Mountain Passes News
Time Flies!
* On the Eastern Front
* The winter of all winters
* Technical Corner
* Kouga-Baviaans Tour (Prologue)
* 2025 Calendar to be released soon
* Featured Pass
Another AI Chat About This Week’s News!
Listen to an AI-generated discussion of this week's newsletter.
On the Eastern Front:
There has been a lot of negative news coming out of the Eastern Cape and the Transkei in particular. One very unfortunate (preventable) kidnapping in Mthatha and a faction fight near Lusikisiki which left 18 dead. The predictable knee jerk reaction and sensationalist journalism on social media has resulted in a spate of holiday cancellations and property sales. Our commiserations to all the folk in the hospitality industry who have to take yet another knock after five tough years, pre-empted by the Covid pandemic.
Many did not survive the financial losses and most have still not recovered fully. But there is always a positive side with the news that the Mazeppa Bay Hotel, which has long been a classic tourism destination, has been sold. The new owners plan on having it up and running by November.
Two years ago there was a similar set of incidents. Taxi violence in Port St Johns left 11 dead and 22 people died near Majola Tea Estates as a result of faction fighting. There was the same knee jerk reaction. We had a Wild Coast Tour starting a month after that first incident happened and decided to amend our routing (which normally traverses Majola) as a safety precaution. Six months later we reverted to our original route on the next tour and all was peaceful and quiet.
The saying goes that 'Man is a seven day wonder' and in a week or two all this bad news will be forgotten as we carry on with our lives. A young white woman alone in a Toyota Fortuner filling up in Mthatha is a singularly bad idea. She was a soft target. Now you all know.
The winter of all winters:
Just when we thought spring had sprung, a particularly nasty weather system moved in over large parts of South Africa. Van Reenen's Pass saw dozens of vehicles stranded in the snow. Rescue and recovery operations went on for days. Many people were forced to spend up to 14 hours in their vehicles before rescue services were able to get to them. One person died.
Lesotho received another huge dollop of snow as did the Drakensberg and most mountain ranges all the way west to the Cederberg received good snowfall. It's been a very cold and wet winter. Long cold winters result in exceptional wildflower displays. Namaqualand delivered the goods and tourisrs from around the world have anjoyed the 'greatest floral show on earth'
Technical Corner:
Driving in soft sand
- A variety of conditions may co-exist - Learn to recognise surface conditions.
- Beware of “wet sand”. These areas can seem bottomless and usually require assistance from other vehicles with a winch to extricate.
- If unsure carry out surveying of the area on foot.
- Engage high ratio 4wd for long beach runs on hard sand. Engage low ratio 4wd for soft sand and dunes to avoid overheating transmission.
- Avoid sharp turns and wheel spin.
- Utilise speed for controlled momentum.
- Keep gear changes to a minimum – Normally choose a gear and stay in it to avoid baulking.
- Low tyre pressures are highly recommended.
- If it becomes necessary to stop on soft sand, try to choose an area that allows a down hill restart.
- To get re-started on flat, soft, dry sand. Reverse 1-2 metres and form hard sand ramps so as to get a good starting speed before hitting soft sand again.
- To ascend a sand hill, utilise controlled momentum. If you fail to ascend, back down the same wheel tracks far enough to allow a faster approach up the same wheel tracks.
To descend, keep vertical to the sand hill/descent and avoid brakes. Accelerate gently if necessary, to aid descent.
Beach sand is totally different to the sand you find in the desert. Much of it tends to be much coarser in grain texture and therefore can at time be more forgiving that the desert sand that runs like water. Of course, being close to the sea it can also be damp, wet, extremely wet or waterlogged. It can also be dry, gravelly and have the odd rock thrown in for good measure.
Away from the water’s edge you will often find dunes, some with vegetation, some without and in certain areas around the world you will find larger dunes, similar to the ones you find in the desert. While those dunes look similar and do have some of the same features, they are very different. We’ll come to that later but only touch on them briefly as “real” desert driving needs lots of space for discussion on techniques.
In South Africa, driving on a beach is a rare event and illegal almost everywhere, but not so in Namibia and Mozambique.
