We do not have mountains or highways but we do have trains and silo's
What is on offer
Kameel Huise tussen Spore
There are six cottages next to the railway line at Kameel. These cottages were part of the railway housing complex at Kameel. In 1999 my father bought the property as it was part of the original farm, Kameelbult.
Hennie en I moved to Kameel, after the passing of my mother, and we started to create a new beginning in this little village.
The little railway village is listed as a place of historical interest and a landmark in South Africa.
We named the cottages using the different railway job titles.
Porter Cottage
Ploegbaas Cottage
Conductor Cottage
StationMaster Cottage
Foreman Cottage
Loadmaster Cottage
There are still two vacant stands and we named them:
Fireman
Roepman
We are busy developing a venue site which will be known as Die Kameel Platvorm
We reside on the property known as Foreman Cottage. Originally a corrugated iron hostel and we erected a timber cottage.
The other properties are available for long-term lease.
The hamlet Kameel is a small human settlement. Almost like a Whistle-stop.
A small village without a church, a farming community, situated in a very dry part of our country. Agricultural activities in the area are mainly cattle, sheep and game farming. Maize, sunflower, sorghum and groundnuts are cultivated in the area.
It’s that small settlement you pass through along a country road. The area is filled with a rich history of days gone by. Kameel is crammed with remnants from the busy railway line that runs through it.
The railway line was built in 1894 and was built as part of a dream of Cecil John Rhodes’s dream to connect the Cape to the port in Beira. The part of the line was built on a portion of our Great-Grandfather’s farm. The average elevation is 1336 meters above sea level. The signage reads 805 miles from Cape Town with a height of 4449 feet.
In Afrikaans kameel means camel. How on earth did this place get the name of Kameel. Kameel was part of the farm Kameelbult.
If you look at the map you will find the name Saltpan. When the section of the farm was sold to the British Goverment the agreement was to have a siding where Mr Fincham could load the salt that was harvested at the pans in Stella. The name Saltpan was later changed to Kameel - a short version of the farm Kameelbult.
This area was then known as Stellaland Republic.
Granted to the Bechuanaland Railway Company, by the late Government of Bechuanaland, for the construction of the Northern line of Railway between Vryburg and Mafeking on 23rd January 1890.
In 1891 Rhodes contracted George Pauling to extend the line to Mafikeng and beyond. It reached the Bechuanaland (Botswana) border village of Ramathlabana in 1984
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| Rail network 1892 |
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| A birds eye view |
The Conductor Cottage
The Foreman Cottage
We erected a wooden cottage in September 2019 on the footprint of the original corrugated iron hostel.
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| My grandmother on their motorcycle in front of the corrugated iron hostel. |
We moved into our home on 10 December 2019. It is an ongoing process that we tweak to fit in with our needs. Everyone asks the question - why a wooden cottage? Well, it was the quickest way for us to build a home.
It is a new way of living for us. At the Foreman, things changed to open plan living areas which is sometimes a challenge for me as the kitchen needs to be clean. I can only smile as this is sometimes not possible. Our home is situated next to the R507 dirt road to Madibogo. The garden is is an on going progress, and the dust ends up on the inside of our house, but I believe that it is part of nature.
Hennie fitted the fixtures. He sometimes had to make do with what is available. Our crockery cupboard was once a dove breeder donated to us by my eldest brother. The kitchen cupboard was an old kitchen cupboard that he fitted with legs and antique tin ceiling boards. He found the top in a sheep pen. The handles of the doors to our walk-in cupboards are shoe forms. The vanity in the spare room was once the feeding trough of horses. Old drawers became shelves gives bragging rights to my little collections. We used sandstone to build the bay windows. Our then neighbour Jan Bouwer transported it from Harrismith. Originally it was a British Mess during the Anglo Boer War.
All in all, we love our spot between the dirt road and the rail line. Our home is situated 15 metres from the rail line. The line was very still. We would be lucky to see two trains per week. Lately, it became a bit busier due to problems with the main rail line, but the drivers give a little hoot as they pass our cottage. The trains offer new photo opportunities.
We planted lavender in mass and shaped it into hedges as borders for our rose garden and vegetable garden.
We live in a farming community and maize producing area where the maize stored in silos is part of our daily lives. We were privileged to visit the North West Grain silo and the SenWes silo. A wonderful experience to see our village from above.
Our garden is home to a lot of birds. We have spotted a long list which we will soon add to a blog post.
You can follow our Kameel Stoepstories on our blog by following the blog post link
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| The Foreman cottage at night. |
The Loadmaster Cottage
The Ploegbaas Cottage
This cottage features three bedrooms and one bathroom with a separate toilet.
