The southern seas of Africa are among the most treacherous in the world. Circumnavigating the continent was especially risky for earlier boats – and if navigating the waters wasn’t tough enough they also had to contend with the most famous ghost ship in maritime history.
Legend has it that in the mid-17 th century a Dutch trader, Der Fliegende Hollander – The Flying Dutchman, – ran into trouble while rounding the Cape. It now sails the seas in search of other ships to take messages home to their loved ones.
Showing posts with label Africa. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Africa. Show all posts
Tuesday, 1 September 2009
Africa, Uniondale
At the Barandas turnoff 19 kilometres before Uniondale, you’ll find one of the world’s most famous ghosts – the Uniondale hitchhiker.
On a cold, rainy Good Friday night in 1968, Maria Charlotte Roux was killed there in a car accident. It is said that since then the apparition of a hitchhiker matching the description of Roux appears at the spot every Easter.
On a cold, rainy Good Friday night in 1968, Maria Charlotte Roux was killed there in a car accident. It is said that since then the apparition of a hitchhiker matching the description of Roux appears at the spot every Easter.
Africa, Kimberley - Rudd house
For many ghost-watchers, the fabulously spine-chilling Rudd House in Kimberley is the archetypal South African haunted house. Sprawling and squat, its deep shaded verandahs lend to the air of menace.
Inside, a baby can sometimes be heard crying in the nursery and there is often the terrifying clatter of glass and cutlery being flung on the floor in one of the two dispensaries.
Inside, a baby can sometimes be heard crying in the nursery and there is often the terrifying clatter of glass and cutlery being flung on the floor in one of the two dispensaries.
Africa, Karoo - Matjiesfontein
At Matjiesfontein, the Victorian village in the Karoo, the past and the present are inseparably intertwined. So do not be surprised to find that some of the visitors are staying forever.
Among these are the spirits of founder Jimmy Logan and Lucy, who has never checked out of her hotel room. Wearing only a negligee, she’s often spotted in the corridor.
Among these are the spirits of founder Jimmy Logan and Lucy, who has never checked out of her hotel room. Wearing only a negligee, she’s often spotted in the corridor.
Africa - Port Elizabeth Public Library
The Port Elizabeth Public Library on Market Square is one of the most beautiful buildings in South Africa. Erected in 1902, it is a fine example of Art Nouveau Artistic Baronial with dramatic Elizabethan touches.
Its resident ghost is of caretaker Robert Thomas who devoted the last 31-years of his life to the library. Since his death in 1943, staff say doors open and bang shut of their own accord; books are removed from shelves and stacked on the floor; and books fall for no reason.
Its resident ghost is of caretaker Robert Thomas who devoted the last 31-years of his life to the library. Since his death in 1943, staff say doors open and bang shut of their own accord; books are removed from shelves and stacked on the floor; and books fall for no reason.
Africana Museum - Kimberley
The Kimberley Public Library, now the Africana Museum, was founded in 1882 and housed opposite the Kimberley Club in a magnificent building with wrought-iron gallery, spiral staircase and sparkling chandeliers. Dyer, the city’s first qualified librarian, arrived in 1900 from England, where at one time he had worked in Buckingham Palace.
But he was also a fraudster, misappropriating funds until auditors caught up with him in 1908. Rather than go to prison, he took cyanide, and his ghost can still be seen dressed in Victorian clothing rearranging books and files in the stacks section.
But he was also a fraudster, misappropriating funds until auditors caught up with him in 1908. Rather than go to prison, he took cyanide, and his ghost can still be seen dressed in Victorian clothing rearranging books and files in the stacks section.
Africa - The Castle of Good Hope
The Castle of Good Hope is the oldest building still in use in South Africa. And the most haunted. For over a century it was the centre of life in the settlement. There was ceremony, glittering balls, and extravagant banquets.
