Sep 21, 2026
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Tracing Your Boer Roots Travel Guide
Trace your Boer roots in the Netherlands. Afrikaners descend from Dutch VOC settlers who arrived at the Cape from 1652. Plan your heritage homecoming.
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Love Netherlands
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Dear Netherlands,
The Dutch have a word — gezellig — that doesn’t translate. It’s the feeling of a candle on a wet Tuesday. It’s a bar full of people who’ve known each other since school. It’s the brown café where the owner remembers your order and the rain outside makes the windows glow. You can’t chase it. You can only notice when it finds you.
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Photo: Photo by Tom Podmore on Unsplash
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In today’s email:
- From Table Mountain to Amsterdam: Tracing Your Boer Roots
- At The Café — Café De Sluyswacht — The Leaning House Bar by the Lock
- Around The Web — The Love Netherlands Guide № 005: Dutch Cycling Culture, Discover Your Dutch Roots in New Zealand: A Heritage Guide for Dutch-New Zealanders, Volendam Day Trip from Amsterdam: Your Complete 2026 Guide + more
- From Love Netherlands — How to Plan a Dutch Heritage Trip to Your Ancestral Town
- Dutch Food You Will Love — Erwtensoep — The Dutch Winter Soup That Made the Country
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From Table Mountain to Amsterdam: Tracing Your Boer Roots
👉 Read the full story
Your family has lived in South Africa for generations. Your surname is Van der Merwe, Botha, or De Klerk. Your grandparents spoke Afrikaans. You grew up with stories of the Voortrekkers, the Great Trek, and ancestors who farmed the veld far from any city. But before all of that, your family came from the Netherlands. Around three million Afrikaners descend directly from Dutch settlers who arrived at the Cape of Good Hope from 1652. The Dutch East India Company (VOC) brought workers, soldiers, and farmers to build a supply station between Europe and the East Indies. Many stayed. They married, had children, and created a new culture rooted in Dutch language, Dutch law, and Dutch faith. Their descendants are you. This guide helps Afrikaners and Boer descendants trace their roots back to the Netherlands, find the towns their ancestors left behind, and plan a deeply personal homecoming…
👉 Read the full story
Have you been there? Do you have a memory of this corner of the Netherlands? Hit reply and tell us — we’d love to hear your story.
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At The Café
Café De Sluyswacht — The Leaning House Bar by the Lock
De Sluyswacht is a tiny lock-keeper’s house from 1695 that visibly tilts to one side, sitting at the edge of the Oudeschans canal. Inside the floors slope, the beams creak, and there’s a small terrace right at the water with one of the most photographed views in Amsterdam — straight down the canal towards the Montelbaanstoren. It’s been a café since the 1990s, but the building itself is one of the oldest wooden houses in the city. Order a Belgian beer, get one of the four outdoor tables, and watch boats negotiate the lock below.
👉 Visit the café
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Around The Web
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From Love Netherlands
Your great-grandmother left a small Dutch town in the 1890s. She packed a single trunk and sailed to a new world. She never went back. You have her photograph. You have her name. You have the name of the town she left behind. Now you want to go. A Dutch heritage trip connects you with something larger than travel. You are not just visiting a country. You are returning to a place that shaped who you are. This guide walks you through every step —…
👉 Read the full story
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Photo via Love Netherlands
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Dutch Food You Will Love
Erwtensoep — The Dutch Winter Soup That Made the Country
Erwtensoep is a thick, green, nearly-a-stew soup made from split peas, smoked sausage, pork, celery, leek, and patience. The Dutch have a test for whether it’s ready — if your spoon can stand up in the pot, it’s done. It was the food of the canal skaters in winter, the men repairing dikes, the families waiting out a long January. It’s still served in every good café on cold days, with thick rye bread and butter. Order it once on a rainy afternoon and you’ll understand why the Dutch love their winters more than most countries love their summers.
👉 Read the full story
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Also From Our Family
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