A place so nice they named it twice

[ TRAVEL ] BELA-BELA, LIMPOPO

If you ever venture to the Bela-Bela area on holiday, be wary of a pub called Jakkalsgat.

It’s a place where farmers, campers, adventurers and hunters converge and coexist alongside nine pigs which roam freely around the dusty interior of Pieter Homan’s pub. Now, it’s not the locals or the pigs that you need to be “careful” of, but rather the wonderful rural hospitality, coupled with the wildest stories, that will have you ordering another beverage (remember people, no drinking and driving, get a lift with your designated driver or take a taxi).

The plaques that adorn the walls of the pub – you can purchase a plaque for R50 and scrawl your own message on it – are proof that many people have celebrated at this particular Bela-Bela pub, including the likes of Victor Matfield and Princess Charlene of Monaco, to name but a few.

I now also have a T-shirt and cap, both adorned with the Jakkalsgat logo, as evidence of my lengthy visit (kindly donated by Pieter the owner).

But if you are not one for the pub, you are luckily still in the right spot, because Bela-Bela is a dream destination for any caravanner of camper – beautiful campsites, starlit skies and crackling braai fires…

Enough about Jakkalsgat, let’s start this travel adventure at the beginning. The excitement for my trip started long before I got to Bela-Bela, because I knew I was going to