Middelburg - Fort Merensky / Botshabelo Open-Air Museum

8km/5mi north of Middelburg on R 35 a road goes off to Fort Merensky (5km/3mi). The origins of the fort go back to 1865, when Alexander Merensky settled here, charged by the Berlin Missionary Society to establish Botshabelo mission station. The name Botshabelo means ''place of refuge''. The fort was built by Sotho workmen and shows an interesting mix of African and European ideas. The fort, along with other mission buildings and a Ndebele village, is now an open-air museum.

The museum is the starting-point of a number of waymarked hiking trails. Walkers on the Botshabelo Trail (3 hours) are likely to encounter baboons, antelopes and gazelles. The Klein Aasvoelkrans Trail takes 6 hours, the Baboon Trail 8 hours.