Viva la Difference!
* Late snowfalls
* Signs of the times
* 2025 calendar
* Alwyn Vincent - the tug that can.
* Featured Pass
AI Chat About This Week’s News!
Listen to an AI-generated discussion of this week's newsletter.
Late Snowfalls
The winter of 2024 has been a humdinger with more snow that I can remember in decades, not to mention huge amounts of rain that fell over the Western Cape, Garden Route and Eastern Cape. Port Elizabeth's looming "Day Zero" water crises has been averted, but the cost of damage to infratructure has been heavy.
Many damaged roads and bridges have yet to be repaired. We refilmed the Franschhoek Pass a few weeks ago with our new GoPro 12 Black, supported by drone footage and were left gobsmacked at the level of damage to the pass. It's going to take time to get the damaged sections repaired. There are about nine self-policed stop-go's in place and authorities have put a 5 ton mass limit in place. This was completely ignored on the day we traversed the pass as the N2 was closed at Grabouw due to protest action, which meant all the normal trafiic on the N2 routed via the pass, which included large pantechnicons. No traffic officials were anywhere to be seen.
2025 Tours Calendar
We have begun work on the task of producing our 2025 calendar. The office walls are adorned with huge spreadsheets as we study the jigsaw puzzle of school holidays, public holidays, Easter and special events that we need to take into consideration (eg the Sardine Run attracts thousands of visitors to the Wild Coast and KZN which makes it nigh impossible to find accommodation for our tour groups).
All tasks begin by taking the first step, so we are already making progress. We have some innovative ideas being introduced in 2025. All will be revealed in a few week's time when we publish it. On our most popular tours (Lesotho, Wild Coast, Swartberg and Ben 10) we will be offering two tours running back to back with a two day gap between them. We have some new guides joining the MPSA team who are currently receiving training and who knows, might even be better than the grand master?!
Included in 2025 is a planned tour of the Cederberg and we are reinventing our popular Seven Sisters Tour with fresh destinations to replace the tour of the Huguenot service tunnel which is no longer available to us.
The Katberg Tour was very successful and we have a lot of interest in the 2025 version, which will also be a double up tour (back to back) to meet the demand.
Betwixt & Between
* Round up
* Silver River Pass - Good News!
* Tech Corner
* Swartberg Tour - Day 3
* Featured Pass
ROUND UP
It's been a relentless winter for the Capies with several frontal systems lashing the Cape week after week. The latest one has produced low level snow over large parts of South Africa and Table Mountain is white with snow. Damage to infrastructure has been piling up, with local government focusing on the more important routes. At the time of writing this newsletter reports are flooding in of widespread low-level snow from many areas around South Africa and Lesotho.
The Western Cape has been grappling with severe weather conditions recently, leading to widespread disruptions. Heavy rains and strong winds have caused flooding in several areas, impacting homes and infrastructure. Emergency services are on high alert, working tirelessly to assist those affected and mitigate further damage. Local authorities are urging residents to stay informed and heed safety warnings. As the region faces these challenges, community support remains crucial. Weather forecasts suggest more adverse conditions may be on the horizon, prompting ongoing vigilance.
SILVER RIVER PASS - GOOD NEWS!
That brings me to Montagu Pass and The Silver River Pass. The latter is finally receiving some attention with an on-site visit by a government official. Promises have been made that the landslide damage to the pass will take place at "some point in the future". This comes after lobbying by pressure groups from Wilderness, who use the road to commute to George. For the past year the authorities have turned a blind eye, stating simply that the pass will 'remain closed indefinitely'.
It's a small step forward getting a commitment of intent. I often wonder if government officials have any comprehension of the value of tourism. Both the Kaaimansgat and Silver River bridges are national monuments and form part of the Seven Passes Road, a perennial favourite amongst tourists and locals alike. We drove the route yesterday and found almost no traffic on the entire route.
The jury is still out on George's #1 tourist attraction - the Montagu Pass, which remains closed to all traffic, including motorcycles, cycles and walkers. Before Montagu Pass grabbed the #1 spot, it used to belong the Outeniqua Choo-Choo - a magnificent coastal rail trip that wowed visitors for many decades, until floods caused such severe damage to the track, that the government said it was no longer viable to keep the service running. That's a bit like Paris saying the Eiffel Tower costs too much to maintain.
