When I visited South Africa, the tour group that I was with drove from Johannesburg to Hazyview ( a town by Kruger National Park), which was a 6 hour drive. Our tour guide arranged for us to stop in a town on the way called Middelburg, where we were met by a local guide named Sara. She had started a business showing tourists around Middelburg called "Something Out of Nothing". Her tour included so many things that our group never would have done on our own. First, we stopped at her local church and met the priest there and took a tour of both the old and the new church. We drove down Church Street, which had 16 churches on one street. From there, we got off the bus and went down an alley to the local pub, which was really just a table set up in someone's house. It was a good thing that Sara was with us, as no one in the town spoke much english. Using Sara as a translator, the owner of the pub explained that she was making a batch of "umqombothi" or beer made out of sorghum, yeast, brown sugar, and bread. After the entire group tried some beer, we thanked her and got back on the tour bus. The next stop was the local healer, who casts bones to diagnose her patients, and if needed, she recommends them to a doctor. She read the bones for one of our group members and then we joined her apprentices outside for a traditional dance. Finally, we returned to Sara's guesthouse for a traditional South African meal (eaten with no utensils). Some unique items included pap (a type of grits made out of white corn), boiled peanuts, and chicken feet.
As we departed Middelburg, the entire group marveled at what we had experienced: it was truly a local and cultural experience that we never would have had on our own or in a larger city. It was incredible to see on a much less removed level how people live in Middelburg. If you are in South Africa, stopping in Middelburg and booking Sara for a tour is an absolute must.
