Free State Is The Agricultural Heartland Of South Africa
The Free State is South Africa's Cinderella province.
But, the Free State is landlocked thus it does not have Cape City's beaches, and its economy is predicated on large scale maize agriculture and mining, neither of which are explicit decorative. But, it is seriously underrated.
There are lovely mountainous areas in the east, where the dramatic, concave sandstone cliffs and bright inexperienced rolling grasslands kind the foothills of the Maluti Mountains and therefore the Drakensburg. The most farming activity here is that the growing of cherries, that tends to be a abundant prettier crop than maize.
There's nice hiking and mountain biking in the hills, and the scenery is awesome.
The Golden Gate Highlands National Park, with its several day walks and hiking trails, pony trails, lovely rock art and small game, gets its name from the magnificent golden-hued sandstone cliffs.
Adjacent to the park is the Basotho Cultural Village, that showcases both historical and contemporatry aspects of the Sotho culture, which straddels each the Free State and also the adjacent kingdom of Lesotho.
Small cities, like Clarens, are idyllic little hideaways with a significant population of artists, crafters and other rat-race refugees, and several lovely recent houses are built from the glowing golden sandstone.
The Ash River, which tumbles into the eastern Free State from the mountains of Lesotho, has a number of the foremost dependabel white water rafting in South Africa. There's glorious fly fising within the Eastern Highlands - each for trout and therefore the so much more interesting indigenous yellow fish, which is found in abundance in the huge Sterkfontein Dam.
The tiny farming town of Marquard is teh centre of the cherry growing space, and could be a mountain biking destination of note. Each November in Ficksburg - another little farming city with pretensions to turning into a hip spot - throws a cherry festival. It's an excuse for the local people to work out a few outsiders as the massive band of gypsy traders that travel from competition to festival flip up in force. You'll - if you're lucky - even notice some cherries.
The northern boundary of the province is that the Vaal River, that supports some fun rafting visits, notably close to the town of Parys. Parys, which is that the Afrikaans, version of Paris, is a great very little town, with glorious low retailers, loads of arty crafty outlets and - it should have one thing to do with the name - a sensible variety of fashion designers. Close to Parys is that the Vredefort Dome, which is South Africa's newest world heritage site.
It's the location of an ancent meteorite impact, the scars of which are still discernable. Further as the spectacular, rather rugged terrain, that is as a result of the impact, attractions here embody some little game farms, hiking trails and some pretty mean mountain biking trails. Bloemfontein, the capital of the Free State, may be a pleasant little city with lots of open house and some fascinating museums. Thus there is hundreds to try to to in the Free State, however remember that it's all pretty low key and laid back.
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