We went to see the Owl House near Graaf-Reinet, a fascinating "outsider art" site featuring dozens of cement sculptures and very unusual decor. There's also a scenic outcropping of rocks nearby called Desolation Valley.

The Owl House near Graaf-Reinet illustrates how far an artistic vision can go without patronage, grant proposals, or a coercive social structure to support it. The Owl House was created by Helen Martins, who lived there for many years, making cement sculptures in the yard and a unique environment inside.

I like the headlights.

A little building made out of bottles.

The inside of the bottle house.

Masks in a room with a red-stained window.

We stayed at the Drostdy Hotel. This complex was built as the residence of the magistrate. The small outlying cottages started as slave quarters, then became the houses of workers, and are currently rented to tourists.

This précis of economic history is not entirely out of the main sequence noted by Marx. Everything in the room matched the checkered bed -- a chair, an ottoman, the curtains, and even a magazine holder.

Desolation Valley is a cute outcropping of rocks near Graaf-Reinet.

On to South Africa: Cape Town