What's inside?

* Tours Update

* Flowers!

* Wild Coast Tour - Day 9

* Swartberg Classic - Day 2

* Garden Route Tour - Overview

* Podcast

* Featured Pass


TOURS UPDATE

SEVEN SISTERS TOUR

We've had a cancellation for this popular weekend tour.which will be taking place on the weekend of the 9th/10th September. Take the link to review the full itinerary and pricing. BOOK ONLINE SEVEN SISTERS TOUR.

We've had a number of requests for a novice/intermediate 4x4 training day. With that in mind, we've had a look at our calendar and can probably put a training day together in September. Our usual venue at Grabouw has taken a hammering this winter with a tad too much aqua, so we will take a drive to the venue and have a look for ourselves to see if our normal routes are still fit for purpose. The likely date will be Sunday 24th September. Email us if you want to advance/priority book. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

All the other tours are fully booked at this stage, but we will take cancellation based bookings per email 

New tours for 2024 will be loaded from next week.


FLOWERS FOR AFRICA

With the abundance of rain over large parts of South Africa, we predicted the wildflowers would be sensational this year - and they are exactly that! Even the parched Richtersveld  has opened up certain routes not normally open to vehicles to take in the spectacle of flowers all over the mountain desert.

Our recent tours through the Swartberg and Garden Route displayed fabulous wildflowers wherever we went. Namaqualand, the Karoo and the West Coast are all worth visiting. Make a plan, fuel up and get out there. It's a great idea to make use of our Master Map to plan a route that will get you to all the best spots. Try the Botterkloof Pass between Calvinia and Clanwilliam, the Biedouw Valley and anywhere in the Cederberg. If you're short of time, you can even go to Darling or Postberg, both are very close to Cape Town. It's all there waiting for you to enjoy nature's blessings.


WILD COAST TOUR - DAY 9

The route for the day was from The Haven to Kob Inn - just 31 km as the crow flies. However, in a 4x4 it is a full day's drive getting there as we had to weave in and out of ravines and valleys going inland, then back to the coast several times as we gradually worked our way into the south-west.

The Mbashe Lighthouse is located just east of the Bhanyana River mouth on a sandy hill. There are two way to reach it from the hotel. You can walk via a bad road which can be very muddy and then walk back along the beach, which will require you to get your feet wet when returning over the mouth of the Bhanyana River - or you can walk it both ways via the beach, where the lighthouse is visible at all times.

The Mbashe Lighthouse lies on the Wild Coast, part way between East London and Port St Johns. It was back in the 1890's that the Cape Colonial Lighthouse Commission, originally recommended putting up a few beacons on the coast east of Port Alfred. And a beacon was finally erected on a hilltop just west of the present lighthouse at Mbashe in 1892.

 

Known as M'bashe lighthouse, it remained standing until it was demolished in 1944, although a few remains are still evident on the road. Today's lighthouse is a lattice steel structure roughly 250 metres away from the original lightkeeper's house. It converted to electric power in 1962, but the original tower is still in use, its little red dome a beacon of colour against the blue of the sky.

It was an isolated post for a lightkeeper particularly as the nearest town was Umtata, even if a bus operated between Bityi station and the lighthouse only twice a week to bring provisions. Post came to the families stationed here from Elliotdale, a little village about 40 kilometres away. With independence in 1976 the Transkei replaced the solitary lightkeeper with one of their own.

This part of the coast was particularly popular with fishermen as there was some good Kob to be caught; particularly off the rocks in the vicinity of the lighthouse. However, most of the area is now a Marine Protected Area and no fishing is allowed. The Mbashe River, so popular with fishermen, separates two little nature reserves – the Dwesa and Cwebe. (Source: SA History Online)

The Haven has a long and chequered history. It was originally established as a private seaside holiday resort back in 1922 by Edward Reid, a former seaman, using a PTO (Permission To Occupy) lease on state-owned land. The resort changed ownership twice in the period up until 1976, and then at this point was taken over by the Transkei Development Corporation.

