S1 - Ep 204 - Bethulie - A Beautiful Small Free State Town!

We have heard so much about Bethulie and this made us really excited to go and explore the town. As we arrived in this small Free State town, we were welcomed by the Horse Monument and this set the stage. The town was clean and neat and driving through the streets, we could see that this was a proud community. The old 1937 Power Station looked in a good condition, the well-preserved and maintained concentration camp cemetery was a must-visit and then of course the beautiful Royal Hotel. We were fortunate enough to have the privilege to meet the owner and see the 120 000+ books and 80 000+ vinyl records lining the walls of this amazing place. The owner calls it the 'House of Stories' and I can just imagine all the stories between all those book and vinyl covers. Visiting the cemetery was a sad experience, but it was encouraging to see that it gets looked after for others to visit and honour the memory of those lives that were lost. #DustBugs #adventuretravel #southafrica #southafricavlog #bethulie #freestate #orangeriver
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[@61sunset]

I am so grateful you took us to Bethulie, it was bitter sweet for me. My grandmother was born in that camp and survived along with her mother . Unfortunately her father and sister died there. Her father was unwell before he entered the camp, or else he would be fighting alongside the Boers. So terrible how those poor people were treated and the huge ripple effect the scorched earth policy had for many years later. Apparently my great grandmother was a tough fiesty old bird, but she would have had to be to survive that. Sadly my grandmother died in her thirties ( not whilst in the camp, they were free by that time )from black water fever, whilst my mom was still a child . So few globally have knowledge of this tragic historical event , it's mostly been swept under the carpet. I cried seeing that memorial but am grateful that it is there and preserved so well. Thank you for showing us.

[@DustBugsTravel]

Wow, a lot of sadness at this place for you then. 😥 I'm also 'happy' that we were able to show you the cemetery and the memorials, I'm not sure whether you've been there personally yet. I must be honest and say that I visit them with trepidation sometimes because they touch both Sonia and myself very deeply and it's often difficult to just forget and move on. I just feel it so important to document though since those many names, including those of your grandfather and greataunt, were people who have to be remembered and honoured forever. Thank you for sharing your personal story with us, it means a lot.

[@lizledbitter6711]

According to Anthony I've stopped off at the Royal Hotel 13 times so far (last time in October 2022). Great and convenient place to stop on most trips through South Africa. Halfway to everywhere.

[@DustBugsTravel]

You must be a honorary resident of Bethulie by now, that's fantastic! I don't blame you one but, it's a wonderful town. We haven't had the pleasure of staying over at the Royal Hotel yet, but I'm sure that must be a great experience too! 🤩🚗

[@petersegeren3766]

Thank for showing Buthulie. My in-laws retired there in in the late 80ies. They bought the then abandoned house, you show 9:52 minutes into the video with the rap around veranda. It was built around 1850. When they bought it, the windowpanes were all broken, the doors internally were all broken etc. They spent about 6 months fixing it up. It has lovely old floorboards and wooden ceilings and even had a few of the original wood window shutters. It is so great to see that it is still in a good condition and is being used as a guest house. I was last there in 2000 and they passed away in they early 2000s. My father in law ran the oord at the Patrick Mynhardt wildtuin at the Buthulie dam, which is now derelict, such a pity.

[@DustBugsTravel]

Thank you for sharing that very interesting info and personal association with Bethulie. We loved that house! 🤩 It certainly seems as if your in-laws did a fantastic job of fixing up the place, it still has so much character. We were also sad to hear about the Game Reserve not being in existence anymore at the dam. That must've been a great asset to this already-beautiful town. We so appreciate you watching our video. 🚗😁

[@hiltonscholtz3364]

There is so much more history is this place, the orphanage, the dam itself and more

[@DustBugsTravel]

It's simply impossible to visit every single place of interest in every town and area we visit, so we choose to focus on what we actually managed to see and not what we missed. 😁🚗

[@Luciferissatan]

Love Your videos , i think its about high time for us the 90s kids the 2000s to change the game and invest in such areas , be creative and boost travel and tourism in such areas, invest in proper infrastructure and move our businesses/companies in such areas. CPT, DBN, JHB etc are congested now its about high time we resurrect such areas, keep those videos coming sir we love them.

