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Springbok Lodge & Restaurant

Below you can view the many pictures we have of Springbok Lodge & Restaurant.

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The History of Springbok - Timeline

1685
Foundation
The first white expedition from the south to this part of the Cape Province was headed by none other than Simon van der Stel, governor of the settlement established 33 ears earlier at the Cape of Good Hope by the Dutch East India Company. He set out on this Journey of exploration in 1685, having heard reports of rich copper deposits in the area. and still charmed by the old legend of the fabulously rich Christian empire of Monomotapa somewhere in the north. Van der Stel camped a mere 5 km to the east of the present town of Springbok, at a spot were he sank three, prospecting shafts.

The largest of these shafts, on which he carved his initials, has been declared a national monument and is a great tourist attraction. Van der Stel sent scouts to the west coast to look for a suitable harbour for the ships that would one day load his copper, but received reports that the coastline was so smooth and unbroken that there was no suitable bays or inlets. The scouting expedition had ridden back and forth the very area where 241 years later the richest diamond deposits in the world would be discovered – Vigiti Magna had lain.

1760
A land of Riches
Interest in the riches of the region waned after this, but several travellers were drawn to this dry land. Some came to hunt, others to thrill to the adventure of the wild interior & others to spread the Gospel. Jacobus Coetsé hunted elephant here in 1760. Hendrik Hop headed an official expedition in 1761. Willem van Reenen, lured by tales of copper and gold, came soon after and found a few white farmers already established in the Kamiesberge to the south of the present town of Springbok. In these years the French naturalist and adventurer Francois le Vaillant travelled here, to leave highly romantic accounts of his observations.
1777 - 1847
Settlers
In 1777 – 1778 Col. R.J. Gordon distinguished himself as an explorer and reached the Gariep north of the Sneeuberg; he named the great river the Orange in honour of the ruling house of the Netherlands. In 1813 John Campbell of the London Missionary Society travelled through these parts. The official border looped forward over the migrating settlers from the Buffelsrivier to the Orange only in 1847. But as early as 1836 when large numbers of stock farmers were leaving the eastern frontier of the Cape Colony on the Great Trek which took them into the Free State, Natal and Transvaal, Sir James Alexander found European settlers at Springbok fountain.
1852
Prosperity
The partners Philips and King of Cape Town had bought part of the farm Melkboschkuil from the Cloete brothers here in 1852 and on the north-western slopes of the ridges about the present town established an open-cast copper mine. The venture brought prosperity to the region: before the smelting furnace was built here. high-grade ore had to be transported by oxwagon from Springbok to Hondeklip Bay in the form of broken ore packed into bags of about 45 kg. Tradition has it that the transport riders of the district were paid a hundred sovereigns for each wagon load of ore taken to the coast and of mining machinery, groceries and other supplies brought back, but it was a gruelling round trip. Parts of the old Copper Road thev travelled can still be seen. The famous Messelpad across the mountains west of the Buffelsrivier was the product of convict labour and inspired engineering.

When richer deposits of copper were discovered at Okiep S km to the north of Springbok and at Nababeep 19 km to the north-west, the little village of Springboktontein suffered a reversal and its development was arrested.

1862
Cape Copper Company
Surveyor P.Fletcher laid out the town in 1862 and four years later a furnace for the reduction of copper was constructed in the gap in the ridges to the north-east of the town. Here the Cape Copper Company intended smelting the piles of lower-grade ore mined in earlier years around Springbokfontein. For years this oldest smelting furnace in the whole of Southern Africa was to prove a boon in the town. When it came into production the farmers of the district once more had an extra source of income as in the days of transport riding, but now they set about meeting the demand of the smelting furnace for hard wood, the Company was prepared to pay very high prices for suitable wood in this treeless region.

Many an old-timer of Springbok used to recall how, as a child he had helped to load the heavy logs of noenieboom (Boscia species) and olienhout (Olea africana) onto the wagons. The smelting furnace was declared a national monument in 1959.

1899 - 1902
Town Management
The first town management board was established in 1922 and in 1933 Springbok was accorded municipal status. Few people realise that the land on which the town was laid out remained the property of the mining company until 1942. On 21 February of that year the municipality bought the land from the Copper company for ₤750.
1899 - 1902
Growth
The discovery of diamonds along the west coast and particularly at Alexander Bay heralded a boom period for Springbok, whose growth is influenced by the demand on the world market for the other base minerals mined in the region. The future of this pretty town set amongst the most beautiful of Namaqualand’s granite ridges and koppies seems secure indeed.
1899 - 1902
Water Supply
The supply of water from the bore holes soon proved inadequate for the growing town and in 1955 the supply was augmented from the Nababeep mine in terms of an agreement with the Okiep Copper Company (whose generators also supplied electricity to the town). Since 1976 a pipeline of about 48 cm in diameter has been conducting water to Springbok and the surrounding villages from the pumping station at Henkries on the Orange river.
1899 - 1902
The Stone Church
On approaching this stately building On a hill in the centre of town, one is touched by the austere but moving work of art, created in the blue granite of this earth. When you read the words engraved on the corner-stone, you realize that this is more than only house of God in which His people could meet and worship Him.

“Den God der Wondren alleen de eer. Gemeente

gesticht 1830, Kerk voltooid 1921. Nageslachten!

Zicht wat eendracht onder Gods zegen kan doen.”

You realize that the primary motive for building this church was the settlement of Christianity and civilisation in this beautiful but harsh interior of an untouched land many days a journey from civilisation. Even more you realize that this is simultaneously the heart and mind of the culture of a developing nation.

Pachypodium namaquanum

Or ‘Half Man’ a plant unique to the Richtersveld area. The head of this plant always faces North. The name arises from the Nama folklore. according to which, their ancestors were driven Southwards by a warlike tribe. Rather like Lot’s wife in the Old Testament, the exiles who yearned for their homeland were transformed into these tall, strange succulents.