One of the issues with the Montagu Pass is that three government agencies have to agree on the process of repairs. Municipal, Provincial and National Monuments Council. There is a lot of red tape involved, with the repair crews saying they don't have the skills to repair the pass to the standards demanded by the NMC. And so they all go round in circles.
The three weeks that were!
* Swartberg Tour Day 2
* Quick recap
* Technical Corner
* Grabouw Novice Training Day
* History: Murder at Houdenbek
* Mountain Kingdom Tour - Day 7
* Featured Pass
Swartberg Tour Day 2
We assembled the convoy after breakfast at Rooiberg Lodge after more overnight rain and another day of gale force winds from the west. We would be driving into the teeth of that storm for at least half the day. An interesting observation is that we arrived at Bosch Luys Kloof Lodge two hours ahead of schedule. This was due to the fact that being outside the vehicles was unpleasant and very cold, so our comfort breaks were very brief!
We departed Rooiberg Lodge at 0900 with our convoy back up to full strength with our oldest guest Shane Hewitt (83) and his wife, Welma, having arrived the previous afternoon after electrical problems with their beloved Land Discovery 1. Our route first went east, up the narrow and steep Assegaaibosch Pass and from there up the Rooiberg Pass where we paused for photos at the Gebedstapel (Prayer Cairn). It was chilly and exposed at the summit point, but the views were crystal clear.
The Rooiberg Pass was in good condition as we made good progress down the northern side and on to Calitzdorp, from where we turned west and into that gale force wind along the R62. The two single ladies in their Jimnys were having a lot of fun trying to keep their steeds on the road. We drove the Huisrivier Pass and refuelled in Ladismith, deciding to exclude the Hoekoe Valley loop due to excesive mud.
From there our route followed the southern side of the Swartberg range for some distance as we graced the Karoo gravel roads traversing a string of small passes and poorts, which included the Outol Pass, Klein Swartberg Pass, Volstruisnek, Wasbank Pass and Perdefonteinkloof Pass, before connecting with the R323 at the Witnekke Pass, where we finally could get some benefit from the strong wind, as we headed east through the beautiful farming valley of the Rietvlei and Moondance farms.
The brief stretch of smooth tar gave way to gravel once more as we cruised up the Koueveld Pass, where two waterfalls were putting on a nice show for us. Cameras clicked and we promptly arrived at the intersection of the R323 and R407, having climbed over the 1000m altitude level. We took the left hand fork and drove through huge fields of onions that were soggy and wet from the recent heavy rains.
We had not had any rain on that day, but there was heavy rain in the forecast. Bosluiskloof Pass is always a favourite amongst our guests as we slowly dropped down towards the lodge at the bottom of the valley. Evidence of recent roadworks indicated that the management of Bosch Luys Kloof Lodge had been hard at work, ensuring the road was in a driveable condition.
The fortnight that was...
* More wild weather
* Swartberg Tour - Overview
* Technical Corner
* Katberg Tour - Day 5
* Mountain Kingdom Tour - Day 6
* Featured Pass
More wild weather
Lots of snow has fallen all over South Africa, bringing icy temperatures to the Free State, Gauteng and Mpumalanga, but spare a thought for Capetonians who have had to endure a huge amount of rain. The main storage dam, Theewaterskloof, rose from 68% to over 100% in the space of 10 days. Mopping up operations continue at the time of writing, with many roads having been damaged with homes and orchards flooded.
The topography of Cape Town is something of a paradox, where a large flat area is surrounded by tall mountains. When large volumes of rain fall, the low lying areas tend to flood quite easily. The N1 highway near Wingfield / Century City has two lanes closed due to flooding, which has caused long traffic delays. (See leading photo)
Meanwhile, yet another frontal system is scheduled to make landfall this coming weekend. It's a case of battening down the hatches once again as we have a level 5 flood warning.
