Often mentioned in the same breath as Nieu Bethesda, the Owl House is one of the primary reasons why visitors stray off the N9 National Road past the Karoo town of Graaff-Reinet. At a glance, the shuttered home might appear like many others in the region, but then you notice the arch leading into the Camel Yard, and the many cement owls with glass bottle eyes that hold vigil on the boundary.

Weird to some, wonderful to others, the Owl House is a work of outsider art created by Helen Martins between 1945 and 1976. Driven to despair by the dullness of her daily life, she took steps to transform her world with light, colour and texture.

Entry costs R50 per person for adults and kids and R65 for a combo ticket for the Owl House and the Kitching Fossil Centre