[@DustBugsTravel]

Thank you, happy to hear you enjoy our videos. 😁 I think that is such a fantastic idea and I couldn't agree with you more. Now we need the numbers to make this idea a viable one! 👌🏻

[@munesumangava9751]

So far to what I’ve watched, Bethulie is the most active of these little towns…… its alive🥰👍

[@DustBugsTravel]

Bethulie is indeed a little hive of activity and a lovely town, full of fantastic people and such rich history. We had a great time there! 😁🚗

[@keiths8370]

We had the most memorial stop over at the Royal Hotel a few years back. Totally in awe surrounded by the volumes of books and the awesome atmosphere. Anthony and his staff offered us wonderful hospitality and we had the best home cooked dinner. That evening before dinner Anthony took all the visitors of the hotel for a walk down the road where we were entertained by a local piano artist in his home. Thankyou Curtis and Sonja for bringing us such a wonderful memories.

[@DustBugsTravel]

And thank you for sharing that special memory with us. I can just imagine what it must be like to overnight at the Royal Hotel, if the short time I spent there was so special. Glad that our video brought back happy memories for you. 😊📚 We love it that you're on the road with us!

[@vimilchar]

Oh, this was so emotional for me. 💔 I'll never think lightly of these small towns ever again. Each have their deep amazing story. Thank you so much 💓

[@DustBugsTravel]

That is so very true, and a large part of why we visit these places. If we can just tell some of their stories, that makes us happy. We appreciate you watching our trip through the southern part of the Free State. 😊🚗

[@gavincampbell7690]

I'm moving to Bethulie in the new year. It's a dream come true for me.

[@DustBugsTravel]

We wish you an abundance of joy and happiness in this beautiful town. You are indeed lucky to make Bethulie your new home. 👌🏻🤩

[@gavincampbell7690]

@@DustBugsTravel thank you, I appreciate your travel show. We'll done.

[@sustainableyorkshire9465]

@@gavincampbell7690 Hey Gav where you moving from? Great choice thinking of going off grid in Bethulie also not sure about the grazing as want to have livestock!

[@johnfarley4201]

What a wonderful town. Thank you for visiting and posting and to everyone posting on here. God Bless you all.

[@DustBugsTravel]

Bethulie is a fantastic town and we thoroughly enjoyed our visit! We appreciate you coming along! 😁🚗

[@Afriqueleblanq]

Excellent reporting yet again. Many people prefer Bethulie as a holiday destination, due to its scenery and nearness to a body of water. That bridge was something to behold.

[@DustBugsTravel]

Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed our video about Bethulie. It's a fantastic town and I can imagine folks spending an extended period of time there. I think there is just so much to see in the town and surrounding area. That bridge blew our minds, we had no idea that we'd find the longest bridge in the country in the Southern Free State! So cool! 😎🌉

[@Afriqueleblanq]

@@DustBugsTravel I saw on another KZbin video there's nothing left of the holiday resort. All vandalised and derelict.

[@TersiusOpperman]

Bethulie my home town thank you so much for the video

[@hanchenmeyer3069]

Such a cool little dorp. Die ou kar is really a nice restaurant as well, belongs to Snotkop and they don't lie when they say the best pizza in the Free state. I'm obseesed with your travel blogs by the way, I binge watch. Keep up the good work 🦊💖

[@DustBugsTravel]

Thank you, what a great obsession you have! 😁 We didn't know about Die Ou Kar, but will definitely remember it for a future trip back to the area. We're big pizza lovers! We🍕 We so appreciate you travelling with us to all these wonderful places! 🤩🚗

[@deonzar]

Thanx for bringing us to Bethulie...what a well kept town. ...