Swartberg Tour - Day 1
We have always run this tour in July in the hopes of experiencing some snow driving. All the tours have turned into very pleasant weather tours, but the 2024 version 7 was another story altogether. Our tours take place regardless of the weather. Our planning was all in vain, as the tour coincided with the arrival of a South Atlantic cyclone, bringing with it storm level winds in excess of 50 knots, torrential rain and snow above the 1000m mark.
The biggest issue we had to cope with was the wind. It blew incessantly for five days, before finally calming down, allowing us a calm day on the last day. The net effect was that our usual chatty roadside stops, were cut very short as no-one wanted to stand around in the gale force winds, but the positive spin on that was that we made up many hours on our travel times, arriving well ahead of schedule on all, except the final day; but we'll tell you about that soon enough.
Our group gathered at the Rooiberg Lodge near Vanwyksdorp on Sunday, 8th July with all vehicles being mud splattered before the tour even started. Mud would be our companion for the rest of the tour. As we say: "Always look on the brighter side of life - at least there will be no dust"
One of our guests, 84 year old Shane Hewitt from George, sent a message to the lodge advising that he had problems starting his Land Rover and would only arrive the following day, if repairs could be timeously effected.
The warm fires and cosy pub in the main lodge soon got the group into a convival mood. The drivers briefing was held in the (cold) conference room, where the formalities were dealt with, indemnities signed and tour folders handed out. As always Rooiberg Lodge pulled out all the stops and served a delicous three course dinner, whilst guests sampled the red wines. Boplaas proved to be a popular choice!
In abstentia
* Swartberg Tour
* Lesotho Part 6
* Technical Corner
* Katberg Tour Day 4
* Featured Pass
SWARTBERG TOUR
By the time you read this newsletter we will be deep in the heart of the Swartberg taking another group of adventurous guests through the many treasures the Swartberg has to offer. Today we have a big day, driving from complete isolation at Bosch Luys Kloof via the Bosluiskloof Pass, Seweweekspoort, following the back roads to the Cango Caves and on to De Rust, followed by Meiringspoort and a timeous arrival at Prince Albert for an evening of fine dining at the Mont D'Or Swartberg Hotel.
Backtrack six days as we are preparing for the tour and a major weather system is moving in from the Atlantic with gale force winds (110 kph!), heavy rain and snow over all the high lying areas of South Africa. We've been anticipating snow on this tour for many years, but it's never happened. Maybe this will be the one? Guests have been advised to pack blankets and beanies. It's going to be cold.
We will give a blow by blow report on our return.
LESOTHO - PART 6
We arrived at Thaba Bosiu Cultural Village with time to spare and headed off to visit Kome Caves, which is about 35 km away. The Kome Caves are a group of cave dwellings made out of mud in the district of Berea, Lesotho 25 km east of Teyateyaneng. The caves are still inhabited by the descendants of the original people who built the caves. The site has been classified as a National Heritage Site.
The Kome Cave Dwellings were built and protected by Chief Teleka of The Basia (cat) Clan in the early 19th century. The main purpose for the cave dwellings was to serve as a hideout from adversaries during the drought in the late 18th century. The name of Ha Kome comes from the Kome family in the Basia tribe, the first inhabitants of the cave.
While their exact history is unknown, the current inhabitants are descended from Basia tribesmen and women who first made the overhang home in the late 1800s.
The Mefcane (“the Crushing”) was a period of intense socio-political unrest during the 1820s and 30s throughout southern Africa, defined by widespread drought, forced migration, and inter-tribal warfare. To flee the ongoing violence, the Basia began using the overhang as a hideout at some point in the late 1800s, though trademark cave paintings indicate San Bushmen dwelt there even earlier.
In time, the Basia came to build homes out of mud, which have been continuously occupied since then. Today, several families who live in these dwellings welcome visitors into their homes. The huts look like igloos, with a low tunnel like entrance and no windows.
What's up Doc?
* Hello Summer?
* Tours & Trips
* Lesotho Tour Part 5
* Technical
* Katberg Tour Part 2
* Featured Pass
HELLO SUMMER?
