S1 - Ep 213 - Trompsburg - A Stunning Free State Town that Surprised us!

[@pierrechanning3449]

My laerskool loopbaan skool gegaan in Trompsburg in die 70's, dorp le my nog baie na aan die hart met my ma wat daar in ourtehuis is. My pa daai jare die Caltex garage besit en so ook n GM handelaar gewees oorkant die ou Hotel met sy rondawels wat uit bierbottels gebou was daai tyd wat vandag nie meer is nie, iets wat besonders was daai jare en nogsteeds sou wees vandag se tyd. Dankie julle regtig goed om te sien hoe julle die klein dorpies besoek in ons land. Veilig reis

[@DustBugsTravel]

Thank you for sharing your personal memories of Trompsburg with us. Your mom must be happy in Trompsburg, it's a pretty town that seems to be organised and seems to be working hard to be a success story. I would've loved to see those rondavels built with beer bottles, that must've been quite a sight! We appreciate you watching our videos! 👌🏻🚗

[@herminemajcen3339]

That Tromsburg Caravan Park was so beautiful , was look t after by two Dear Friends, Oom Eddy and Joyce Truther . At make's me very sad to see this , I can cry but that will not help . Lg . Hermie 😘😘❤️😪

[@DustBugsTravel]

I could see that it was a facility which was well taken care of and I also found it sad to see it so destroyed. I feel sad for your friends too, who must've had a special place in their hearts for that property. The rest of the town still looks fantastic though and it was well worth the visit. Thank you for driving through the town with us. 🚗😊

[@Afriqueleblanq]

Only the tracks remain, but I remember seeing the Bongol (uphongolo or donkey) Class 15E locomotives haul their burdens across the Free State. Some of them are still being kept in working condition by retired expert volunteers of Bloemfontein. The days of steam were romantic indeed, but it could ruin white Egyption cotton on a washing line in no time.

[@DustBugsTravel]

I wouldn't mind seeing those locos steaming through the countryside again! That must be a sight to behold! 😎🚂

[@CheGypsyWay]

Really enjoyed that little town.. and those toasties and chips looked delicious..😄..🚗✨💖

[@DustBugsTravel]

Those chips were crispy and delicious and the toasties were fantastic. It remains one of our staples while we're travelling. Trompsburg is actually a great example of a functioning town and we had fun exploring it! 😁🚗

[@vimilchar]

Enjoyed the trip very much! 🤗🥰👍

[@DustBugsTravel]

Thank you, so happy to hear that! 🚗😎

[@rozneilson8696]

I love going on these trips with you ... we lived in Oviston during the period the tunnel was being built and travelled to Bloem once a month to grocery shop, passing through many of the dorpies you're visiting. Trompsburg being one of them.

[@DustBugsTravel]

We just love it that our videos remind you of your own visits to some of the towns we're visited. We so appreciate you watching and we hope to take you to many more towns and places with us! 😁🚗

[@goldenlion647]

Quaint

[@tillabezuidenhout6460]

Love the tortoises!!!!

[@munesumangava9751]

The stone basket……,extraordinary 👌👍

[@elrico8806]

These back roads are stunning that you keep taking...hehe dankie i had a very good laugh about the "he upgraded to a kwid joke"

[@DustBugsTravel]

I'm so happy you also enjoy the backroads, they're just so rewarding and one sees so much! That tortoise surely had almost as high ground clearance as a Kwid! 🤣🐢

[@charlietreston4035]

Thanks for another great video on a freezing cold morning in kent the gravel Roads never fail to impress what do they feed the tortoises in the Free state definitely 4x4 and turbocharged lovely to see the guys riding horses herding the cattle again I must agree with your good lady wife trompsburg had a tranquil vibe Well kept another bowling club thriving plus tennis courts the cemetery always interesting the Scots man from Glasgow had celtic cross the monument of the great trek reminds us of the sacrifice made to develop the land and the hardships the people endured the school motto tenacity expects result very uplifting Thanks you for taking me on an amazing journey through the Free state cheerio till the next one

[@DustBugsTravel]

I hope you've warmed up somewhat in Kent. 🥶 The two of us are always happy to hear that the two of you are enjoying our videos as we take you along on our travels to different towns and places. We look forward to continue doing so! 👌🏻🚗

[@marialiebenberg3739]

Baie dankie dit was heerlik! 💖😍 🤩

[@DustBugsTravel]

Thank you so much, it was fantastic having you along for the drive to and through Trompsburg! 😁🚗

[@doraduplessis2727]

The first thing we watch in the morning after we've made our first cup of coffee (as pensioners we do not need to get up too early). Can't wait till we see the next Free State dorpies until you hit back home.