[@DustBugsTravel]

Indeed, it was a refreshing visit. Glad you enjoyed it! 🚗😁

[@fluffy231]

Beautiful Royal Hotel..love how he has stacks of books … no boredom there😊.. magnificent . Town is absolutely neat.. Wish other cities can learn from Bethulie.. to be neat and not destroy old beautiful buildings as they complete any town

[@DustBugsTravel]

Bethulie is an awesome town, it was great to visit! I've never seen so many books in one place, I think some libraries don't even have that many. No wonder the owner calls it the 'House of Stories', how apt. We appreciate you watching our video. 📚🤩

[@peterkoning21]

The Royal Hotel has obviously new management. I haven't been there for a while but the dining room was exquisitely decorated. Die Ou Kar is still a stop! We ALWAYS stop on the long bridge for a photo session😁

[@DustBugsTravel]

The Royal Hotel is an amazing place and I thoroughly enjoyed my walkaround. It is certainly a very unique place. 📚 Yup, that long bridge is definitely worthy of many photo sessions. What a spectacular bridge that is with all those arches! We loved it! 🌉😍

[@sonjabosman9570]

Love all your video's. Just so sad to see the memorials you visit about the Anglo boer war. Thank you and keep it up🙏🇿🇦

[@DustBugsTravel]

Thank you so much, we really appreciate you watching our videos and travelling along with us! 🤩🚗 We also find the war memorials and cemeteries incredibly sad, we often need more than just a few minutes afterwards to take it all in and process it. 😥😥 All so incredibly unnecessary and one can only hope never to be repeated again in our country. ❤️🇿🇦

[@derrickknight6828]

Thank you for the hours of pleasure you guys give us

[@DustBugsTravel]

And thanks to you for watching. It is our absolute pleasure to bring these videos to you and we're so happy to hear that you enjoy them. 🤩🚗

[@petrusvanderwesthuizen3692]

Hi Guys, Thank you for sharing this trip. Bethulie, for some reason, one that I cant fathom holds a very special place in my heart. We try to visit once a year, and it is always like coming home. You are so right about the positive energy you feel when you are there. Travel safely and keep them coming. Yes, I LOVE BETHULIE

[@DustBugsTravel]

Hello to you! I hear what you're saying and I feel the same way, as you saw. We just felt the 'vibe' as my wife likes to say very quickly and just knew it was a special place. It's fantastic that you go back every so often when you get the chance and I completely understand why. Thank you for driving to and through this town you already know so well, with us. 😍🚗

[@BrendonSchaferCT]

Lekker little dorp. Station looks in very good condition. Homes too.

[@DustBugsTravel]

Very cool town this one! It has a great vibe and the community clearly works together to preserve the heritage of the town, which is always fantastic for us to see. Thanks for coming along again! 😎🚗

[@Wolf-hh4rv]

Love to live there

[@DustBugsTravel]

It's a wonderful town indeed! 🤩🌳

[@charlietreston4035]

What a fantastic town definitely God given the setlers house had bow front windows a sign of a better off home and the fashion in uk at time the Royal Hotel with its mock Tuder beams in a small South African town so supriseing the town is thriving it's so nice to see the railway station another gem the trip to the cemetery was so sad but great to see it kept so neat today is remembrance days in the UK so as we remember the fallen in war it is fitting to see all the different memorials we saw today Rip 🙏 amazing video thank you

[@DustBugsTravel]

There's that eye for detail again! It's always interesting to me how you notice the architecture. 👌🏻How fitting that you could also see a war memorial in South Africa on Remembrance Day in the UK. It's a somber experience when we visit graveyards and cemeteries, but we're extra saddened when casualties of war are involved, whether the deaths occurred in combat or in concentration camps like at Bethulie. So completely unnecessary in our view, no matter how one looks at it. 😥 Thank you for driving through this beautiful town with us. 🚗

[@viandasmit2955]

Your videos have inspired me to venture on my first solo road trip from Pretoria to the Western Cape and back starting on the 2nd of July 2023. Visiting the off the beaten track places. Bless you and may you have many more safe travels to come. Best wishes. Vianda Smit

[@danielprinsloo2917]

I wonder if this country would be in better shape if a different political party ran it, Very sad to see that virtually every town you guys have visited has been vandalised in some way. thank you for your efforts and taking us along on your journey. God bless you both

[@DustBugsTravel]

We appreciate you visiting the smaller towns with us. 🚗😁 I must say there has not been a lot of vandalisation in Bethulie as far as we could tell, other than the station. This was encouraging to see.

