Boland residents might have felt an extra chill in the air this past weekend, as the Matroosberg region was covered in more than 15cm of snow. Hundreds of cars could be seen making their way through Ceres to experience the novel weather.
Stellenbosch local, Candice Montzinger, and her husband were one of many families to make the 90 minute journey so that their children could experience snow for the first time.
“We made the trip for our daughter,” Montzinger said. “She wanted a white Christmas – she’s never had one! We’re having a lovely time.”
A touring group from Saudi Arabia proudly stand around their snowman. The group displayed immense excitement about the snowman they had built. PHOTO: Cally Ballack
“I’ve never played in snow, only seen it on the mountains,” her daughter added, quickly returning to the construction of her “giant” snowman.
Didi De Kock, owner of the Matroosberg Nature Reserve, spoke about the sheer volume of people who commute in from as far as Cape Town to see the snow.
“We were extremely busy yesterday [Sunday] because the snow was still falling – we had thousands of people coming in. I was on Facebook and Instagram the whole of Saturday night until 4:45 AM Sunday morning to answer everybody’s questions.”
One of many families trying their hand at “building a snowman”. Rest assured, many Frozen puns were thrown around. PHOTO: Kyra Tarr
When questioned about the safety of the animals under her care, De Kock has the following to say:
“With young animals we have to put them under cover because they don’t have enough body fat to keep warm. The horses stay in the stables and our domestic animals sleep inside. All the livestock also stay under cover.”
Whilst there were no incidents of injury or traffic mishap, De Kock did recount a story illustrating the extent of the cold.
Cars line the road leading up to the Matroosberg Nature Reserve. There were no incidents reported on the road, and everybody was able to safely enjoy the day out. PHOTO: Cally Ballack
“The temperatures dropped very fast yesterday and we had a couple of vehicles where the diesel actually froze in the filters. The cars just couldn’t go! It was a first for us,” she laughingly commented.
Among the happy scenes of families playing in the snow, one could bear witness to the camaraderie of strangers coming together for the first time in a shared enthusiasm for the weather.
Whilst the Matroosberg region is no stranger to icy weather, Henno Smit (21), a final year student at the IMM School of Marketing drew attention to the unusual depth and quality of the snowfall.
“I’ve never experienced snow like this in the Western Cape before, it seems like something out of Europe. The drive to witness this was so worth it,” he said with a big smile.
– Kyra Tarr and Cally Ballack
Watch here to view individuals enjoying the snow day: