Deelfontein Accommodation

Deelfontein is a small village in the Great Karoo, Northern Cape and lies on the route of the Pretoria to Cape Town railway. The village was primarily developed to service the railway due to its good water supply for steam locomotives, and is currently the location of a passing loop where trains travelling in opposite directions can pass each other on the single-track line. In 1900 a British military field hospital, the Imperial Yeomanry Hospital, was constructed here for casualties from the Second Boer War. The location was chosen for its communications and dry climate, and its proximity to De Aar, then the centre of hostilities. Alfred Downing Fripp was Chief Medical Officer. The hospital was unusual in pioneering the use of x-ray diagnosis. The surgeon-radiographer in charge, Major John Hall-Edwards, achieved eminence in this field, though he subsequently lost an arm through x-ray damage. The hospital, with a capacity for some 800 patients, largely comprised tents and prefabricated huts; at the cease of hostilities, materials from the latter were used for housing at Red Location, a township for Africans just outside Port Elizabeth.

Today there are a host of activities in and around Deelfontein for visitors. The activities include swimming in the large 15 m swimming pool, with an ablution block with change rooms for men and women, showers, toilets, as well as a deck with barbeque facilities. Mountain biking on more than 50 km of mountain bike trails, including dirt road, jeep track, and single track, in degrees of difficulty varying from easy to extremely technical. Meteorite Hiking Trails Comprising more than 60 km of trails. The Dome is a birders paradise, and on the farm Deelfontein the trails take you to various habitats, ideal for the birding enthusiast. The clear night skies far away from the light pollution in the cities often surprise visitors who have not seen the Milky Way for a long time and Deelfontein has its own equipped observatory. And horse riding is available only 5 km from Deelfontein itself.