[@leratokhubone]

I think urbanisation of our peoples mind Daniel has also contributed to the death of our small towns. The leadership we have in these areas is unfortunately not open to investigate vibrant economic towns that can sustain themselves

[@elrico8806]

Here i am watching the new episode now 🙂

[@DustBugsTravel]

Great stuff, I hope you enjoy! 🤩

[@Neil1952100]

Thanks for the Bethulie video. One of the most beautiful places in the Free State. ...and the one I never managed to visit. Thanks for your visit to the concentration camp cemetary too. Regards to both of you.

[@DustBugsTravel]

It was our pleasure to show you Bethulie and what a lovely town it is! We hope our video will tide you over until you're able to visit in person one day. 😊 The cemetery was very, very sad, but such an important place to visit. 😥

[@annawitter5161]

I love Gemsbok. They remind me of Siamese cats with their black faces. I have been through here a few times and always though it was a very beautiful town. Love the Royal hotel with all those books! Ja, hier sit die manne! Magnificent bridge.

[@DustBugsTravel]

Sonia says she's going to see Siamese cats now whenever she looks at gemsbok. I don't think the gemsbok will be too happy about it though! 😸 They're magnificent antelope with those super-straight horns, we love them too. 😍🦌 We echo your sentiment and think it's a very beautiful little town. It was a joy to visit Bethulie.

[@annawitter5161]

@@DustBugsTravel Gemsbok have been know to kill lions with those horns

[@mk-xq1tt]

Very interesting town with beautiful buildings. It looked clean and well kept. That was a treasure trove of books! I thought it was a library. One of the loveliest bridges I have seen and so longgg! Lovely video.

[@DustBugsTravel]

Thank you. 😊 Bethulie is a fantastic small town and absolutely worth a visit. No-one would blame you for thinking I had walked into a library. That collection of books is quite amazing and so beautifully-displayed throughout the reception rooms and passages of the hotel. We've recently become fascinated with bridges (as if we weren't fascinated by enough things already 😁) and this one is truly spectacular! I still find it hard to believe that such engineering was accomplished over 120 years ago already. We appreciate you driving through the streets of Bethulie with us. 🚗

[@sustainableyorkshire9465]

Absolute beauty! 😍

[@1812nico]

Hi you two! Another very interesting trip. I just love the tree lined streets. Bethulie looks like a place one could retire in (if you're not already retired like me). Small enough but with most needed amenities. The hotel could keep you there for a lifetime of reading. Thank you again, and stay safe!

[@DustBugsTravel]

The many trees are noticeable immediately as one drives into town and that makes for such a pretty town. 🌳 We actually chatted to a retired gentleman who was walking down one of the streets and he has lived there for nine years already. He says Bethulie is a great town to have retired in. 'A lifetime of reading' is the perfect way to describe the book collection at the Royal Hotel. It was quite astonishing to see so many books in a place other than a library. 😁📚 Happy that you joined us as we explored Bethulie.

[@alwynnel753]

Wonderbaar! Thanks for showing us the vestiges of our priceless cultural heritage that hasn't been destroyed. Drive safe, en Jesus seën

[@DustBugsTravel]

Bethulie was indeed a breath of fresh air and an absolute joy to visit. We're really happy to hear that you enjoyed watching this one! 🚗😁

[@munesumangava9751]

Spectacular bridge…..wowzer🥰🔥🙌👌👌

[@DustBugsTravel]

🤩 Wowzer indeed! We never knew that we'd find the longest bridge in South Africa just outside Bethulie. It is truly magnificent! 🚗🌁

[@munesumangava9751]

Beautiful Gemsbok!!!! Wow….

