The week that was...
* SA Unmasked
* Tours
* Noma 5
* Wild Coast Tour V4 - Day 6
* Podcast
* Pass of the week
SA unmasked
For the tourism and hospitality industry the abolishment of having to wear masks is a significant milestone on the long and bumpy road back to normality. We look forward to seeing people smiling again; to hear voices that aren't muffled; to be able to connect with fellow human beings without all that induced fear. This is a momentous moment and we welcome it with open arms and warm smiles. No more will we see people driving alone in their cars masked up (well, I suppose there will be some die-hards). Let's just leave it there, before I write an essay!
More good news!
Bain's Kloof Pass opened for traffic on the 21st June and our scout on the ground, Kuba Miszewski, reports that the upgrades are excellent. We will be taking our guests over this pass as part of our Seven Sisters Tour in October
Cogmanskloof Pass is also now complete and the whole route from Ashton to Montagu is now open to traffic without any stop-go's. It's been a long wait, but worthwhile. The contractors, Haw & Inglis, who took over this contract from the insolvent original contractors have done a fantastic job - not only of this historically important pass but the engineering marvel of the arch bridge and its transverse placement, is worthy of high praise. We will be refilming both of these passes within the next week or two.
Tours
- Bookings for the Wild Coast Tour have been galloping along at a furious pace. This tour is now sold out.
- The Garden Route Tour has 2 places available. This will be our inaugural tour through this popular part of South Africa. The tour has been designed to offer all the best the region has to offer, with plenty of secret roads and points of interests included.
- The Seven Sisters Tour and 4x4 Novice training day will be loaded soon. Watch this space.
- The Swartberg Tour is fully booked and we are hoping for some snow up in the mountains to add some extra fun.
- We are working on a Baviaanskloof or Bedrogfontein Tour for November as well as a novice 4x4 training day in October. Details will be released as soon as we have clarity on the details.
Noma 5
The Xhosa lady known as Noma 5 has been trending via our Facebook page. Last week we mentioned 350,000 views. Believe it or not, that photo has now reached an audience of 1,891,087. It is by far our most successful social media post to date. So how exactly did that happen?
How does one know when you post something that will capture the imagination of a nation? The truth is you don't. It's all hit and miss and posts like this one give us an insight into what the public really enjoy seeing. Once we reached 100,000 followers on Facebook, our page got all sorts of new recognition and benefits from Facebook as well as some privileges we had not enjoyed before. The way the algorithms work is that authentic, original material seems to be king. It's been a long journey getting there, but we've made it. And we most certainly don't stop progressing either. Stemming from that post we have also reached an all time 28 day post reach of 3.6 million. Our next goal is 200,000 followers.
Wild Coast V4 Tour - Day 4
On this tour we had built in rest days for guests to recover from the more physical aspects of the tour. With that in mind we had decided to explore the possibility of visiting the construction site of the new Msikaba Bridge on the new N2 toll road. The idea was that I would probably go on my own as a recce trip, but the moment I mentioned this in the pre-trip communications, there was suddenly a lot of interest.
(Read more...)
One of our guests, Frik and der Merwe, ( a retired engineer) wrote to me and offered to get involved in setting up a proper official tour of the site. That soon turned into reality and suddenly there was not a single person in our tour group that did not want to miss out on the visit to the bridge.
The weather was near perfect as we drove back up the Mbotyi Pass, past Angel Falls (for a quick look see - and gorgeous it was with a strong flow of water) and from there on to Lupathana, where we turned left at a well marked sign, pointing us to the construction site. The bridge builders have constructed an excellent gravel road t with some sections having been brick paved. It was an omen of good things to come.
NTENTULE FALLS
Closer to the Msikaba Gorge we spotted an impressive waterfall on the left. It turns out this is the second highest waterfall in South Africa at 175,4m. It was measured by Sanral engineers. The waterfall is named the Ntentule Falls and is located on the Mateku River, which itself is a tributary of the Msikaba River. The falls are mainly a straight drop waterfall and very impressive after good rains. Once the new N2 toll road has been opened, a tar road will lead to a view site at the top of the falls which will also offer a view of the new suspension bridge over the gorge.
Ntentule Falls 175,4m - Second highest waterfall in SA / Photo: Sanral
Soon we arrived at the impressive construction site. Security was top notch and we were expected. A Concor manager arrived at the gate and escorted us down to the visitor centre, where we all had to undergo the induction programme. The building was immaculately maintained and as one walks in there is a big scale model of the bridge in a glass cabinet. Safety vests and helmets had to be donned and our group was split into two - those with long pants and closed shoes and those without. The closed shoe group were taken on a walking tour of the construction site, whilst the plakkies group were transported in a taxi.
