Science Forums 2

[Boerseun]

In South Africa, too! True story!

They found this place in the Cape Mountains in the 60s, and found the weirdest inbred people staying there, speaking some form of Dutch never before encountered! Turns out these guys quit the Cape Colony in the 1800's to escape the British, and they ended up in this valley surrounded by harsh cliffs. They could get their wagons in, but not out again, and those few brave sould who made it out on their own either died, or never came back. This place was like in completely off the map, in the middle of nowhere!

So the government decided to build a road there, seeing as there's people staying there! And the moment the road was built, everybody in "The Hell" packed up and left. That was what they were waiting for for close on 200 years. So now you can still go and visit "The Hell", driving on a dangerous mountain pass that can take only one vehicle in one direction at a time for about 60kms - you have to radio to find out if there's anybody there. It's happened a few times that two cars filled with tourists meet mid-way, and someone has to reverse for 30kms! And the valley is still filled with their houses (now empty, obviously) and farm sheds and tools and stuff - but the inbred freaks moved out and disappeared. They're probably living in some other valley now!

Think about it - the last these guys saw of the world was in the early 1800's, and for years they saw these funny things fly over their valley - they missed the invention of electricity, the airplane, cars, all of those things! They were plunged into society from 1800 to 1960 overnight! That must have been one hell of a shock!