Mermaids in the Karoo

Posted Wed, 1 Apr 2009 (3 years ago)

Stories of fishtailed maidens have been told throughout the ages, with sailors, and people living in coastal villages,reporting sightings of these beauties that lure men to watery graves. Fair enough. But mermaids in the Karoo? Pull the other one...

Or maybe not...Local people in the Klein Karoo, South Africa's semi-arid central region, describe a beautiful woman with blue eyes, pink cheeks and a fish-tail - seen sitting at deep mountain pools, combing her long black hair.

Children are warned not to go near such places, in case the Water-meid or Water-auntie drags them in, and drowns them.

This ties in with San rock paintings on the walls of caves, high up in the Little Karoo mountains which have puzzled archaeologists for years. They show creatures with a round head, arms, and a fish tail…

Are these paintings of mermaids?
Does this mean the San people saw such creatures?
And could this be the origin of the stories people tell today?
Or is this just an April Fool's Day joke?

Tell us what you think...

13 Responses to Mermaids in the Karoo

It's the latter :P
but it's a good one though

By Galen (3 years ago)

Definitely a hoax!

By Ryan (3 years ago)

I think it must be true...otherwise how do you explain all the mermaids images etc in the Owl House. The inspiration must have come from somewhere and I've seen the rock art and that is definately no hoax

By bridget (3 years ago)

Sounds very interesting indeed. The mermaid has deep routes in psychoanalytic thinking...the San People continue to enrich us!

By terri (3 years ago)

Thanks for the comments!

The rest of the story will be revealed later today, so check back to see where we're going with this fishy tale :-)

By Joy (3 years ago)

according to me, as the khoisan are my roots and my ancestors,i strongly believe in what they would draw as they draw it as a reminder or as lack of cameras (technology), they always draw what they explore and what they want the next generation to see.

By kallie (3 years ago)

Perhaps I seem uneducated or trivial, but I have always believed these tales, I've always wanted to find the truth behind legends. The San are such an ancient people, one expects them to be enlightened an truthful? Their art sealed history in stone. I believe it is true. The strangest thing is, I am writing my debut fantasy novel on the Karoo mermaids, and I only came to know of this legend now that I am nearly done. Coincidence? Perhaps.

By Alexa (3 years ago)

Sounds very interesting I would like to go see if I can find her who know's what is hiding in the Karoo....

By Rob (3 years ago)

Sorry guys- read Erich von Daneken-Charit of the Gods, the san did not draw these paintings. If they did were they in france, australia, america, russia and all over the world these paintiongs can be found. So who did really draw them. Lets just say we don't know or that we have a theory about who executed these, some of which were done with superior artistry.I'm just saying let's not be too sure of ourselves that they are Bushman/San paintings.

By hilton (19 months ago)

The truth is: These mermaids DO exist. But not as a threedimenional being like us or any other mammal. They are territorial demons that can take any shape. They also manifest as large watersnakes. They usually demand sacrifice like any other deity or spirit. No big deal. They only manifest to people of a certain spiritual profile: eg. New Agers, Satanists, Atheists, the gullible and superstitious, etc...

By Gerrit (12 months ago)

Thank you for calling me gullible. I am a White Sangoma and we are part of the sect that are the Mermaids at least we were back in Atlantis. I spend all day every day healing people, thank heavens I'm gullible and worship Demons.

By T/Dr Makhosi Tshepo (6 months ago)

I continue to dream of these creature and i have no idea why. So thing very funny thats all i can say

By Nicole (6 months ago)

What I've heard growing up is that these things are close to the ancestors, that's y u can neva just see them n u have to be spirituali connected with the ancestors to see them, sangomas who train in the water see them n yes it can take any shape even a human or a plastic bag n they hate noise n disturbance. They are sacred n can cause havoc wen they angry.

By setch (8 weeks ago)