There was also disease and the horror of executions. It is little wonder that it is crammed with apparitions, including those of Pieter Noodt, the most hated of all Cape governors, and the beautiful Lady Ann Barnard who haunts the ballroom.
There was also disease and the horror of executions. It is little wonder that it is crammed with apparitions, including those of Pieter Noodt, the most hated of all Cape governors, and the beautiful Lady Ann Barnard who haunts the ballroom.
Africa - Doornkloof
Issie Smuts, the wife of statesman Jan Christiaan Smuts, was adamant that their Irene house, Doornkloof, now Smuts House, was haunted.
Of most interest was her regularly sighting of a ghost of an elderly man with ‘a Kruger-style set of whiskers’. He is purported to be the keeper of a secret regarding the whereabouts of Boer treasure buried on the property.
Of most interest was her regularly sighting of a ghost of an elderly man with ‘a Kruger-style set of whiskers’. He is purported to be the keeper of a secret regarding the whereabouts of Boer treasure buried on the property.
Africa - Table Mountain
The great cleft in Table Mountain is known as Platteklip Gorge, or Platteklip Kloof. At the foot of the gorge is the suburb of Oranjezicht. This was the estate of the Van Breda family, worked by hundreds of slaves. The double-storied house was haunted, and the ghost photographed in 1900. The building was demolished in the nineteen-fifties, but the ruined bandstand, and the oak trees, may still be be seen. A shadowy ghost has been seen among the trees. Another ghost, a member of the Van Breda family, rides about on a white horse. Oranjezicht is one of the places where a loyal slave is said to have hidden her master's children in a oven, to protect them from rampaging slaves.
Africa, Western Cape - Antjie Somers
In the Western Cape, a child may still be told "Be good, or Antjie Somers will get you. " Antjie Somers is often described as a man in women's clothes, with a hare lip and teeth like a baboon's. He has the power to become invisible. His prodigious leaps gave rise to the story that he has winged heels, so that he can fly as long as he is only carrying one child. (This is reminiscent of England's bogeyman of similar vintage, Spring Heel Jack.)
At night, when husbands are away, Antjie Somers may plunder a house and kill the children. Pretending to be a woman in need of a lift, he attacks and robs travellers. Antjie Somers is also an invisible stone-thrower, and often jumps out at night to frighten late-night revellers. "Antjie Somers" may be the nickname of an outlandishly dressed man, and he is even the subject of an Afrikaans musical.
According to one source, there were in the early nineteenth century two outlaws, one known as Antjie Somers and the other as Antjie Winters. This expanation has not been corroborated.
The legend of Antjie Somers began in Tuinstraat, now called Queen Victoria Street, in central Cape Town. Near the top of the street was a dark place with many trees. The spot had a sinister reputation, especially after the Dutch colony's last executioner hanged himself there. The colony's executioner doubled as torturer, and his livelihood was ruined when the new British governor banned torture and other cruel punishments. The executioner was also paid a fixed amount for hanging the bodies of suicides on the gallows, an irony which could not have escaped him as he put the noose around his own neck.
In the eighteen-forties, the same area became the haunt of a ghostly man in women's clothing. The authorities tried to lay the ghost, in the non-American sense (I think), but it appeared in other places. Because of the female attire, the ghost came to be called Annetjie ("Little Annette"). As it appeared mostly in warm weather, the surname Somers ("Summers") was added. Eventually, Annetjie was contracted to Antjie.
Obviously, some of the crimes attributed to Antjie Somers were committed by real people, and the first person so named may have been a harmless cross-dresser (who wisely preferred to go out on warm nights). This cannot explain all of the stories, however.
The author and artist Penny Miller does not mention the women's clothes, and describes Antjie Somers as "a curious gnome-like prankster, more poltergeist than ghost." Perhaps the name Antjie Somers has been acquired by the elemental spirit which would have been recognised by the indigenous peoples as Heitsi-Eibib, the trickster.
