Pass of the Week
This week we put our focus on the magnificent Baviaanskloof and more specifically on one of it's two major poorts. The name Studtis goes far back into the kloof's history - all the way to 1817. Genealogy searches reveal the name to originate from the 1820 Settlers, which we assume were mostly British, but further research indicates the name to be spelt without the 's' on the end - 'Studti' and the added 's' was no doubt with an apostrophe - hence Studti's Poort, which switches the origin to German and somewhere along the line, the apostrophe was dropped, with grammar not being the main life focus in the Baviaanskloof!
One of the first farms to be registered in the western Baviaanskloof was Kamerkloof in 1817. Farmers reached the kloof by means of a handmade ‘ossewa’ trail from the western side of the kloof. Between 1880 and 1890 Thomas Bain built the Nuwekloof Pass giving entry to this unique valley. The farm played host to the first police station in the Baviaanskloof and today the original goal and the old tobacco drying shed can still be visited at Kamerkloof. More lower down...
January Photographic Competition
Entries are streaming in for our new photo contest. Submit your best (only 1 please) photo to us and stand a chance to win a 1 year subscription to MPSA.
The rules are simple. The subject matter must be South African. Only original photos will be considered and must be taken by yourself or a family member. Photos should be submitted in their original size and can be B&W or colour. Add a short explanation of where the photo was taken so we can caption it.
We'll put your name up in lights and publish the winning photo on our FaceBook page where it will be seen by up to 60,000 people. Entries close on 31st January. Submit your photos to
Crime in the valley
The new Studtis police station is incongruously out of place - in a modern rectangular set of buildings set just off the R332 about halfway between Kamerkloof and Zandvlakte. This station is unique in that it controls the largest patrol area in South Africa, but the flipside of that coin is that it also has the lowest crime rate. Life trickles by in the vastness of the kloof and the people all seem to get along well - a shining example to the rest of South Africa. When we filmed the poort in December we were stopped in a roadblock by the Studtis SAPS unit and driver's licence and vehicle registration documents were checked. We were most surprised to experience this in the heart of the kloof, and after chatting to the two respectful young officers, we were informed (after inquiring) that the flow of traffic on that Friday afternoon was 4 vehicles per hour. That more or less describes rush hour in the Baviaanskloof!
After Transnet ceased operating their bus service, locals have reverted back to the use of donkey carts / Photo: Trygve Roberts
The oddly named 'Babe se Winkel' is a true country trading station. You'll find it just after exiting the eastern end of Studtis Poort. It doubles as a small tea-room and a post office and you can't miss it as it's painted turquoise!. Inside the shop you can gawp at the displays of zinc tubs, gumboots, bicycle parts, home made breads, jams and preserved fruit. Try it - it's a true olde world experience and more than likely you will meet the owner, Babe - as she busily runs her shop from the confines of her wheelchair. These are the spirited people of the Baviaanskloof.
The poort is surrounded by a wide array of accommodation options and if you are a couple, why not try the amazing Tree House on the Speekhoutkloof farm on the western side of the poort. Most people will experience an overnight stay in one of the enclosed Makedaat cave dwellings at Rietrivier, which has become almost a rite of passage for any first time trip to the Baviaanskloof. But there's lots more and most of the accommodation options can be found on our Baviaanskloof Orientation and Overview page.
Our featured pass (or rather poort) is of course the beautiful Studtis Poort with a total of nine crossings of the Baviaanskloof River within its very convoluted course. If you have to drive the poort in wet conditions, you will need your wits about you, as the river can get quite deep with a swift current. We filmed this poort in in very dry conditions, making the traverse an easy one in sunny conditions, but back in 2012 when we first filmed this poort, the river was flowing nicely. We have left the original video on the page as a comparison to show how completely different the poort is with and without water in it.
For the first two years after launching MPSA, the Studtis Poort page was our second most popular page and as at today's date has racked up a total of 20,712 page views.
* * * * * S T U D T I S P O O R T * * * * *
New passes added this week:
Remkloof Pass (N2) - an easy tarred pass with a substantial altitude gain and good views of the triple bridges at the western end over the Gamtoos River.
Upgraded videos added this week:
Van Stadens Pass (R102) - the winding old tarred main road pass west of Port Elizabeth provides eye oppping views of the new bridge over the gorge (now mainly famous for its tally of suicide victims)
Trygve Roberts
Editor
Thought for the Day: "Never settle for anything less than your best." ~ Brian Tracy
