Nieu-Bethesda

Nieu-Bethesda sits at the foot of the Sneeuberge in Camdeboo Local Municipality, about 50km north of Graaff-Reinet in the Great Karoo. Founded in 1875 as a Dutch Reformed Church town on a portion of the farm Uitkyk, it was named after the Pool of Bethesda from the Gospel of John, and for the Gats River that flows through the village, both referencing water in a landscape where water is everything. The town attained municipal status in 1886. Around 1,000 people live here permanently, most of them in the township of Pienaarsig.

The Owl House is the reason most visitors come, and it earns that status. Helen Martins was born in the village in 1897, returned in 1928 to care for her elderly parents, and between 1945 and 1976 transformed her home into a dense, obsessive environment of ground glass, mirrors, and over 300 cement sculptures: owls, camels, peacocks, pyramids, mermaids, and figures oriented perpetually toward the east. She worked with her assistant Koos Malgas for much of that period. When the work became impossible and her health deteriorated, she ended her life in 1976. The Owl House Foundation has managed the property since 1996. In 2017 it was declared a National Heritage Site. There is nothing else quite like it in South Africa.

The village around the Owl House is also quietly interesting. There are a few small galleries, a pub, some restaurants serving decent food, and stone-walled guest cottages. The Sneeuberge provide a dramatic backdrop. There are hiking trails in the hills, and on a clear night the stargazing rivals anywhere in the Karoo.

Getting here requires about 25km of gravel from the R57 junction near Graaff-Reinet. The road is passable in a standard vehicle when dry but can get rough after rain. That slight inconvenience has helped keep the village from being overrun. It feels like a place that keeps its own counsel.