At night, when husbands are away, Antjie Somers may plunder a house and kill the children. Pretending to be a woman in need of a lift, he attacks and robs travellers. Antjie Somers is also an invisible stone-thrower, and often jumps out at night to frighten late-night revellers. "Antjie Somers" may be the nickname of an outlandishly dressed man, and he is even the subject of an Afrikaans musical.
According to one source, there were in the early nineteenth century two outlaws, one known as Antjie Somers and the other as Antjie Winters. This expanation has not been corroborated.
The legend of Antjie Somers began in Tuinstraat, now called Queen Victoria Street, in central Cape Town. Near the top of the street was a dark place with many trees. The spot had a sinister reputation, especially after the Dutch colony's last executioner hanged himself there. The colony's executioner doubled as torturer, and his livelihood was ruined when the new British governor banned torture and other cruel punishments. The executioner was also paid a fixed amount for hanging the bodies of suicides on the gallows, an irony which could not have escaped him as he put the noose around his own neck.
In the eighteen-forties, the same area became the haunt of a ghostly man in women's clothing. The authorities tried to lay the ghost, in the non-American sense (I think), but it appeared in other places. Because of the female attire, the ghost came to be called Annetjie ("Little Annette"). As it appeared mostly in warm weather, the surname Somers ("Summers") was added. Eventually, Annetjie was contracted to Antjie.
Obviously, some of the crimes attributed to Antjie Somers were committed by real people, and the first person so named may have been a harmless cross-dresser (who wisely preferred to go out on warm nights). This cannot explain all of the stories, however.
The author and artist Penny Miller does not mention the women's clothes, and describes Antjie Somers as "a curious gnome-like prankster, more poltergeist than ghost." Perhaps the name Antjie Somers has been acquired by the elemental spirit which would have been recognised by the indigenous peoples as Heitsi-Eibib, the trickster.
Africa, Cape Town - The Flying Dutchman
On the third of August, 1942, H.M.S. Jubilee was on the way to the Royal Navy base at Simonstown, near Cape Town. At 9 p.m., a phantom sailing ship was seen. The second officer, Davies, was in charge of the watch. Sharing this duty was the third officer, Nicholas Monsarrat, author of The Cruel Sea. Monsarrat signalled to the strange ship, but there was no response. Davies recorded in the log that a schooner, of a class that he did not recognise, was moving under full sail, even though there was no wind. The Jubilee had to change course, to avoid a collision. During the war, Davies' superiors would have been in no mood for nonsense, and he must have had to weigh that against the dangers, especially in wartime, of not recording the strange things that he saw. In an interview, Monsarrat admitted that the sighting inspired him to write his novel The Master Mariner.
According to Admiral Karl Doenitz, U Boat crews logged sightings of the Flying Dutchman, off the Cape Peninsula. For most or all of these crews, it proved to be a terrible omen. The ghostly East Indiaman was also seen at Muizenberg, in 1939. On a calm day in 1941, a crowd at Glencairn beach saw a ship with wind-filled sails, but it vanished just as it was about to crash onto the rocks. During the war years, there was plenty of room for bad omens.
According to Admiral Karl Doenitz, U Boat crews logged sightings of the Flying Dutchman, off the Cape Peninsula. For most or all of these crews, it proved to be a terrible omen. The ghostly East Indiaman was also seen at Muizenberg, in 1939. On a calm day in 1941, a crowd at Glencairn beach saw a ship with wind-filled sails, but it vanished just as it was about to crash onto the rocks. During the war years, there was plenty of room for bad omens.
South Africa - Cape Town Castle
For over 300 years, the Cape Town Castle ghost is seen walking along the battlements. It is a tall lanky figure that haunts the castle built in 1665. The ghost of one of the men, who died building an underground tunnel in Johannesburg, haunts the dark passageway to this day. A haunted car is seen racing down the Port Elizabeth Highway causing numerous accidents
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