Bloemfontein is one of those less obvious places, like a diamond hidden in blue ground.  Everybody has driven past this most central city in South Africa, plumb in the middle of a vast flat plain of mielies.  But a closer investigation can deliver unexpected riches.  In fact, a steady stream of connoisseurs makes its way to Bloemfontein, all for the less obvious reasons.

Bloemfontein is Big Sky country – a brilliant blue parade ground for ranks of towering thunderclouds in summer.  People go to Bloemfontein for its skies.  Firstly they might want to criss-cross it, as in gliding or flying.  Or they might want to fall out of it, as in parachuting (the Tempe military base is the home of the SA army’s parachute battalion).  Or they might want to watch it at night – the internationally-acclaimed Boyden’s Observatory used to be right in the middle of town on Naval Hill until the growing city lights forced a move to the outskirts.  The original observatory is now a theatre and restaurant, with – naturally – a heavenly view.  Bringing the view down to earth a little, the next striking feature of Bloem is, of course, the flowers, particularly roses (unusual in such an otherwise arid zone).  The steady supply of water from Bloemfontein’s famous spring, along with the hot rainy summers and cold dry winters, means that Bloemfontein is heaven on earth for roses.  The most magnificent gardens flourish year-round, and in the autumn veldt the roadsides are carpeted with the marshmallow-hued cosmos flowers. Many people come to the city for its superb schools and excellent hospitals.  Even though this does not make a tourism industry, it creates a demand for accommodation and eating establishments, with the happy result that the City of Roses has many excellent hostelries and recreational facilities. The best of these is the Oliewenhuis, named for its wild olive trees.  The gracious Cape Dutch homestead, built in 1941 as a residence for visiting Heads of State, has been converted into a conference centre and art gallery.  The children can run wild in the sculpture park while the adults enjoy live jazz (played on the Terrace every other Sunday).  There’s a wistful romance attached to this house – during the state visit by King George, his queen and his two daughters in 1947, Princess Elizabeth received the telegram from the British Cabinet that gave the approval for her marriage to Prince Philip of Greece. Even Bloemfontein’s cemetery is livelier than expected.  A Dutch tourist discovered the final resting place of a certain James Bond, who seems to have eluded the clutches of myriad international villains in order to find peace in Bloemfontein.  Whether this particular James Bond had any link at all with Ian Fleming’s mythical spy is a thought to be stirred, not shaken.  There’s the gravestone of Arthur Tolkein, the father of JRR Tolkein, iconic author of The Lord of the Rings.  Tolkein senior emigrated here from Birmingham, and became manager of the Bank of Africa.  Young John was born in the city and christened in the Anglican Cathedral with the astonishingly ornate glass windows.  Even though a local society calls itself the Haradrim, after Tolkein’s tall dark southern people who ride elephants, and the best guest house in Bloemfontein is called the Hobbit House, it is unlikely that Tolkien remembered much more about Bloemfontein than the thorn trees of the veld, as he left South Africa at the age of three. There’s also the grave of that famous nooi-van-my-hart, Sarie Marais.  Sarie Marais was a real person, and there were several of her.  However, it is widely accepted that the Bloemfontein Sarie Marais is the one about whom the Boer soldiers sang during the second Anglo-Boer War.  The song has become famous all over the world as a parade-ground tune, was mistakenly played at the 1930 Olympic Games as South Africa’s national anthem, and has become the regimental march for the Royal Marine Commandos.  Another reminder of the Anglo-Boer War is the National Women’s Memorial and Museum nearby - a poignant testimony to the grim toll taken of the Afrikaner nation’s women and children in Kitchener’s concentration camps.   It is possibly the most bitter remnant of the war and still has a deeply divisive effect on Afrikaans and English-speaking South Africans. From recent to ancient graves – north-west of Bloemfontein is the Florisbad Research Station, where anthropologists gather in great numbers to study the fossils around the hot springs of Florisbad.  There is even a sub-genus called Florisbad Man, which is regarded as similar, yet distinct from other early human finds. For people with an interest in more modern mammals, the Soetdoring Nature Reserve has a wide variety of animals and a large serene dam with fishing and boating.  However, for picnics the population of Bloemfontein flock to Maselspoort, a green and pleasant park and recreation area on the Modder River.  The modern city of Bloemfontein reflects its steady, if humdrum, history.  It has never seen war and has never been blighted by sudden riches.  The huge spring that formed its first attraction was called Mangaung (the place of the leopards).  In 1846 it became a staging post to the vast interior, guarded by a British fort.  But it was too much trouble for colonial authorities and in 1854 the Orange Free State was solemnly declared an independent state – and bemused little Bloemfontein took its place among the world’s capitals.  It has dozed its way through steady prosperity ever since. The best way to view the capital of the former Republic of the Free State is from Naval Hill.  It is the highest point of the city – which isn’t saying much – but at least the attractions of this pleasant place are laid out before your feet, and the City of Roses slumbers under its huge and heavenly skies.