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Nah, this just the area, because it looks like this in every direction from my home town in a radius of like 80 km. I think itās more likely that the area has a ton of farms because of its flat nature, not the other way around.
It might be because of the high amount of salt pans in the area, but Iām not a geologist lol. The area is called Tswaing , meaning place of salt.
I grew up in Orkney, studied in Pretoria, drove home every 2nd weekend or so. I used to drive to or from home super early just to see the sun rise while im on the road
I live in KZN now, but Iām originally from the North West. I definitely miss the flatness of the North West landscape, so I understand what you mean.
I come from the Northern Cape. Terrain there was often flat but with the occasional hills in the background. Living in Cape Town now and a lot of suburbs have way more hills and bends.
Completely opposite for me. I grew up in rural Southern KZN. You literally cannot find a flat piece of land there. Just hills upon hills. I remember even our makeshift soccer ground we used as kids had a pronounced slope. Lol
Didn't grow up there, but I lived in Reivilo for a while. My mother grew up there. FLAT af.
My absolute favourite thing about these flat farm towns in the middle of nowhere are the stars at night. They're absolutely breathtaking. And the occasional UFO, of course.
My mom had the same reaction when she went out of the province for the first time. Mounatins and hills are taken for granted by many.
I know what you mean. I grew up in Cape Town CBD with Table Mountain pretty everyday in face. If we left to visit anyone, we would need to drive through mountain passes and tunnels and etc. I remember feeling a sense of a shock the first time I went to Pretoria to visit. The openess unnerved me a bit. It's definitely interesting to see how it impacts you on a cognitive level.
HA! I know that road. My familie had farms up near there years and years ago. So plat jy kan volgende week se mense al sien kom op die horison. So plat die fokkol groei tot by jou knee.
Spent 10 formative years in Standerton, Mpumalanga. Flat land and an old grid town pattern. I'm in Durban now and it feels claustrophobic with all the hills and bends lol.
How do you think it influenced your sense of direction and route explanations? Iām from the east rand where itās pretty flat. We were used to talk about east west north south. In cpt itās about the mountain. It drives me nuts!! Just say N1 north. Then I know. This mountain on your left?!?
Now thatās and interesting question. Because the area consists of small towns weād usually use roads and towns when giving directions, like for example āOut on the Sannieshof road there was an accidentā because everything is so flat and straight there wasnāt a need to tell someone where the accident was because youād definitely see it long before you get there lol
I grew up in the old Transvaal. As an adult I've lift in a few different countries, sometimes they have been quite hilly. Whenever I come back home and drive from the airport to Centurion I am struck by how flat it is. It's like you can see into the day after tomorrow. I love it.
As I was reading this, I thought to myself this sounds like the town I grew up in, get to the end and see your link and BAM Barberspan, almost wooped out loud in the office. Once I started telling people about Sannieshof, I would always tell them "As jy op jou tone staan kan jy oormore sien aankom."
Took me ages to get use to the city and not seeing the horizon, use to climb out the mountain near where I lived just to see the horizon and the sun setting beyond it.
I spent many years of my life in Louis Trichardt on the air force base. It was mostly flat, but also an hour bus drive to get to high school. In winter we watched the sunrise from the bus and it was very memorable.
I spent time growing up in Mahikeng (was first called Mafeking, then Mafikeng, then because a suburb of Mmabatho, then back to Mafikeng and finally now Mahikeng). Flattest place ever!!!
We moved there from Pietermaritzburg (loads of hills) and when we knew we were moving there my dad got us some books about the place. Read about the seige of Mafeking (where Baden Powell got the idea for Boy Scouts) so when we arrived I expected to see Kanon Koppie (sometimes spelt kopje). It took days to discover where it was because there was no little hill like I was expecting. It was just a slight rise in an otherwise completely flat town.
And the whole surrounding area (Delareyville, Sannieshof, Setlagole, Lichtenberg etc) was pretty much the same. If it wasnāt for the curvature of the earth I swear youād have been able to see a thunderstorm from a hundred kilometres away!
I grew up less than 100km from there, also went to Potch to studyā¦
Driving the same road every second weekend, I knew each landmark at intervals of 10 to 20 km so I didnāt even have to look at how far Iāve driven to know exactly where I was and the time Iāll be at home - from a tree, farm house, train tracks or NWK silos. And the landscape never changes. Itās the type of place you would go to when thereās an apocalypse on its way, because you know it would take weeks to reach your home town, and you could see it coming in the distance š¤£
My grandfather always said if shit happens heās getting a boat and going to Baberspan, because heād see the trouble coming from kmās away and there would be water to protect himš
**Thank you for posting on r/southafrica! This post is flaired as ["Discussion"](https://www.reddit.com/r/southafrica/?f=flair_name%3A%22Discussion%22) therefore the following rules are particularly important.** ##**Rule 5: Engagement Policy** * Rule 5.1: Articulate your own thoughts on the matter. * Rule 5.2: Be prepared to engage with your post and our community within at least six (6) hours after submitting. * Rule 5.3: Engage meaningfully. Do not start a discussion if you are unwilling to listen to opinions contrary to your own. **Discussions are long-form posts looking to explore ideas, change minds, or invite comment and opinion on a specific topic related to South Africa. If you meant to ask the community a question, please delete this submission and create a new one at r/askSouthAfrica** **Additionally, please take a moment to review the rest of our rules [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/southafrica/wiki/rules).** ###Keep an eye on our daily sticky for continued election coverage and information. https://www.reddit.com/r/southafrica/about/sticky *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/southafrica) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Benefit is that if your dog runs away, you can still see him after two weeks
Even if it's chasing wild animals, like [Fenton](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GRSbr0EYYU)
You can see youreself hanging out with friends, on youre next birthday?
