Barkly East is a town in

Eastern Cape Province The Eastern Cape is one of the provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, but its two largest cities are East London and Gqeberha. The second largest province in the country (at 168,966 km2) after Northern Cape, it was formed in 199 ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

, seat of the

Joe Gqabi District Municipality Joe Gqabi District Municipality is one of the seven districts of Eastern Cape province of South Africa. The seat of Joe Gqabi is Barkly East. The majority of its 349,768 people speak IsiXhosa ( 2011 census). Before 1 February 2010 it was known a ...

, and 117 km by road E.S.E. of

Aliwal North Aliwal North (officially Maletswai) is a town in central South Africa on the banks of the Orange River, Eastern Cape Province. It is a medium-sized commercial centre in the northernmost part of the Eastern Cape. History Sir Harry Smith, then ...

, lying in the mountainous area just south of Lesotho. The town lies at the southern tip of the

Drakensberg The Drakensberg (Afrikaans: Drakensberge, Zulu: uKhahlambha, Sotho: Maluti) is the eastern portion of the Great Escarpment, which encloses the central Southern African plateau. The Great Escarpment reaches its greatest elevation – within t ...

on the Langkloofspruit, a tributary of the Kraai River which, in turn is a tributary of the

Orange River The Orange River (from Afrikaans/Dutch: ''Oranjerivier'') is a river in Southern Africa. It is the longest river in South Africa. With a total length of , the Orange River Basin extends from Lesotho into South Africa and Namibia to the north ...

at an elevation of 1 790 meter (5 873 foot) above sealevel. Barkly East is characterized by rugged mountains and green valleys. Snow falls in winter, and the hamlet of

Rhodes Rhodes (; el, Ρόδος , translit=Ródos ) is the largest and the historical capital of the Dodecanese islands of Greece. Administratively, the island forms a separate municipality within the Rhodes regional unit, which is part of the S ...

is 60 km or an hour's drive from Barkly East on the R396. Both are within the boundaries of the

Senqu Local Municipality Senqu Local Municipality is an administrative area in the Joe Gqabi District of the Eastern Cape in South Africa. Senqu is a Sesotho name for the Orange River. Main places The 2001 census divided the municipality into the following main plac ...

. It has been one of the few areas in South Africa where winter sports are pursued, and in summer fly fishing for Rainbow trout and indigenous

Smallmouth yellowfish The smallmouth yellowfish (''Labeobarbus aeneus'') is a species of ray-finned fish in the genus ''Labeobarbus''. It has become an invasive species in rivers of the Eastern Cape, South Africa, such as the Mbhashe River. Introduction The Orange-V ...

, trail running, mountain biking, ancient rock-art, tennis and the magnificent scenery draw tourists to the district. A recent development is the mountainous terrain attracting off-road bikers who revel in traversing the numerous passes in the area. Even more recent is the opening of the winter fly fishing season on Wild Trout Association waters around Barkly East, Lady Grey, Rhodes and Wartrail.

Xhosa Xhosa may refer to: * Xhosa people, a nation, and ethnic group, who live in south-central and southeasterly region of South Africa * Xhosa language, one of the 11 official languages of South Africa, principally spoken by the Xhosa people See als ...

and

Afrikaans Afrikaans (, ) is a West Germanic language that evolved in the Dutch Cape Colony from the Dutch vernacular of Holland proper (i.e., the Hollandic dialect) used by Dutch, French, and German settlers and their enslaved people. Afrikaans gra ...

are spoken by most of the inhabitants, while

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

and some

Sotho Sotho may refer to: *Sotho people (or ''Basotho''), an African ethnic group principally resident in South Africa, Lesotho and southern Botswana * Sotho language (''Sesotho'' or ''Southern Sotho''), a Bantu language spoken in southern Africa, an off ...

are also spoken. The primary economic base of the district is sheep-farming, the pasturage being excellent.

History

Barkly West Barkly West is a town in the Northern Cape province of South Africa, situated on the north bank of the Vaal River west of Kimberley. Establishment and naming Barkly West was the site of the first major diamond rush, in 1870, on the South African ...

, the town is named after

Sir Henry Barkly Sir Henry Barkly (24 February 1815 – 20 October 1898) was a British politician, colonial governor and patron of the sciences. Early life and education Born on 24 February 1815 at Highbury, Middlesex (now London), he was the eldest son of ...

, governor of the

Cape Colony The Cape Colony ( nl, Kaapkolonie), also known as the Cape of Good Hope, was a British colony in present-day South Africa named after the Cape of Good Hope, which existed from 1795 to 1802, and again from 1806 to 1910, when it united with t ...

from 1870 to 1877. On 14 December 1874 the then-Governor, Sir Henry Barkly proclaimed that a town could split from

Wodehouse Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, ( ; 15 October 188114 February 1975) was an English author and one of the most widely read humorists of the 20th century. His creations include the feather-brained Bertie Wooster and his sagacious valet, Jeeve ...

. Among the first families that settled in Barkly East were the Nels, Bothas, Oliviers, Murrays, Smits, Sephtons, Giddys, Isteds, Orpens, Nortons, Greyvensteins, Stapelbergs, Vorsters and the Jouberts and Cloetes of Constantia. But it was a Mr HS Nel who was the first white person that settled in this area. Mary Edith Robertson was the first woman to be elected the town's deputy mayor for two years and in 1988 she was the first citizen to be awarded the Freedom of the Town for her services to the community. She was the also the first woman town councilor in the Barkly East history and held this post for eight years.page 2 - Barkly East Reporter 10 July 1998 The area is well known for excellent trout fishing. A variety of caves contain rock paintings by the San that date back hundreds of years, and visitors interested in San art can stay at cottages on local farms.

The Cloete-Joubert Hospital

The Provincial hospital in Barkly East is a living monument for Mr. Piet Joubert by his wife who was a Cloete and daughter of one of the wealthiest cattle farmers in South Africa, CWP Cloete of Glen Almond. The Joubert couple had no children, and after her death she intended to donate her money to a hospital. But Mr. Greyvenstein, who was her lawyer, persuaded her to keep the Cloete money in the area. As such, a small hospital was planned. The total cost of the hospital was £100 000 of which £80 000 came from the Joubert couple. The hospital was opened by the minister Sauer and by Dollie Cloete (the granddaughter of CWP Cloete by his first wife).

Geography

Climate

Barkly East has a

subtropical highland climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate, is the humid temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring cool summers and mild winters ...

(''Cwb'', according to the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

), with mild summers and chilly, dry winters, with occasional

snow Snow comprises individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere—usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes. It consists of frozen crystalline water throughout ...

falls. It borders on a cold

semi-arid climate A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of sem ...

(''BSk''). The average annual precipitation is , with most rainfall occurring during summer.

References

External links