Aliwal North

Aliwal North sits on the southern bank of the Orange River, right on the provincial boundary between the Eastern Cape and the Free State. Sir Harry Smith founded it in 1850 and named it after a battle he won against the Sikhs in India in 1846. The railway arrived in 1885, Victorian buildings went up along Smith Street, and a Dutch Reformed Church was standing by 1855. Today it is officially called Maletswai, though locals still use both names. The town has the energy of a place that has been through plenty and is still standing.

The main draw is the hot springs. The Aliwal Spa sits within the municipal area and draws visitors for its two thermal pools with mineral concentrations high enough that the original restaurant here ran its cooking fires off gas from the springs. The water temperature sits at 34 degrees Celsius and the springs are noted for their effect on arthritis and rheumatism. The resort closed for reconstruction in 2010 and reopened in 2015.

Beyond the spa, the town has good examples of Victorian architecture, a museum in the old Dutch Reformed Church building from 1864, and the Buffelspruit Nature Reserve on the outskirts — several thousand hectares of grassland with antelope, buffalo, and sweeping Karoo scenery. The Orange River itself offers fishing, boating, and quiet afternoons on the bank. There is also a strong farming character here: wool, maize, wheat, beef, and dairy define the surrounding district.

Aliwal North occupies an interesting psychological position — neither Cape nor Free State, and somewhat proud of it. The town has a gritty self-sufficiency. It does not depend on tourism to function and is not trying to be anything it is not.