[@DustBugsTravel]

We appreciate so much that you're travelling through the Southern Free State with us. 👌🏻 It was good for me to be back in the FS and we saw some lovely places and met some wonderful people. It is a special place which we're so happy to be sharing with you. 😁🚗

[@annacassisa9151]

COMPLIMENTS OF THE SEASON TO THE PAIR OF U, AND WHAT A GREAT COUPLE YOU R. I DO'NT KNOW IF I SHOULD NAME YOUR CAR "THE MINI TANK OR THE CAMEL." THE PLACES YOU DRIVE THAT CAR IS UNREAL AND SHE COMES THROUGH IT ALL. HOPE YOU SPEND AN AMAZING XMAS AND/OR NEW YEAR WITH YOUR LKVED ONES. VHEERS ALL THE WAY FROM BREDASDORP.

[@flodillon991]

Loved all the tortoises exceptional they are so big amazing. The calming effect of that water in the stream lovely. I must say Tromsburg is a very pretty town. Thank you for taking me with you both.👍

[@DustBugsTravel]

We concur, Trompsburg was a very pretty town and an absolute pleasure to visit. Thank you for taking the drive with us! 🐢🚗

[@annacassisa9151]

Oh goodness, each time u take me along, its surprizes ALL the way, you are fun people. I must just say, that car of yours is as hardy as they come, more like a mini tank? would'nt u say? The nooks and cranies you let her drive, and through it all she does'nt let u down, amazing. The very best of luck to the pair of you. And COMPLIMENTS OF THE SEASON TO U AND YOU"RE LOVED ONED ONES, ALL THE EAY FROM BREDASDORP.

[@goldenlion647]

The caravan park was well kept - by South african standards.

[@DustBugsTravel]

I would've liked to see it while it was still operational. Judging by the rest of the town, it must've been a well-managed facility. 😏

[@sandragrobler2957]

Lovely town - very well kept - so good to see. I wish they would at least cut the grass in these cemeteries, it would make such a difference. I had this episode for "breakfast" this morning up here in cold Canada😊 Thank you, Curtis and Sonia!

[@DustBugsTravel]

Greetings, we hope it's a little warmer already where you are! 🥶 Thank you for joining us as you're enjoying breakfast, it sounds like the perfect way to start any day! 😁 You can have breakfast with us again very soon and we look forward to it! Trompsburg is really a very neat town and it was a pleasure to visit. Whenever we drive through the cemeteries, we feel exactly like you do. It's sadly not often that we see them, especially the older ones, that are maintained. 😏🏛️

[@sandragrobler2957]

@@DustBugsTravel Winter, unfortunately is just starting over here, but as long as you guys travel, and we have episodes to watch, we'll be just fine. Safe travels!

[@anthoniejoubert]

Love it rustig

[@tillabezuidenhout6460]

Thanks to the wi - fi that my daughter provided I can.

[@herminemajcen3339]

Hello you two , lovely Video, I was in Tromsburg staying on a Farm . Around Christmas time, beautiful, and the beautiful Flowers in the Fields. Thank you and God's blessing for you. I was living in Suidafrika for 50 years, now I live in the UK.

[@DustBugsTravel]

Greetings to you in the UK! 😊 We're so glad that our video reminded you of your own special time in Trompsburg. It's fantastic to have you travel through South Africa with us, thank you for joining us! 😁🚗

[@frederikbrits9559]

Probably a fire brigade tower. North west of Trompsburg is Boomplaats, where the battle was between Voortrekker Andries Pretorius versus Sir Harry Smith in 1848. Two famous women Sarah Raal and Ella Jacobs was Boer warriors in the commando of Genl JBM Hertzog. Sarah's grave is in Dias cemetery near Capetown. Ella was called by Captain Fletcher Vane, "Boer Joan of Arc, a real South African Heroine" in ABW2. Also birth town of two well-known Afrikaans writers, CM van den Heever and Karel Schoeman

[@DustBugsTravel]