With the shortest day of the year behind us, we can look forward to small increments of additional sunlight as we slowly move into the second part of the winter. From a Cape Town perspective it's been a very mild winter so far and not nearly enough rain has fallen. Local dams are standing at an average of 68% compared to the same time last year at 84%. The second half of winter is almost always more severe than the first half in the Western Cape, whereas upcountry, things tend to be the opposite.
The southern parts of the Western Cape, the Little Karoo and parts of the coastal belt of the Eastern Cape took a walloping in June with lots of infrastructure damage. Most of the roads have been either partially or fully reopened to traffic - and just in time for our Swartberg Tour which starts on 7th July.
In the grip of a 5 year financial winter is the Tiffindell Ski Resort. All the legal wrangles have finally been tied up and the property is officially up for sale. It will be interesting to see how the next Tiffindell chapter unfolds and whether The Ben MacDhui Pass will ever be driven again.
TOURS & TRIPS
We have been inundated with inquiries for our 2025 Katberg Tour. It seems we hit the sweet spot with this inaugural version. Half of the places have already been pre-booked.
We've had a cancellation for our 11th August Grabouw 4x4 Novice Training Day. Book here.
We are looking to grow our tour offerings in 2025 by engaging other guides to help with the workload, so next year we plan on doubling the number of tours. This will also allow me to explore and create new tours (like the Katberg Tour). More news on this development when its cast in concrete.
KATBERG TOUR - PART 2
Our route followed the Fish Tunnel for a while before branching off to the west, following a quiet dirt road up the northern flank of the Waainek Pass. This was a delightful drive with some nice technical bits thrown in to keep the adrenaline flowing. We passed the main farmhouse near the summit, then faced the very long descent down to the coastal plateau at Somerset East.
Mid Winter Edition
* Wild weather
* Sold Out
* Katberg Tour Report Back
* Kraai me a river
* Lesotho Tour - Part 4
* Wild Coast (It's a wrap)
* Featured Pass
Wild Winter Weather
A severe cold front combined with a cut-off low pressure system ravaged the Northern, Western and Eastern Cape areas over a vast area, causing floods and damage to infrastructure. It also happened to coincide exactly with the start of our Katberg Tour. Upon reflection we were fortunate in a way, as the worst of the storm burned itself out whilst we were in the relative safety of the Mountain Zebra National Park. We will cover that in more detail elsewhere in this newsletter.
Oudtshoorn and De Rust took a beating, with a chunk of the main road washed away. Meiringspoort also sustained serious damage and remains closed at time of writing. As it's a main trunk route, authorities are already hard at work effecting repairs. More news as we get it.
This morning the MPSA website was down for about an hour, due to our server (Xneelo) having done a systems upgrade. They omitted to update the security certificate resulting in our site being down for abour 30 minutes. Our long standing IT partner New Web Consulting in Cape Town, jumped right in and got the problem resolved in double quick time. That was the first time in 13 years that the site has been down.
Sold Out
All our tours and training days are now fully booked, but we do take options on cancellations - just send us an email to
Despite the cold nights, we find winter a really good time to run tours. The days are normally sunny and calm with crystal clear skies. Being inside a vehicle allows for comfortable touring without it being too hot. Then there are the crystal clear skies devoid of the haziness so prevalent in summer. Both our mid-winter tour offerings are proving to be very popular.
Katberg Tour
We most certainly had some challenges during this tour which included illegally locked gates, lots of rain, one incapacitated vehicle and credit cards that wouldn't work. We'll get into the details over the next few episodes to bring this tour to life in words and pictures. It's fascinating that when the chips are down, the group stands together as one, ensuring a successful outcome. This was most certainly the case on this tour, when there were a few tears shed at the farewell function.
Day 1 - We gathered at the Mountain Zebra National Park near Cradock on Monday 3rd June just ahead of the storm system. We got all the radios installed before the deluge began. SANPARKS allowed us to use their conference room, which they kindly warmed up to 30 C which was a bit of a shock after the 10 degrees outside.
We knew the next day was going to be very wet with a forecast of rain the entire day and throughout the night. We made an early call with knowledge from the MZNP rangers that all the 4x4 routes had been closed and declared the first day to be a free day, where guests could choose to do as they pleased. After a hearty dinner, it was a case of getting an early night and as the chalets all have fireplaces, the parks board shop ran out of firewood fairly quickly.