[@DustBugsTravel]

One of the most beautiful antelope. Those horns get us every time! 🤩🦌

[@carloswhite8940]

Loved your video, my friends moved to Betulie over a year ago from England with his South African wife, maybe I will pay them a visit 😊

[@frederikbrits9559]

Very interesting town. The first church was established by the Londonse Sendinggenootskap in 1829........a stop over "cattle farmers" and after 1837 some of the Voortrekkers. JP Pellisier the first "Afrikaans dominee", also a well-known family in the next generations. First name of town was Groot Moordenaarspoort. Supposed to became Caledon, then Bethulia and then Bethulie. Pellisier was originally a member of the Paryse (Paris) Evangeliese Sendinggenootskap

[@DustBugsTravel]

Thank you for the historical info! 👌🏻 I found it particularly interesting that the name Caledon also featured there as an option.

[@jontyknine]

that bridge and hotel has been bookmarked :)

[@DustBugsTravel]

We've pardoned the pun! 😉📚 Both those places deserve to be bookmarked, hopefully you get to visit them not too long from now! 🚗

[@flodillon991]

Those Gemsbok were amazing as well as the tribute to the horses. A clean historical town proof that if its looked after it could last many years. Love their garden services. Royal Hotel amazing just leave me with those books and LP's and I will be okay. Their long bridge was spectacular never heard of (D H Steyn) bridge before. How sad that cemetery with so many dying in the consentration camp so glad that they keep it so clean and tidy. Thank you so much for this amazing episode very much appreciated.

[@DustBugsTravel]

We're glad that you loved Bethulie as much as we did and we were so happy that the first thing we spotted was the Horse Monument! 🐎🏛 We enjoyed every moment of our visit to this small town. There is just so much to see and the locals are super friendly. The bridge was absolutely fascinating and truly a sight to behold. We're always happy to spot some wildlife along the way, so the gemsbok were a nice surprise with their beautiful long horns. 🦌😍

[@mariusroos4146]

Thank you. Very informative. Well done

[@DustBugsTravel]

Thank you so much, we appreciate that. 👌🏻🚗

[@infocus-media]

Patrick Mynard use to live there, he was called "The boy van Bethulie", the actor. AG NOOIT MAN!, now you ruined my bit of knowledge I had about the place. LOL! Man I have been all over the world and I have seen almost everything on my bucket list but that hotel is probably the most unique thing I have ever seen. All these towns in decay is a good example of how they are ripping the soul out of us, It is meant to stand as evidence of capitulation of us as a Nation towards our most beloved 3 anchors, Nation, Land and God. The latter, meaning Churches is now the only thing we have in common and that is why everything gets destroyed but all the Churches are untouched. It is not the power of your muscles anymore, now it is about separation of Nation and God, the final bastion, and we will no longer be!

[@geraldrafferty5485]

THANK YOU SIR/MADAM .FEW PEOPLE SAY THEIR SAY, IN THESE DAYS. WONDERFULLY SAID, GOD BE WITH YOU ! DUSTBUGS,YOU HAVE NO NO IDEA HOW VALUABLE YOUR TRAVELLING IS ,AND HOW GREATFUL MANY WATCHERS ARE FOR THIS TRUELY ADMIREABLE "SERVICE" BOTH OF YOU ARE DOING IN THIS BEAUTIFULLY COUNTRY OF OURS . AMAZING,STUNNING,WOW, TO USE A FEW OF YOUR ADMIRATIONS !! I PERSONALLY SALUTE YOU !!

[@DustBugsTravel]

@INFOCUS I must be honest and say that the fact that Patrick Mynhardt was from Bethulie and the Bethulie Dam, were the only two things we knew about Bethulie when we started planning our route. 😁 That hotel is awesome! That 120 000 books and 80 000 vinyl records can be so beautifully displayed, is no small feat. It's truly worth a visit if you're ever in the area or, better yet, make a special trip! 📚 I found your explanation of why the churches remain untouched and undamaged for the most part very interesting and I appreciate you being on the road with us as we visit all the lesser-known places. Thank you.