Thank you for the info. 👌🏻 A fellow viewer indicated that the structure is a livestock feed tower. 🐂 Appreciate the historical info you provided, interesting stuff! 🏛️

[@desh7120]

Such an enjoyable trip first thing this Tuesday morning 😁👏🏻

[@deonnimb9505]

Agreed

[@DustBugsTravel]

Thank you, good to hear that you both enjoyed visiting Trompsburg with us! 😁🚗

[@lenarddurand9833]

Pragtige Suid Afrika

[@DustBugsTravel]

Indeed, I couldn't agree with you more! 👌🏻🇿🇦

[@lizledbitter6711]

Really enjoying this series. Looking forward to visits to small "less visited" places in future.

[@DustBugsTravel]

I'm not sure how many of our 230 videos you've seen, but I'm sure you'll find a good few of places not many people get to visit. And as we work our way across the country, we will always include those, 100% guaranteed! 😁 But when we travel to a particular area, we just can't skip over some towns we have never seen ourselves or at least not in a long time. We're so glad you enjoying our trip through the Southern Free State so far! 👌🏻🚗

[@tillabezuidenhout6460]

I regard going on thrse trips with you as my holiday. We haven't gone away for years and years.

[@johannmendelsohn6365]

So much for progress! No more caravans here!

[@DustBugsTravel]

It was indeed sad to see that the caravan park was no more, especially after having heard that it was tended to lovingly by a couple for many years. 😥 On the upside, the rest of the town still looks great, which was encouraging to see.

[@robjames4491]

We really enjoyed this one, as usual the cinematography was excellent. What made this one better was that a map was included so that I didn't have to go and look up where the place is, also great to have some history, where the name came from etc, please add more in future videos including when the town was founded, why it is where it is, what supports it, type of agriculture, industry etc. It will save me having to go and look it up on Google. Keep up the good work!

[@DustBugsTravel]

Thank you, glad to hear you enjoyed visiting Trompsburg with us. 😊 I'm not sure how many of our videos you've watched, I've been including a map in each episode since the start of this particular trip in Episode 200 Colesberg instead of a map every three or four episodes which I used to do. We try to provide as much info about each town as we drive through, but we don't do intensive research about a place or town before we visit and prefer to explore in the moment and through fresh eyes. If there is cellphone signal in town, you will very often find that we're able to shed some light on the history and goings-on in a town and we also chat to locals to obtain more information. We hope you explore many more places with us and if you ever wish to add info which you feel we omitted, please feel free to do so! 😁🚗

[@robjames4491]

@@DustBugsTravel Thanks for the prompt reply guys. We have only recently discovered your channel so we are bust working our way through them not necessarily in order so we have no doubt missed some of the maps in the old ones. We're happy about with how you collect your info based on the explanation, we would just request you give a comprehensive overview of the dorp and what goes on etc. For interest we semigrated from Gauteng 15 years ago and bought a beautiful farm in the mountains of the E Free State outside Vrede. We are totally off grid with a state of the art solar system, a great way to live. Regards

[@1812nico]

Hi you two! Thank you for this wonderful trip again. What more can one want from a gravel road than the beautiful greenery, tortoises, springbuck, cattle, horses ..... A very neat town. It must be very comfortable to live there. I missed the Reddersburg and Edenburg trips, but I will catch up with you! Keep safe!

[@DustBugsTravel]

Hello to you! It was a fantastic gravel road with such great animal sightings, we always love that! We're glad that you managed to catch up with us in Trompsburg, we had a great time in this pretty town! 😁🚗

[@SurprisedBalkhHound-kd3oy]

Trompsburg se laerskool het a Practice band wat mooi musziek maak kyk op KZbin

[@elrico8806]

That map is filling up quickly 🙂

[@DustBugsTravel]

It is indeed! But there's still one place starting with 'P' which we haven't been to yet. We chatted about it just this week actually and we think maybe soon, like early 2023. 🚗😁

[@gregadams6827]

What a lovely little town!! You have given me so many ideas where to go on my 10th visit to Suid Afrika as soon as I get out of this wheel chair. What, no pic-n-pay, no Spur, No Shell Ultra like on the N1. I tried a Zebra Steak at the Zebra Pub in Orania. I was not wild about it, but I pretended since it was my last night there I loved it. In Louisiana we have what you call Boudin (prounced Boudan) just like a Boorvour (sp) that has pork and shrimp. Very sad Curtis and Sonia about the little town (forgot the name) where that beautiful town hall burned and the facade was all that was left. Very sad to see totsiens, dankie, Greg, Springfield, Louisiana

