What's Inside...
* Trips & Tours in 2024
* Ben 10 Eco Challenge (Day 1)
* Wild Coast V7 Tour (Day 2)
* Kouga Baviaans Tour (Day 4)
* Pass of the Week
HELLO 2024!
Welcome to our first newsletter of the year. We wish you good health, happiness and lots of travel adventure. It is with sadness that we have learned of the sudden passing of Magriet Kruger of Zandvlakte farm. Piet and Magriet Kruger have hosted our groups over many years. Our condolences go to Piet and the family as all the communities of the Baviaanskloof. Magriet was a smart lady who wrote books on the flora and fauna of the kloof. Her influence in establishing tourism to the Baviaanskloof is immeasurable as well as her efforts to bring literacy to the locals via a schooling system Rest in peace.
TRIPS & TOURS 2024
Our tours for the year have been launched and here are the details.
February 17th - Atlantis Training Day (Soft sand tuition) - 1 place available
April 3-10th) - Lesotho V2 Tour - Fully booked
April 13 - 20th - Lesotho V3 Tour - Fully booked
May 14-25th - Wild Coast V8 Tour - 8 places available
July 7 - 13th - Swartberg Classic - 3 places available
August 11th - Grabouw 4x4 Training Day - 8 places available
September 23 - 28th - Kouga Baviaans Tour - 6 places available
November 4 - 16th - Wild Coast V9 Tour - 4 places available
December 1 - 7th - Ben 10 Eco Challenge - 4 places available
BEN 10 ECO CHALLENGE (DAY 1)
With an upside down weather forecast, we had to make some decisions. The name of the game is to tackle the notoriously difficult Bastervoetpad on the driest day. Despite the forecast of 5 days of rain, the volume of rain was the lowest on the first day. We made the announcement early that morning that we would be swapping some of the days around in the interests of group safety. Bastervoetpad here we come - with no preamble or soft introduction!
I was concerned about the Mercedes Benz GLE 400d as it's not a true 4x4. It does however have a 9 speed automatic gearbox and plenty of power to spare. It also has the ability to raise it's suspension below 20 kph. To be safe I slotted the Merc in just behind the lead vehicle, as I was fully expecting that I would be recovering the vehicle. My fears would prove to be futile as the Merc completed Bastervoetpad without any problems.
We left the hotel at 08.00 after breakfast heading west on the R58 for a short drive, turning onto gravel towards the Bottelnek Pass.
Bottelnek Pass / Photo: Trygve Roberts
The Bottelnek Pass is one of the easier passes of the challenge, but what it lacks in technical difficulty it makes up in no uncertain terms with beautiful scenery. We have recently replaced this pass for the new version of the Ben 10 but is a lovely introduction and warm up for Bastervoetpad. It was the first pass of the day and a test to see if the Mercedes 400 GLE would manage the mud - and that it did with consummate ease.
We arrived at the start of Bastervoetpad in sunshine, but thick clouds were boiling over the mountain and down the valley quickly enveloping the convoy. It was a sign that the mountain was not going to make things easy for us. After dispensing advice about gearing, driving lines and driver positions, we commenced with the ascent working our way slowly up the pass. The road is very rough in places, which meant we were mostly in 1st and 2nd gear low range.
The convoy ready to start the first challenge pass - Bastervoetpad
The top of the pass was a white out, robbing us of one the most spectacular views in South Africa. The summit stop was brief as it was cold and windy up there. The pass boasts a summit height of 2240m, a length of 20 km and it loses 830m of altitude down the Drakensberg escarpment on the eastern side. Add to those rather impressive statistics, this pass can be treacherous in bad weather and is subject to electrical storms, violent winds, heavy rain, hail and snow.
The view that we missed
We soldiered on in heavy mountain mist with about 20m visibility. Our first recovery was the Jimny, which had bottomed out on the 'middelmannetjie'. The tracks were so slippery that any attempt to straddle the middle quickly resulted in each vehicle sliding immediately back into the ruts. We used a reverse recovery which was perfectly done by Hendrik Vangansewinkel in his Ford Everest.
Johann Moller's Merc almost at the bottom of Bastervoetpad / Photo: Trygve Roberts
The rest of the descent continued without any drama and eventually we popped out of the cloud base close to the Valetta farm on the Ugie side, where we stopped for a lunch break. The drive back to Mountain Shadows was wet and uneventful. Chappie Hour was magical as drivers swapped their war stories of the day.
Next Episode: Day 2 - Dawid se Kop
WILD COAST TOUR V7 (Day 2)
Day 2 of the Wild Coast Tour is an optional day. Guests can do the walk to Waterfall Bluff and Cathedral Rock or remain at Mbotyi River Lodge and relax in their chalets. Getting to the start of the hike involves a two hour drive including two passes - Mbotyi River Pass and the Ghanja Pass (which is on the rough side and can reach Grade 4 after heavy rain.
Angel Falls in Magwa Tea Estate / Photo: Trygve Roberts
We first stopped in at the lovely Angel Falls, before driving on to Lupathana. The road was being refurbished when we arrived, so we had to dodge a few trucks and road graders (always a good sign). The original pass has since eroded to raw bedrock and those using the road have created a new two spoor down to the valley floor, skirting the worst of things.
Ghanja Pass - as rough as a goat's knee / Photo: MPSA Guest Photo
The walk to Waterfall Bluff was uneventful despite the brisk breeze, which would end up tiring some of our guest on the return (upwind) leg.
That night the walkers and the sitters reunited at the deck for another hilarious Chappies Hour and some stayed up later than others!
Next Episode: Msikaba Bridge & Vultures and the first recovery of the tour
KOUGA BAVIAANS TOUR 2023 (DAY 4)
An easy day as we explore the Western Conservancy and its numerous points of interest which included the old worldly Babes se Winkel, The Sewefontein spring, the Wild Fig tree Forest, fresh roosterkoek at Vero's Restaurant, a drive up and down the beautiful Nuwekloof Pass and some derring-do puddle splashing by Barrie Barnardt and Alan Buccholtz. It's all in the photos.
Patrick Ruiters - A Baviaanskloof legend / Photo: Trygve Roberts
All the MPSA babes at Babe se Winkel / Photo: Trygve Roberts
Vero bakes the best roosterkoek in the kloof - eaten al fresco by the roadside / Photo: Trygve Roberts
Barrie Barnardt in his black Ford Wildtrak making a big splash / Photo: Alan Buchholtz
PASS OF THE WEEK
* * N U W E K L O O F P A S S * *
This spectacular kloof (which is part of the R332 route) links the western section of the Baviaanskloof with the higher Karoo hinterland, and more specifically, the towns of Willowmore and Uniondale, which are standard Baviaanskloof refuelling points. The pass needs to be driven slowly to best appreciate its dramatic, unique geology. This is a big pass and involves multiple river crossings - none of which are conventionally bridged. Should you find the first two crossings difficult or the current too strong, rather turn back as conditions get much worse the further down the kloof you proceed.
Trygve Roberts / Editor
"If you can't convince them, confuse them"