small with a diameter of about 102m, but very deep, with a depth estimated to be in excess of 142m in places. The lake is situated near the town of Tsumeb and is en-route from there to the Namutoni entrance to the Etosha National Park.

During the first world war the Union of South Africa, still part of the British Empire, was ordered to invade German South West Africa. The German troops were heavily out-numbered by the Union forces, but managed to hold out for nearly a year before finally being forced to surrender. The final hostilities took place in the vicinity of Otjikoto and, rather than surrender their weapons and artillery to the enemy everything, including the heavy guns and ammunition wagons, was dumped into the lake. Many of these relics have since been recovered, but not all. The lake still contains various pieces of artillery and there are rumours that the German troops also disposed of their war chest in the same manner. Stories are told of a large safe, the edges and keyhole sealed with molten lead and containing 6 million goldmarks, being lowered into Lake Otjikoto. The safe has never been seen again.

The first Europeans to see Otjikoto were the Englishman Sir Francis Galton and the Swede Charles Anderson who discovered the lake by accident in 1850.

The name is derived from the Otjiherero language and means deep hole. The San called it "Gaisis" which means very ugly because they were afraid of the deep water. When Galton and Anderson first stumbled on Otjikoto they went for a swim. The local Herero and Owambo people were much surprised because local belief was that nobody could survive the mysterious waters.

Lake Guinas, is situated southwest of Otjikoto, a 50km (31miles) round trip from the main road, but it is usually bypassed in favour of Otjikoto. The detour is well worth the effort, as Guinas is not only deeper, but more scenic than its more famous counterpart."

[Umdani]

  Julle ouens moet daar gaan kyk. Julle gaan 'n hjele skare watermeire teekom!

[Trailrider]

Voor ek aangaan met die Meiringspoort post net 'n insetsel:

Geskiedenis boeke vertel vir ons hoe die pad deur Meiringspoort gemaak is, maar hoe is Meiringspoort gemaak?

Hoe Meiringspoort gemaak is:
Antoinette Pienaar

EPORIA is 'n anderste meermin, maar soveel meer misterieus en eksoties as haar susters in die oseaan. Sy woon nie op die seebodem nie, maar in 'n poel in die Klein Karoo, die land van ruimte.

Eporia, half-vrou, half-vis, word deur die diere van die veld gekroon as die koningin van hul wêreld en Absolom die skaapwagter word haar vriend.

Dit is 'n wêreld waar almal in harmonie saamleef en Gamka, die laaste Kaapse leeu, se statige treë die respek afdwing wat hy as koning van die diereryk verdien.

Maar dan, op 'n dag, kom die jagters en moor die inwoners van die Klein Karoo een vir een uit. Selfs Gamka val dood neer met 'n bulderende slag.

Eporia sien dit alles en word oorweldig deur 'n siedende woede. Sy roep al die waters van die heelal bymekaar en neem verwoestend wraak. Met die water word die aarde en klip vervorm en só word Meiringspoort gemaak.

*Bron*

Mooi storie nè?