Cast your vote!
* Voting done and dusted.
* Tours Updates
* Lesotho (Part 3)
* Technical / Engineering
* Wild Coast (Collywobbles)
* Featured Pass
General Election 2024
The voting is over. Now we wait for the results. I have always been quite impressed with the IEC organization of elections, but this year they fell woefully short. They have had four years to prepare and no less than 8 previous elections to have learned from. How is it possible to stuff things up on such a royal scale?! You only had one job!
Tours Updates:
All the tours for the rest of 2024 are fully booked. We only have two tickets open for the Grabouw Training Day (11th August).
Lesotho (Part 3)
We had rain forecast (again) for the second day on tour and departed from Oxbow Lodge punctually in low cloud, heading for the infamous Moteng Pass. Personally this pass holds tons of allure for me for its raw energy, tortuous bends and dramatic scenery. I would rank as my number one tarred pass in SA & Lesotho.
Just after leaving Oxbow Lodge, we noticed a lovely thatched lodge being built close to the same river that Oxbow Lodge is built next to. We were informed that the government had ordered the builders to stop building, as the waters of the new Polihali Dam would be too close to the lodge. It will be interesting to see what the final outcome is.
The climb up to the summit of the Moteng Pass was no problem, but when we reached the spacious view site, we found several trucks occupying the space. We managed to wriggle our vehicles in between the trucks to enjoy the lofty views. Speaking to some of the truck drivers, we established that an abnormal load truck was stuck further down the pass and that only small vehicles could squeeze past.
Trucks breaking down on the pass is regular occurence. We descended slowly taking in all the drama as we lost altitude. We could see stationary trucks lined up for many kilometres down the valley.
The Merry Month of May
* Out & About
* Tours Update
* Lesotho (Part 2)
* Local History
* Wild Coast Day 9
* Technical Topics
* Pass of the Fortnight
OUT & ABOUT
On a recent trip between Swellendam and Knysna, we counted 14 stop-gos over a distance of 145 km. Whilst it affects fuel consumption negatively, the traffic was managed efficiently and our ETA remained on track. It's great to see our roads being maintained. More please! We will happily live with the stop-gos.
TOURS UPDATE
June: The inaugural Katberg Tour remains fully booked. We are looking forward to this one - smack bang in the middle of winter.
July (7 to 13) Swartberg Tour: We have had a cancellation, so there's one ticket up for grabs.
August 11th Grabouw Training Day. There are two tickets left. This is a perfect way to brush up on your offroad driving skills or as a novice to discover your vehicles capabilities in a natural trail environment.
October (23 to 28): Kouga-Baviaans Tour. There is one place available.
November: Wild Coast Tour - Fully booked
December (1 to 7) Ben 10 Eco Challenge. There is one place available
LESOTHO V2 & V3 TOURS (Part 2)
The A1 road is taking strain with the volume of heavy construction vehicles that are plying back and forth to the Polihali Dam construction site. A large number of deep potholes have taken a foothold, so driving has become a sort of hit and miss story with trucks, buses and cars dodging the hazards and often appearing on the wrong side of the road. After a while we all got the hang of things and moderated our driving style to match the locals.
We passed the (unsightly) ore dumps of the highly profitable Letsing Diamond Mine. Apparently diamonds processed from the mine are transported away by helicopter as a security measure. The Letsing Mine marks the start of the Tlaeeng Pass. This is the big daddy of the Lesotho passes in terms of altitude. It tops out at a lung wheezing 3275m, but the pass itself doesn't hold the allure of Moteng or Mafika Lisiu in terms of scenery and dramatic driving conditions. The pass ends at the crossing of the Matsoku River, which sources at Mont-Aux-Sources close to the RSA/Lesotho border.
The next pass, which is the Pass of Guns starts immediatey after the bridge and ascends up the Mahlasela Hill (3220m). The Pass of Guns dates back to the previous century when a skirmish took place here to prevent invaders from gaining access beyond the hill.
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