[@DustBugsTravel]

@Gerald Rafferty We appreciate your kind words, thank you. 😊 We absolutely love every single moment we can spend together on the road as we explore these smaller places and travel on the wonderful roads which connect them. It's such a pleasure sharing our travels and experiences with people like yourself who also appreciate them. And we plan to continue for as long as we possibly can! 😁🚗

[@giuseppedonato7202]

BELLISSIMO

[@zharkleroux387]

Thanks

[@DustBugsTravel]

And thank you. 😊

[@RyanDH]

We stayed at the Royal Hotel Bethulie for a few nights in August, rather eerie feeling as you can hear everybodies movements. However it was interesting and the food was great. We missed the concentration camp memorial, my gps kept sending me to the wrong location, so I decided to try use from memory from what I saw on Google Street View (basically turn left at the memorial sign after seeing the welcome to Bethulie display), which didn't help. LOL...turns out we we searching by the wrong entrance to the town...gosh...realized when we arrived back home from the trip and looked at Google Maps again 🙈

[@DustBugsTravel]

The hotel certainly is an interesting place and not called the 'House of Stories' for nothing, I'm sure. No worries about missing the concentration camp cemetery, it's not always easy or possible to visit (or find, for that matter) every single place of interest in a specific place. We know that all too well. 😁 It was again a somber visit to the cemetery for me, but so important to include since it's an integral part of our history. At least you got to see a little bit of it until you can hit the road yourself in that direction again. 🚗

[@yamkelamatolengwe3940]

You should also visit the local surrounding areas of each other for another dimension for your viewers and also maybe interview a local about the history of the place and their understanding of it for full grasp

[@DustBugsTravel]

We have limited time to travel, so we will always stop and look at places which we find interesting and share those with others who may also enjoy them. We love exploring smaller towns and covering the roads, preferably gravel, which connect them. We don't do extensive research before at trip because we prefer exploring through fresh eyes and you can rest assured that we chat to many locals off-camera. 🙂 We will leave interviews and in-depth history and such to others to document.

[@yamkelamatolengwe3940]

Thank you for always being interactive with your viewers

[@simonemason5352]

Such a tonic thanks, are those wild olive trees on the side walk?

[@DustBugsTravel]

They are indeed wild olive trees and were planted about 45 years ago already. They have tough competition from the alien pine trees, but are doing very well nonetheless. There seems to be an opportunity for someone to plant orchards for olive production in Bethulie! 😁🌳 You know your trees! 👌

[@graemekruger5039]

Love the church

[@DustBugsTravel]

So do we! 👌🏻⛪

[@graemekruger5039]

Very nice town

[@DustBugsTravel]

Indeed, it's a wonderful place and we loved visiting. 🤩🚗

[@haydenisaacs]

Love the new intro guys.

[@DustBugsTravel]

Thank you so much, thought it was time for a change. Glad you like it! 🤩🚗

[@dirk_v]

Do yourself a favour and buy the book: "Bethuli ... Onvoltooid" by Trudie Venter. My wife and I had the honour of meeing her as she gave us a personal tour through Bethuly and the area around. I personally believe that Bethulie is one of the most historically significant towns in SA.

[@DustBugsTravel]

Thank you for the info! 👌🏻 My wife is familiar with Trudie and have chatted to her a few times about this special place, including the books she's written about Bethulie and the Anglo-Boer War. She is certainly a wealth of knowledge and information and another one of Bethulie's treasures. We appreciate you watching our video of Bethulie. 😊🚗 There is so much to see in this town and area and our visit and future visits will always be, as the very apt title of Trudie's book, incomplete.

[@gregorydavids5304]

Strange that the bridge was built while the Anglo-Boer war was raging.

[@royalhotelbethulie1643]

Small correction needed there. Bethulie’s first bridge across the Orange was completed by the Cape administration in 1879, to serve wagon traffic travelling to and from the diamond fields. The first rail bridge, a massive structure of cast iron on the East London line, was completed in 1892. That bridge was blown up by the Boers in March 1900 but the wagon bridge was saved by the British. The rail bridge was repaired later in the war but was demolished in 1957, replaced by a new concrete structure. With the construction of the Gariep Dam wall in the 1960s it was feared that both the Bethulie bridges would eventually be under water, so it was decided to replace them with a much higher structure, the present bridge, completed in 1970. Once that was open, with a new rail line built to serve it, the two old bridges were destroyed by the SA Air Force as a form of target practice. Spectacular!