The Haven Hotel 101 years old and still going strong / Photo: MPSA Drone Worx

The newly-formed Republic of Transkei came up with a plan to turn the Dwesa-Cwebe region into a showcase wildlife reserve. A fence was erected, local residents were evicted, and numerous animals were introduced. This decision had major ramifications; the local people bitterly resented being excluded from the area, and the situation was exacerbated when a marine reserve, which prohibited the collection of marine organisms from along the shoreline, was declared in 1991.

A severe drought and an absence of tourists resulted in a revolt in 1993, when local villagers living on the outskirts invaded the reserve, in the process cutting down trees, herding in their cattle, and ravishing the marine resources. The military was called in to restore order during a period of intense friction and negotiations. The Wild Coast Spatial Development Initiative came up with a grandiose plan, and by 1997 had secured R500 million for the development of the combined Dwesa-Cwebe reserve. The proposal included provision of new hotels and lodges and a bridge over the M'Bashe River; none of this ever transpired.

For the next few years, ownership and management of the hotel bounced around between various entities whilst the authorities argued over disputed land claims. It was eventually decided that the reserve would remain a conservation area, with the concession that locals could use the grasslands for emergency grazing. New owners took over the lease in 2005, and occupancy rates have been increasing steadily up to the present date.

Accommodation at the hotel consists of 25 rustic but comfortable cottages and rondavels, all with en suite bathrooms. Board is provided on a DBB basis, so there are no self-catering facilities. The rooms do not have WiFi, air conditioners, or TVs, but satellite TV is available in the hotel lounge. There is also a full-service bar, and the restaurant offers an extensive wine list.

Although the hotel is remote and isolated, there are many leisure activities on offer. Included amongst these are fishing, swimming, hiking, bird watching, horse riding, mountain biking, kayaking, golf (there is a 9-hole mashie course), and tennis. Most guests, however, prefer to just simply relax in the beautiful surroundings.

After breakfast we left the The Haven and took a short drive through dense indigenous forests to the start of the hike to the Bhanyana Waterfall. The road continues all the way through to the east at Breezy Point, via a very rough and steep Grade 3/4 pass. Recent rainfall has rendered this road undrivable and it is now blocked at the start of the waterfall path with timber poles.

The walk is all downhill and it's muddy and slippery. These slight hindrances are more than made up for by the solitude that the forest offers coupled with birdsong and the croaking of hundreds on unseen frogs as the sunlight throws shafts of dappled light through the forest canopy.

 

Our route wandered inland to cross the Mbashe RIver at the only safe point via the Fyfe King Bridge, via the Mbashe River Pass. We took a long lunch break on the banks of the river as the silt laden waters glided by, flexing its muscles in the form of debris showing much higher than where our vehicles were parked. This is not a river to be trifled with! We got the drone airborne and shot some footage.

 

After lunch we climbed the long ascent up the far side of the valley to the village of Khomkulu, before dropping down to the next river valley - the Nqabara River. Here another smaller pass with good scenery entertains and delights. On the northern bank is the grave of King Hintsa, but very difficult to get to. It is also a sacred place.

A number of villages are traversed before descending once more to the Shixini River valley and pass. The scenery continues to soothe as the Wild Coast magic works its way into mind, body and soul. Soon we connected with the main road  between Willowvale and Kob Inn and worked our way to the coast arriving at Kob Inn in good time for a shower and another happy hour in the lovely pub with the waves crashing on the rocks. This would be our home from home for the next two nights.

 

SWARTBERG TOUR - DAY 2

We amended our routing for this tour on the first and second days and extended the tour by a day. This new formula worked very well. The routing on Day 2 took us up the narrow Assegaaibosch Pass and then up the Rooiberg Pass where we paused for a leg stretch and some pics and discussed the Gebedstapel - one of the earliest stone cairns in the area, where oxwagon travellers rested (somewhat relieved) at the summit point and said a prayer of thanks for a safe journey, after which they would place a stone onto what has now become quite a large cairn. These days cairns have become something of a swear word to the woke generation, who feel that moving a stone disturbs nature.

On top of the Rooiberg Pass with the Calitzdorp valley below under wispy clouds / Photo: MPSA Tour Group

The Rooiberg Pass has recently been graded and is in the best condition we have ever seen it. It can now be driven in any normal car.

