.....about The Free State
The Free State with its rolling hills, wide golden plains and impressive sandstone mountains, its numerous guest farms, rural getaways and nature reserves, coupled with an average of 340 days of sunshine per year, render the Free State a haven for the outdoor enthusiast. Almost every municipality and nature reserve, plus several private nature reserves, guest farms and even private farms, offer camping facilities, while the province boasts a total of 54 hiking trails. Mountaineering is popular in the eastern Free State, in particular at Golden Gate National Park, the Sentinel, and in Qwaqwa. Horse riding, mountain biking and 4x4 trails, game viewing excursions and other adventure activities are aplenty, while tented accommodation, rural cottages or bush camps add to the atmosphere of peace and tranquillity.
Nature Rich and diverse plant communities adorn the picturesque mountains in the east, the vast central plains, the rocky outcrops in the south, and the Acacia thornveld in the north west. Giraffe, zebra, lion, rhino, springbok, impala, buffalo, blesbok, black wildebeest, eland - and many more - inhabit the nature reserves, while small game such as steenbok, duiker, hare, jackal, mongoose, caracal, aardvark, aardwolf and monkeys are found throughout the province. Game also occur on farms, while the Willem Pretorius Game Reserve is home to a herd of buffalo as well as the largest herd of black wildebeest in the world.
The vibrant African culture - from traditional rural villages to townships with shebeens and taverns - has blended with the European culture to form a colourful people, who are eager to share their culture and history with visitors. Traditional Basotho huts decorate the Free State countryside: these made of reeds, wooden poles and grass, are finished off with mud and clay, and then decorated in colourful patterns and designs. In the Eastern Free State, the traditional Sotho way of life is depicted in the Basotho Cultural Village in Qwaqwa. Houses and mansions in the Victorian and Edwardian style, alongside early 1900s sandstone buildings reflect the lifestyle of the Europeans who settled here in the 18th century.
Share in the Free State's cultural heritage by visiting - museums in towns and cities, rural festivals, battlefields of the Basotho wars, the Anglo-Boer war and Voortrekker skirmishes, San rock art found in the spectacular sandstone cliffs of the eastern Free State, ancient ruins of tribes that previously inhabited the area.
