Ceres is surrounded by mountains. As you crest Michell’s Pass, a patchwork quilt of orchards, fields and dams unfurls. The Skurweberg, Waboom, Witzenberg and Hex River mountains all loom over this pastoral scene.
The fortress of mountains kept most people out of this fertile valley. Until 1848 that is, when Andrew Geddes Bain built Michell’s Pass through the Witzenberg. The first European settlers farmed with cattle and wheat, but these days you’ll see mostly pear, apple, peach, plum, apricot and cherry orchards. The town was named after Ceres, the Roman goddess of agriculture and fertility.
In winter the mountains are dusted with snow, but when photographer Shelley Christians and I visit in November, they’re shimmering in the heat. The Warm Bokkeveld is living up to its name. (The name “Bokkeveld”…