There is a fireplace in the lounge area. The patio area is ideal for sundowners to watch the sunsets. It is also a superb spot to do train spotting and watch the passing freight trains. The outbuildings have been converted into the laundry. The property is 900m2 and is fenced. Over the years citrus trees have been planted. There is a quince hedge for privacy. The pomegranates are always a plus factor.
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| The Ploegbaas cottage is surrounded by orange trees and promegranates. |
The Porter Cottage
The Porter Cottage is a three-bedroom cottage with one bathroom. There is a lock-up garage and the necessary outbuilding.
Geraldine moved from Margate to Kameel in 2019. She calls the Porter Cottage home at Kameel Huise Tussen Spore. She is a retired teacher -- with a teaching stint in Bengazi, Libya!
She relocates to Kameel to keep an eye on Tammy, her daughter, living on a nearby farm. Geraldine's garden is the star garden at Kameel.
She started the garden from scratch, and today we love to watch her garden and the changes she makes to suit the different seasons.
She works in the garden, knits, reads, hangs out with her animals. Her light-house collection is wonderful and reminds one of the seasides. She is now part and parcel a Kameeler, and like the quote says Lighthouses blow no horns to be seen, they simply shine. She simply shines.
Stationmaster cottage
The cottage was originally built as the Stationmaster house in 1945. The first occupants was Stationmaster Kleynhans. His wife, Tannie Kleyn, was the first teacher at Kameel Laerskool.
It is a two-bedroom one-bathroom cottage fitted with wooden floors.
The bathroom is fitted with a bath, basin and toilet
There are two stoep areas to enjoy the outdoors. The front stoep is wonderful to enjoy a glass of wine while watching the sunsets or spot the occasional freight train going through the village.
The back stoep is ideal for bird watching and early morning coffee with rusks. We have spotted plus-minus 100 species of birds and for your convenience, you will find a bird list in the cottage. Kameel is a wonderful place for star-gazing.
Die Platform
Things to do
Enjoy the gardens at Kameel Huise Tussen Spore. It is well-known all over the province. We try to keep the gardens at all the Cottages in tip-top condition all year round. The property is situated on a hectare of land and we are using innovative ways to fill the gardens with interest. You will find a bit of interest everywhere.
You will also find the trigonometrical beacons of the area.
There are also a lot of veldt plants that you will find on your walk.
We need your assistance to help us to locate, on behalf of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, the graves of three British Soldiers who were laid to rest near the Blockhouse site.
We can arrange for a tour to show the Sociable Weaver nest nearby.
Watch the most beautiful sunsets.
We have spotted almost 150 species of birds. How is your bird-watching list doing?
If you are lucky we can arrange a tour up a silo.
Take a dirt road and your camera and enjoy the day.
A little bid of our connection to the Railway
My dad, Gerald Fincham,at the age of 24, was in a terrible train accident at Westacres, in now Zimbabwe. He was a fireman on the train. The driver was TJ de Bruyn and L Vermeulen was the second fireman. The accident happened on 9 October 1955. A day after my Ouboet's, Julian's first birthday. My dad was hospitalized in Bulawayo for almost a year. He came home for a couple of months and then had to go back to Johannesburg General Hospital. Unfortunately, he carried scars for the rest of his 80 years on earth.
Click on the links to read some of our Kameel Stoepstories.
Kameel Stoepstorie: Birds in the gardens and surrounding areas.
A click on the link will take you to the list of the Birds in the gardens
Kameel Stoepstorie: Kameeldoringbome
A direct link to our blog post The Camel Thorn Trees
Kameel Stoepstorie: Stations and Whistle-stops around Kameel
Click and the link to read this blog post Stations and Whistle-stops around Kameel
Kameel Stoepstorie: Sociable Weaver Birds and their nest
A direct link to our blog post Sociable Weaver Nests
Kameel Stoepstorie: Lonely Hill and the Salt Pans at Stella
A direct link to our blog post Lonely Hill and Salt Pans at Stella
Kameel Stoepstorie: Devondale tot Kameel
Devondale is a situated between Kameel and Vryburg.
My Grandparents called it home.Victor and Hester Devondale
Veldplante in die Kameel area
There is a vast variety of veld plants in the area.
Click on the link to see Veldplants
Kameel Rust and Vrede offer accommodation with a difference.
You can bring your tent, stay in cute campervans, overnight in a wooden cottage or stay in style in a guest room.
This is our take on Kameel Rust and Vrede
Till next time Sandra and Hennie
