The week that was...
* COLDEST WINTER IN 40 YEARS
* TOURS
* WILD COAST DAY 4
* PASS OF THE WEEK
* THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
A COLD WINTER
Weather experts in the Western Cape are touting this winter as the coldest in 40 years. A staggering volume of rain has fallen over the Western parts of South Africa over the past few weeks. Whilst it's good news for the City of Cape Town having their biggest dam (Theewaterskloof) at 100%, it's come at a fairly big cost which experts are estimating at R1b. The worst hit areas have been Paarl, Wellington, Worcester, Ceres and most of the Cederberg; the latter which has taken a real hammering. Please don't go sightseeing there in the short term as farmers, businesses and local government are still busy with mop-up operations and the repair of roads and infrastructure. Then there's the 'elephant in the room' question: "So how come there's hardly any load shedding?!"
TOURS
There are a few places open on some of the tours for the second half of the year.
Garden Route Tour (August) - 2 places open.
Seven Sisters Tour (September) - 2 places open
Ben 10 Eco Challenge V7 (December) - 1 place open
WILD COAST TOUR - DAY FOUR
It rained hard all night at Mbotyi as we lugged our luggage into our cars in preparation for a 0900 departure to Port St Johns. The plan for the day was a visit to Fraser and Magwa Falls and some fun drag racing on the old airstrip at Mount Thesiger, before heading for our next venue - Umngazi River Bungalows.
Even the best laid plans need a Plan B, and so it was as we drove over the same bridge we had recovered the bus from two days before, which was then only just above the level of the little stream, which had since become a raging torrent. The muddy roads in Mbotyi had turned into shallow rivers as we slowly made our way up the Mbotyi Pass for the last time. The weather forecast was bleak at best, with heavy rain predicted for the next two days.
There was no point in even trying to visit the two scheduled waterfall stops, so we drove directly to Lusikisiki to refuel some of the vehicles and give the ladies a toilet break at the new Engen just to the south of the town. We drove the road with the 250 plus bends to Port St Johns and hectic rain and poor visibility, keeping a watchful eye on taxis, trucks and courier bakkies (the speedsters) as well as the local drivers (the tortoises).
Umngazi River Bungalows as it's supposed to look on a sunny day!
We arrived in Port St. Johns by 13.30 and went directly to Umngazi Mouth to check in. Umbrellas were working hard and the poor porters got sopping wet carting luggage up to the cottages. We've had a chequered history with Umngazi River Bungalows, having failed to successfully book for our tour groups, due to the fact that we only wanted to stay one night. So we jumped in at the deep end for this tour and booked in for 2 nights.
Any apprehension I felt evaporated as soon as we arrived. Everything was simply first class and very well managed. We gave our guests the rest of the day off but asked them to ensure that those needed fuel, go back to Port St Johns to fill up, as we would have a long drive to The Haven two days hence with no fuel available, until we reached Willowvale.
The rain came back with a vengeance with torrential downpours, thunder and lightning being our companions for the rest of the day. I passed Frik and Linsey (guests) on the way to PSJ and since we had radio comms, I asked them if they would like to join me for a 'short-cut' over the mountain to refuel - a sort of mini sight-seeing trip with a quick stop at the airstrip. Linsey was instantly enthusiastic about the suggestion. Any doubts Frik originally voiced, went into the sin-bin.
A watery photo taken by Linsey as we drove along the coastal road dodging barricades and washaways.
On our way over the mountains (the rain had eased off a bit) we came across a fully laden minibus taxi ascending a very slippery road and having some difficulty. The road was narrow and a strong stream flowed down the culvert. Having the benefit of a 4x4 I arranged for the two 4x4's to move over the stream to give the taxi space. With spinning rear wheels he came to a stop right opposite me. I motioned to him to roll down his window and offered to tow him to the top of the hill. He either didn't understand me or was determined to get to the top on his own steam. After another two attempts, he finally managed to reach the top without assistance.
We passed the military checkpoint along the airport road, signed in on a wet logbook with a pen that resolutely refused to cooperate, and off we went on the tar road to the top. The rain continued and we had brief glimpses of the Umzimvubu before the clouds darkened and rolled in to a lower altitude.
The previous day when we tried driving up the Airport Road from the town side, we were blocked by concrete barriers. The road had been damaged in an earlier flood a month earlier. We stopped a local, who with a big smile offered to guide us down the mountain via an alternative route in his Toyota Tazz. Happily we both followed and were most impressed with the alternative road - a tar road in fairly good condition. This road intersected with the coastal road close to Second Beach.
It's a bit out of sequence, but here is a short video we put together on the Msikaba Bridge construction
It was as if the weather gods anticipated our safe arrival off the mountain. We had barely made the turn when the storm unleashed itself via torrential rain. Within minutes the roads were underwater, making for a tentative drive peering through the windscreen with the wipers going double time. I'm fairly certain that was the heaviest rainstorm I've ever been in.
We all made it back to Umngazi unscathed and gathered for happy hour and dinner, where the guard of honour was rows of dripping umbrellas. We would need to adapt the next day's plans as well, which had a light rain forecast for the morning, with heavier rain in the afternoon.
Next Week: The mystery of Majola.
PASS OF THE WEEK
Sometimes we feature lesser known passes here. This week we take you to the Boesmanshoek Pass on the R397. The Boesmanshoek Pass is located on the tarred R397 road between the towns of Sterkstroom in the south and Molteno in the north. The pass is 3,8 km long and has an altitude variance of 264m producing an average gradient of 1:14 making it a stiff gradient by modern standards. Although the pass is fairly short, it offers attractive vistas to the north over a wide and deep valley. One of the features of this pass is that it shares the mountainside with the railway line, which it underpasses near the foot of the pass. The road is showing signs of deterioration, but it is scheduled for maintenance.
* * B O E S M A N S H O E K P A S S * *
Trygve Roberts / Editor
Words of Wisdom: “Success is going from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm.” ~Winston Churchill