The Owl House

Some 50 kilometers north of Graaff-Reinet in the valley of the Sneeuberg Mountains is the tiny hamlet of Nieu-Bethesda. There are no street lights. There are only a couple of streets anyway. In fact, it has only recently had electricity installed! Nieu-Bethesda sells no petrol, has no banking facilities or ATMs and no one will take your credit cards anywhere. (Warning: if you visit, bring cash and a full tank of gas.)

What it does have is a reputation for being an artists' colony and a place for creative people like Athol Fugard whose play The Road to Mecca is based on the little town. Fugard was actually born in the Karoo in nearby Middleburg and still uses Nieu-Bethesda as his retreat. There is even a Fugard Festival that happens at some point in the year. (We saw signs.)

And one of the characters in Fugard's play The Road to Mecca was based on an eccentric artist who lived in Nieu-Bethesda and whose home is now an art gallery and museum called The Owl House. Her name was Helen Martins and she was a recluse who took refuge in Nieu-Betehsda after her failed marriage left her alone and destitute. She began to create art objects and sculptures using broken glass and cement in order to "search for the light" in her closed world. She and her assistant Koos Malgas created a menagerie of camels, human beings, lambs, sphinxes and owls which are all displayed in the yard. Many of the inside walls of her house are even  "wallpapered" with finely ground colored glass giving it an enchanted igloo feel.

"The Camel Yard"

I love these skirts made from beer bottles.

This cat has eyes made from car headlights! Clever up-cycle.

inside the house

She particularly favored the owl, but there are many sculptures of mermaids and angels too.

And the other thing of note to visit in Nieu-Bethesda is the Brewery and Two Goats Deli.

We stopped in for a brew (or two) and a platter of cheese and kudu salami.

They make their own goat cheese!

And Karoo Ale ...