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More information and photographs for this page will be posted shortly HOW TO GET THERE (GPS: 32 47S 21 59E) On the main N1 route, just south of Beaufort West. HISTORY This was a popular stop for travellers to the north as it was one of few places along the way with drinkable water. Development saw the construction of a General Dealer store nearby while the settlement's first church and school were built in 1896. A hotel followed in 1898. Many troops passed here during the Boer War. At one time the hotel and a number of other buildings were used as Hospital by the British forces. After the war houses were constructed, but on the other side of the railway line due to the hotel owner not permitting development near his establishment. The last of the now extinct Cape Lion is thought to have been shot at Leeu Gamka in 1842. The current National Rd (N1) also pass outside the town which have reduced the town to little more than a name on a travellers map. ORIGINS OF THE NAME Originally known as "Bitter Water" and when the railway line was constructed in 1879, it was officially named Fraserburg Road. By 1950 the name was changed to the present Leeu Gamka, the names of the 2 rivers that pass by the town (both Leeu and Gamka translate to Lion). POPULATION 500 PLACES OF INTEREST War Graves Fossil sites. WHAT TO DO AND SEE Walking Trails 4x4 Trails ACCOMMODATION TOURISM OFFICE NEIGHBOURING TOWNS Laingsburg 123km Beaufort West 75km Prince Albert Road 39km Fraserburg 114km |