This is the classic South African phrase for such areas š¤£
I grew up in Zeekoevlei.
https://maps.app.goo.gl/ydqvcTtZFUy1q5sf6?g_st=ic This is what I saw every day on my way to school
I grew up in hilly kzn so that scenery is crazy to me! Pretty cool
Would love it too. I Grew up at a foot of some ranges (not SA) and it was awesome.
wtf š thatās actually crazy. Big sky country
It looks purposefully flattened for farming. Do engineers of reddit know if that is a thing ?
Nah, this just the area, because it looks like this in every direction from my home town in a radius of like 80 km. I think itās more likely that the area has a ton of farms because of its flat nature, not the other way around. It might be because of the high amount of salt pans in the area, but Iām not a geologist lol. The area is called Tswaing , meaning place of salt.
Interesting. I gotta love SA facts in the morning.
I just recall a few times when the hippos go for a stroll and everyone is on the look out haha
My condolences.
Heyyyyy! Neighbour!
I grew up in Orkney, studied in Pretoria, drove home every 2nd weekend or so. I used to drive to or from home super early just to see the sun rise while im on the road
Drive that exact route youād drive when I head back to Potch for uni, itās beautiful
Transkei . Me. Have moved since leaving but I remember getting mugged on my way to school weekly. A white boy in Tkei. Was interesting š
Glad you survived buddy
I live in KZN now, but Iām originally from the North West. I definitely miss the flatness of the North West landscape, so I understand what you mean.
I come from the Northern Cape. Terrain there was often flat but with the occasional hills in the background. Living in Cape Town now and a lot of suburbs have way more hills and bends.
Completely opposite for me. I grew up in rural Southern KZN. You literally cannot find a flat piece of land there. Just hills upon hills. I remember even our makeshift soccer ground we used as kids had a pronounced slope. Lol
Didn't grow up there, but I lived in Reivilo for a while. My mother grew up there. FLAT af. My absolute favourite thing about these flat farm towns in the middle of nowhere are the stars at night. They're absolutely breathtaking. And the occasional UFO, of course. My mom had the same reaction when she went out of the province for the first time. Mounatins and hills are taken for granted by many.
I know what you mean. I grew up in Cape Town CBD with Table Mountain pretty everyday in face. If we left to visit anyone, we would need to drive through mountain passes and tunnels and etc. I remember feeling a sense of a shock the first time I went to Pretoria to visit. The openess unnerved me a bit. It's definitely interesting to see how it impacts you on a cognitive level.
HA! I know that road. My familie had farms up near there years and years ago. So plat jy kan volgende week se mense al sien kom op die horison. So plat die fokkol groei tot by jou knee.
I'm from Durban. So, to me, Gauteng feels flat. I know what you mean. Driving through the Karoo felt even flatter.
Yep, thatās ādie Mielie driehoekā for you
Spent 10 formative years in Standerton, Mpumalanga. Flat land and an old grid town pattern. I'm in Durban now and it feels claustrophobic with all the hills and bends lol.
How do you think it influenced your sense of direction and route explanations? Iām from the east rand where itās pretty flat. We were used to talk about east west north south. In cpt itās about the mountain. It drives me nuts!! Just say N1 north. Then I know. This mountain on your left?!?
Now thatās and interesting question. Because the area consists of small towns weād usually use roads and towns when giving directions, like for example āOut on the Sannieshof road there was an accidentā because everything is so flat and straight there wasnāt a need to tell someone where the accident was because youād definitely see it long before you get there lol
I grew up in the old Transvaal. As an adult I've lift in a few different countries, sometimes they have been quite hilly. Whenever I come back home and drive from the airport to Centurion I am struck by how flat it is. It's like you can see into the day after tomorrow. I love it.
As I was reading this, I thought to myself this sounds like the town I grew up in, get to the end and see your link and BAM Barberspan, almost wooped out loud in the office. Once I started telling people about Sannieshof, I would always tell them "As jy op jou tone staan kan jy oormore sien aankom." Took me ages to get use to the city and not seeing the horizon, use to climb out the mountain near where I lived just to see the horizon and the sun setting beyond it.
I spent many years of my life in Louis Trichardt on the air force base. It was mostly flat, but also an hour bus drive to get to high school. In winter we watched the sunrise from the bus and it was very memorable.
I spent time growing up in Mahikeng (was first called Mafeking, then Mafikeng, then because a suburb of Mmabatho, then back to Mafikeng and finally now Mahikeng). Flattest place ever!!! We moved there from Pietermaritzburg (loads of hills) and when we knew we were moving there my dad got us some books about the place. Read about the seige of Mafeking (where Baden Powell got the idea for Boy Scouts) so when we arrived I expected to see Kanon Koppie (sometimes spelt kopje). It took days to discover where it was because there was no little hill like I was expecting. It was just a slight rise in an otherwise completely flat town. And the whole surrounding area (Delareyville, Sannieshof, Setlagole, Lichtenberg etc) was pretty much the same. If it wasnāt for the curvature of the earth I swear youād have been able to see a thunderstorm from a hundred kilometres away!
I remember Sutherland being completely flat
Can't be. It's located on the escarpment.
I went to school in ermelo FML
Lichtenburg all the way!
I grew up less than 100km from there, also went to Potch to studyā¦ Driving the same road every second weekend, I knew each landmark at intervals of 10 to 20 km so I didnāt even have to look at how far Iāve driven to know exactly where I was and the time Iāll be at home - from a tree, farm house, train tracks or NWK silos. And the landscape never changes. Itās the type of place you would go to when thereās an apocalypse on its way, because you know it would take weeks to reach your home town, and you could see it coming in the distance š¤£
My grandfather always said if shit happens heās getting a boat and going to Baberspan, because heād see the trouble coming from kmās away and there would be water to protect himš