Our route took us through Calitzdorp, which naturally elicited some radio chatter about Boplaas - famous for their sublime port wines. In a nano-second a request came through to stop in at Boplaas and do some tasting, which suggestion was paidly supported by more than half the convoy. That would have been a singularly bad idea for our ETA, not to mention transgressing our no drinking on tour rule. With some subtle reasoning I suggested those that wanted to to go to Boplaas could do so the following day, which was our free (rest) day - but more of that later. The insurrection had been temporarily quelled!

We drove Graham Ross' Huisrivier Pass, stopped at the old Lutheran Church in Amalienstein for a photo session, then looped north via the beauitiful Hoekoe Valley Road (and the delightful story about 'Oom Stanley se Liggie') and on to Ladismith to refuel. Our route subsequently took us west on excellent gravel roads over a series of small passes like Prinspoort, Outol, Klein Swartberg, Volstruispoort and Wasbank. We were expecting the roads to be in poor condition after all the rain, but the Western Cape Roads Department had recently fixed all the damage leaving us with silky smooth gravel roads. What a pleasure.

We stopped between Volstruisnek and Wasbank on a random stretch of straight road and took our lunch break in the clean Karoo air with mild winter sunshine. Ladies in the convoy seeking out some meagre shelter for a comfort break werent too happy with the drone flying overhead! An impromptu lunch in the Karoo. Lots of space! / Photo: Trygve Roberts / DJI Mini 3 PRO

After the Wasbank Pass we connected with the R323 halfway through the Witnekke Pass and turned east following the road for 50 km through picturesque farms flanked by towering mountains. Next up was the Koueveld Pass, where we had a good glimpse of the waterfall, which doesn't often have water in it, but this time there was good a fairly substantial flow.

The waterfall visible on the northern slopes of the Swartberg as one ascends the Koueveld Pass / Photo: MPSA

The next waypoint was at the turnoff to the Bosluiskloof Pass at the northern start of Seweweekspoort, where we turned left for the final pass of the day, the magnificent Bosluiskloof Pass. The light was perfect soaking in from the west as our convoy dropped steadily down the convoluted route taking photos here and there.

We arrived at Bosch Luys Kloof Lodge at 16.30 with time for a shower, unpacking and happy hour at 1800 to be followed by a three course dinner laid on by the ever attendant Henry. This was the first time we had booked in to this lodge for two nights, after hearing out a unanimous vote to do just that by our 2022 tour guests. You ask - we act!

Bosluiskloof Pass resplendent in the afternoon light / Trygve Roberts

Next edition: Day 3 of this tour was a day full of surprises and high drama.


GARDEN ROUTE TOUR


We have just completed our 2023 version of the Garden Route Tour, which was different in several ways. We had two sets of three vehicles each which were friends and family. We had the biggest age difference in the history of our tours with the oldest being 83 and the youngest being 1. It is the first tour we have done with a toddler (which turned out to be the hot favourite amongst all the ladies). And it was also the first time ever that my wife and I were unable to attend the final night PG and Chappies Awards, due to a severe tummy bug we picked up on the final day of the tour.

Our guests stepped in and took over the leadership to ensure a good time was had by all. Our gratitude to all involved, especially Theo Hammond and Solam Mgqobozi. Champions all. 

We once again managed to pick a week of perfect winter weather for this tour having 5 days of sunshine and only some light drizzle on the first day, which soon cleared up. We only had one puncture - on a Land Rover Discovery, which happened on the 4x4 Old Oxwagon Route - an irrepairable sidewall cut. Jeremy O'Regan who learned his lessons well on the V5 Wild Coast Tour now carries two spare wheels, so no panic. Theo was (as always) there to do the hard graft and change the wheel, which was fortunately on a fairly level area. There will be a more detailed report in the weeks to come.


PODCAST:

 

PASS OF THE WEEK

This interesting gravel pass is located  (as the name suggests) in the Swartberg mountains about 40 km south of Laingsburg on the R323/P315 road. It is one of a series of passes and poorts in the area, which provide a fascinating range of options. The pass was built by Thomas Bain in 1880.

 

* *   K L E I N   S W A R T B E R G   P A S S   * *

 


 Trygve Roberts / Editor

 

“There are so many different kinds of stupidity, and cleverness is one of the worst.”
― Thomas Mann, The Magic Mountain