The Williston Mall

I have one more blog to share about our holiday. As before, we took a bit of a road trip on our way back to Johannesburg (see last year’s trip here). We drove up the West Coast to Klaver, before turning inland. We passed towns I’ve never visited before, such as Vanrhynsdorp, Niewoudtville, Calvinia and Williston, on our way to my parents place in Britstown.

We stopped for lunch in Williston, a small Karoo town. Apparently, a local farmer planted an almond tree in honour of his son’s birth here in 1768. German settlers established a mission station at this spot in 1845 and named it Amandelboom (almond tree), but the name was later changed to Williston.

Today, one of the most visited places in this Northern Cape town is a place called the Williston Mall. Their motto “n Dorp sonner ‘n mall is nie ‘n dorp nie” (A town without a mall is not a town) already tells you that someone with a quirky sense of humour is in charge here. The “Mall” has a guest house, pub and restaurant. They also have a great kiddies play area. For the rest of the property, it seems that all the nooks and crannies are stuffed with bric-a-brac, lots of things rusting and fading in the Karoo sun. The whole place, with its ‘theatre café’, its swimming pool and all the rest, was a breath of fresh air. 














You can visit their website page here.

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