The week that froze
* WINTER
* TOURS
* ROAD CLOSURES
* WILD COAST
* PODCAST
* PASS OF THE WEEK
WINTER
By all accounts and long range forecasts it's going to a cold, wet winter. Rain has fallen in generous quantities over large parts of South Africa, including the arid regions. Even drought beleaguered Port Elizabeth has received some welcome rain. The Kouga Dam near Patensie which feeds the Gamtoos citrus orchards was down to a desperate 4% at one stage. At time of writing the latest readings show it is at 23,7% which is a big improvement, but a lot more rain needs to fall before they are out of the woods.
In the Western Cape (our winter rainfall region) things are looking quite promising with the provincial dam levels averaging out at 54% and the City of Cape Town is currently at 63%.
Late rains and snow over Lesotho, Eastern Cape, KZN and the Highveld have resulted in the major storage dams like the Vaal, Gariep and Vanderkloof dams overflowing again.
For now South Africa seems to be OK.
TOURS
We are almost halfway through the year with the next 6 months being a busy time.
July: Swartberg Tour - Fully booked
August: Garden Route Tour - 2 places available
September: Seven Sisters Tour - 5 places available
October: Kouga-Baviaans Tour - 1 place available
November: Wild Coast V7 Tour - Fully booked
December: Ben 10 Eco Challenge - Fully booked
ROAD CLOSURES
Langeni Pass (EC) between Mthatha and Ugie is closed to all traffic
Montagu Pass (WC) between George and Heroldt is closed.
Robinson Pass (WC) between Mossel Bay and Oudtshoorn has been reopened to traffic after a tanker caught alight.
WILD COAST TOUR
The second day of our Wild Coast Tours involves choices. You can choose to do the hike to Waterfall Bluff and/or Cathedral Rock, or you can stay at the lodge and fish, swim, read a book, go birding or work on your laptop - all of which some of our guests opted to do.
The group that wanted to tackle the hike was 18 strong of which there were those that knew they were fit; those that thought they were fit and those that had no clue what was in store for them. The weather was playing along nicely and the day was crisp and clear as we got our reduced convoy size together and headed up the Mbotyi Pass (which we would be driving a number of times over the next few days) in the general direction of Lupathana.
Everyone had sprayed for the infamous pepper ticks which was probably overkill, as they are usually only active in the summer months. Prevention is better than cure, so they say! Sitting up front in MPSA was Armstrong, the wiry little Xhosa guide which we have been using for years as our hands on, practical and very knowledgeable addition to our skills bank. It's a very good policy having a local guide who can speak the language and understands who is who in the area. He is also a provincial level fisherman who supplements his income by selling his catches to the local lodges.
We first stopped in at Angel Falls which was looking fabulous after all the recent rains and soon found ourselves negotiating the Ghanja Pass, which was in a really bad state last year. Much to our surprise we found that some basic maintenance had been done to the road (which was right down to raw bedrock in places) and the worst section has now been bypassed with a new two spoor track through the long grass, making the pass a lot more comfortable.
The rest of the drive down to "Groendakkies" (where we leave our vehicles) was an obstacle course of dongas, deep ruts, rocks, water and mud - a nice little test of everyone's off-road driving skills. Waiting patiently at the house next to the sea was Flora - a wonderful, patient Xhosa lady who walks with much difficulty.
People of the Wild Coast: Armstrong and Flora / Photo: MPSA Tour Group
She is something of a legend in these parts and owns two properties. Tourists have been scarce of late with Covid, floods and appalling roads, so it was all smiles when our convoy arrived. There were a few skinny dogs, chickens, geese and a white horse all seemingly as laid back as the Wild Coast sunshine.
The walk to Waterfall Bluff took place in perfect weather. It is 4 km each way over basic cattle and fishermen's paths undulating constantly, which makes hikers tired quite quickly. In our group we had Robert (81) and Luana (80) Consani who not only did the walk to the waterfall, they also tackled and completed the extra 6 km section to Cathedral Rock and in the process put many of us who are considerably younger to shame - your scribe included!
I took this pic whilst waiting for the Cathedral Rock to return to base. The light was perfect. / Photo: MPSA
The fitter group took considerably longer than expected, arriving back at the vehicles as it was getting dark. That left us with a rather interesting drive back to Mbotyi in the dark. As always we took a positive spin on everything we do and turned the drive back into a small adventure. It was a tired but happy group at dinner that night and the wine sales were going ballistic as tales of blisters and bruised toenails were bandied about.
Last week we promised you a video of the bus recovery and here it is:
Next week: We visit the Msikaba N2 bridge construction site.
PODCAST
We discuss Day 1 of the Wild Coast V6 Tour. Click here to listen. (30 mins)
PASS OF THE WEEK
This very steep pass takes one from the coastal plateau down to the beach at Mbotyi. The pass is immersed inside the dense forest canopy for most of its length which is almost a pity as the views would be tantalizingly beautiful if visible. The pass has some very sharp corners and steep gradients as one gets to the halfway point. There is one particularly nasty hairpin bend which needs to be treated with respect.
Any pass that has an average gradient lower than 1:16 is steep and this pass at 1:13 will have your passengers reaching for their imaginary brake pedal and especially so on the very steep sections in the middle of the pass where the gradients get steeper than 1:5. This pass would be very difficult to drive if it wasn't paved.
* * M B O T Y I P A S S * *
Trygve Roberts / Editor
"You can tell whether a man is wise by his questions"