[@DustBugsTravel]

Nice to hear from you again! There are so many delightful places that you can visit when you're in SA again and you'll have a fantastic time in each of them, I guarantee you that. Take the backroads and the gravel roads and you'll be astonished what you find, it is really unbelievable sometimes. 👌🏻🇿🇦 You will most certainly not have access to all the luxuries and comforts the larger towns offer, but it's certainly worth it! You're referring to Wepener where that magnificent Town Hall was destroyed by arson, that sight just doesn't want to leave our minds. 😢 All the best to you until we chat again!

[@funkdunk]

Kudos to Shoprite/Checkers for investing in these small town's "CBDs" with their Usave brand - which simultaneously also offers affordable priced SA products for all the people of these towns...I have noted this brand in most of the towns that you have visited in the last two series. By placing the stores in the CBDs, they are drawing vital footflow into the CBDs thereby supporting the other businesses too. I am assuming that the centralized placement of these stores is also to convenience the farm workers who are bought to town on Friday Afternoons and Saturday Mornings. (PS..I dont work for the group nor own their shares)

[@DustBugsTravel]

Great observations. 👌🏻 We weren't personally familiar with the Usave brand until we started exploring the smaller towns and we've since become regular customers ourselves when we travel. The vast distribution network of the parent company has positioned them perfectly to catch most of the business in these smaller centres. We've stopped counting in how many towns they're actually the only 'real' supermarket, with the added benefit of reasonable prices. We've chatted to a few customers in line as well and they're super grateful for the variety that the chain has returned to their lives. 🛒

[@ronnykenny3965]

At least we get an occasional glimpse of Sonja's hand & legs . I'm also a very private person & don't like being on camera but I love these travels. Thank you 🚙🚙🚙🚙

[@DustBugsTravel]

It's fantastic to hear that you enjoy watching our videos. It took a while for Sonia to agree to just talk on our videos, let alone appear on camera! She's nowhere near ready for that, she says. 😍 But I shall not give up and I hope that one day she'll be fine with that too. Until then, I have to respect her wishes. Thank you for understanding that. 😊🚗

[@annacassisa9151]

She sounds like a lovely person

[@sylviaerasmus4638]

Some times you have a blue car and sometimes a white one. Enjoy visiting the places with you. Wish we could see your wife sometime.

[@DustBugsTravel]

Thank you, I'm glad you enjoy our videos! 😊 I'm not sure if you're new to our channel, but we rent a different car for every trip and the car rental company doesn't always give us the same colour. 🚙😁 Sonia is super camera-shy and isn't keen on being filmed. 😍

[@sylviaerasmus4638]

@@DustBugsTravel am new to your channel yes. Ok well yes understand about the car yes. We live just outside Grahamstown In eastern cape. You visited Steytlerville one time and we have a Son and his wife living there. Very dry there.

[@sylviaerasmus4638]

Where are you today? How often do you go out on the road?

[@DustBugsTravel]

We're at home in Strand at the moment. We work for four weeks and travel every fifth week. 🤩🚙

[@sylviaerasmus4638]

@@DustBugsTravel love your trips. Love seeing all these little back road towns that I will probably never see otherwise. God bless take care and love your program.

[@cliffordslabbert2786]

It is so sad to see the wanton destruction of the infrastructure of this beautiful country.

[@DustBugsTravel]

Trompsburg is still in fantastic shape though and it seems like the townsfolk is making a real go of keeping the town alive. 👌 It was really only the caravan park that was a sad sight.

[@annamariebecker510]

Destroyed Beyond Repair 😢😢

[@DustBugsTravel]

I'm not sure if you're referring to Trompsburg. This town isn't destroyed at all, it was only the caravan park close to the side of town which we entered. The rest of the town is really still in good shape and it was fantastic to see. 👌🏻🚗

[@colintonkin]

Your channel say two people but l only see one people

[@DustBugsTravel]

I'm sure you've heard the second people. 😁

[@desh7120]

@@DustBugsTravel 😂

[@boerplaas388]

Dis n vuur Brigade toring .

[@DustBugsTravel]

That option never crossed my mind, out in the fields and all. 🚒