The highlight of the excursion was undoubtedly the trip across the gorge in a 4 seater cable-car. The system is Swiss and professionally installed and operated. The trip across the gorge in the cable-car takes 5 minutes each way. Progress on the North tower is not as advanced as that on the southern side, but nothing more than two months behind.
Four lanes of traffic and two pedestrian lanes will pass under these inverted Y pylons / Photo: MPSA
The two inverted Y pylons will rise to a height of 125m and be supported by reinforced concrete anchors sunk 17m into the bedrock on either side. A series of cables will run from these anchors over the top of the pylons and down to the sides of the bridge deck.
The entire operation is exceptionally well run to world class standards. According the resident engineer, the bridge is scheduled to be completed by 2024. The steel bridge deck will be advanced over the gorge in sections and stabilised with the cables, before the next section is extended. This will take place from both sides and meet in the middle. The bridge deck will have a slight curve (for stability - like a curved dam wall) and will be 195m above the river bed, making it the second highest bridge in South Africa, after the Bloukrans Pass (218m). The Mtentu Bridge however, will be the highest when completed at 227m.
Our group was very well received and professionally handled. We will be including a bridge visit in all future tours. Our thanks to the team at Concor Construction.
VULTURES
After departing the construction site, we went further down the main road which deteriorated badly the closer we got to the coast. We were trying to find the turn-off but that was a lot easier said than done. We almost reached the coast, when a foursome in a Land Rover came past in the following direction, so we stopped and asked them for directions.
"Oh it's easy, turn right just before the single lane concrete bridge, but we careful on the way to the vultures as it's very muddy. We were there two days ago"
That meant turning the whole convoy around and driving back up the hill we had just descended. We all had our eyes peeled for the turn-off to the right, and soon arrived at the bridge, but no sign of a road to the right. The rear-most vehicle (a Land Cruiser 200 VX) in our convoy was driven by Andries Brink. He called on the radio stating that he spotted a two spoor track well hidden by the long grass and offered to recce it for a few hundred metres. Off he went whilst the rest of us waited.
STUCK IN THE MIDDLE ...
Soon enough he called again to say that he believed it was the correct track. In turn I suggested that the convoy proceed behind Andries in the reverse convoy order, which meant the lead vehicle was not the sweep. All was going swimmingly well, when Andries was back on the radio, announcing that he was stuck in deep mud. By the time I arrived the rest of the convoy was scattered around the stranded Cruiser, so I gave them all a wide berth and drove a new path higher up the slope where it was less muddy, to get to within 20m of Andries.
Doing recoveries is all part of the fun / Photo: Alan Buccholtz
After a short discussion, it was decided to recover him in the reverse direction with the MPSA Cruiser using a standard tow-strap. We cleared the danger zone and got ready, whilst Alan Buccholtz filmed the exercise. The 200VX is a big, heavy vehicle and with the mud right up the chassis, it was going to require a lot of grunt getting it out. The radios make communication easy and I decided to opt for 1st gear low range and deploy both the front and rear lockers.
With a lot of crabbing through the mud and Andries helping by reversing, we got him out on the first attempt. No-one enjoys getting stuck, but it's always a valuable lesson for the driver as well as for everyone in the group. Once we got the rest of the group around the muddy marsh, we managed to find the vulture view-site about 3 km further. Eastern Cape Tourism could be very much better in terms of making this amazing natural place more accessible to tourists in the form of better roads and some signage.
A sturdy timber deck has been constructed which allows clear views straight down the gorge. It was such a nice surprise and the vultures were flying aplenty. The scene is dramatic with a 200m straight drop down to the riverbed with most of the birds flying below eye level. There had been some grass fires in the area so the air was smoky, which meant photography would not be great.
It was a very tired and happy group that gathered back at Mbotyi River Lodge that night for another great meal and lots of good natured ragging accompanied by the Cape's finest.
Next Week: Three magical waterfalls and some fun on the airstrip at Mount Thesiger.
PODCAST:
A 30 minute listen ~ Day 1 of the Wild Coast V4 Tour. Click to listen.
PASS OF THE WEEK
The Golden Highway is a well known stretch of road south of Johannesburg, but did you know there is a Golden Highway Pass? The Golden Highway Pass connects the old mining ghost town of Eureka City, high up on a plateau of the Makhonjwa Mountains, with the Sheba Mine located in a valley far below. Here you can literally drive on a road paved with gold. Take the link to read the full story.
Trygve Roberts
Editor
"Good news rarely arrives in a brown envelope" ~ Anonymous