[@DustBugsTravel]

@Royal Hotel Bethulie, appreciate the info and clarification, thank you.

[@royalhotelbethulie1643]

A nice story of the old Bethulie rail bridge. Decades ago, the railways ran weekly specials between East London and Johannesburg, carrying Xhosa-speaking mineworkers to and from the Rand. Many of these mineworkers believed a huge and terrifying water snake lived in the Orange River, close to the bridge. This snake was capable of climbing on to the bridge and devouring everyone alive. To make sure that didn’t happen, as the train crossed the bridge the mineworkers threw coins out of the windows. Bethulie’s school kids knew this was happening so took station under the bridge to catch these ‘pennies from heaven.’ A great way to accumulate some pocket money.

[@lizledbitter6711]

Not the Orange/Gariep as far as I remember but the Caledon River

[@lizledbitter6711]

Also the Border between the Eastern Cape and the Free State.

[@DustBugsTravel]

I'm no expert on rivers and such, but understood from Trudie at Bethulie Tourism that it's the Orange River and also the start of the Gariep Dam. The Caledon might join the Orange near Bethulie, but again I'm not sure. 🤷🏼‍♂️🌊 Agreed on the EC / FS border. 👌

[@lizledbitter6711]

@@DustBugsTravel The Caledon joins the Gariep/Orange just upstream of the Bridge so I had misinterpreted the map, Sorry.

[@riaanjoubert1539]

Have you been in Barberton?

[@DustBugsTravel]

Not quite yet, no. 😊 We live in the Western Cape and are gradually making our way across the country every time we travel. We shall get there one of these fine days! 😁🚗

[@zinimountglobal]

Where are you going to travel to next?

[@DustBugsTravel]

🤩 You'll find out in two short days when we upload our next video. (Just so you know, this trip was a few weeks ago already and we're back home, working and editing our videos. Our videos are always uploaded within one to four weeks after a particular trip.) 🚗

[@tieniecloete9573]

Ok. Goed so. Respekvol. Met alle respek n engelse program oor n Afrikaanse Dorpie. Waarom moet Engels in ons keelgatte af geforseer word. Nee dankie.

[@DustBugsTravel]

Respectfully, in turn. I'm not sure who forced you to watch our video. 🤔 I am an English-speaking person who grew up in the Free State and who chose to visit Bethulie. Just so you know, we met quite a number of English-speaking people in town, so I was not aware that Bethulie is an exclusively Afrikaans town. That was news to me.

[@tieniecloete9573]

@@DustBugsTravel Ek het dit nie gekyk nie. Jingo

[@DustBugsTravel]

Well, thank you for taking the time to comment then. For the record, one doesn't have to be Afrikaans to love and explore this beautiful country. 🇿🇦

[@sandrahutchinson1242]

You shouldn't advertise this place how long before eff and anc take over and mess it up

[@DustBugsTravel]

We feel that all these small towns can do with more publicity and hopefully more tourists visiting and spending money! 😁🚗

[@Afriqueleblanq]

The war graves are a sad reminder of barbaric behaviour of supposedly civilized people. But, the way the British deal with livestock was abhorring. To save bullets, they killed them by slashing the heels of tens of thousands heads of cattle, sheep and goats, then left them in agony to die of thirst and hunger. It is this brutality that had made the British oppressors very unwelcome in this country. There was no Green Peace nor SPCA to oppose this and the media was controlled by the invaders.

[@DustBugsTravel]

Wow, I have no words. That reads like a horror story. 😨

[@user-cd1bk8lc5g]

Unfortunately the amount of information that is incorrect about out beautiful town in this video is very unfortunate, wish the information was a but more prepared and that, semi unpleasant

[@DustBugsTravel]

Unfortunately you don't seem to realise that we're a husband-and-wife who travel for fun and show others the beauty of the smaller towns in South Africa they may not know. We didn't realise only tourists with extensive knowledge of your town are welcome. 🤷🏼‍♂️ That is most unfortunate of all.