Springbok at MZNP
Springbok at MZNP / Photo: MPSA Guest Photo

Mid Winter Edition

* Wild weather

* Sold Out

* Katberg Tour Report Back

* Kraai me a river

* Lesotho Tour - Part 4

* Wild Coast (It's a wrap)

* Featured Pass


Wild Winter Weather

A severe cold front combined with a cut-off low pressure system ravaged the Northern, Western and Eastern Cape areas over a vast area, causing floods and damage to infrastructure. It also happened to coincide exactly with the start of our Katberg Tour. Upon reflection we were fortunate in a way, as the worst of the storm burned itself out whilst we were in the relative safety of the Mountain Zebra National Park. We will cover that in more detail elsewhere in this newsletter.

Oudtshoorn and De Rust took a beating, with a chunk of the main road washed away. Meiringspoort also sustained serious damage and remains closed at time of writing. As it's a main trunk route, authorities are already hard at work effecting repairs. More news as we get it.

This morning the MPSA website was down for about an hour, due to our server (Xneelo) having done a systems upgrade. They omitted to update the security certificate resulting in our site being down for abour 30 minutes. Our long standing IT partner New Web Consulting in Cape Town, jumped right in and got the problem resolved in double quick time. That was the first time in 13 years that the site has been down.


Sold Out

All our tours and training days are now fully booked, but we do take options on cancellations - just send us an email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and we will do the rest. After completing a highly successful inaugural Katberg Tour, the next tour coming up is the Swartberg Tour starting on the 7th July. The big question is will we have snow this year?

Despite the cold nights, we find winter a really good time to run tours. The days are normally sunny and calm with crystal clear skies. Being inside a vehicle allows for comfortable touring without it being too hot. Then there are the crystal clear skies devoid of the haziness so prevalent in summer.  Both our mid-winter tour offerings are proving to be very popular.


Katberg Tour

We most certainly had some challenges during this tour which included illegally locked gates, lots of rain, one incapacitated vehicle and credit cards that wouldn't work. We'll get into the details over the next few episodes to bring this tour to life in words and pictures. It's fascinating that when the chips are down, the group stands together as one, ensuring a successful outcome. This was most certainly the case on this tour, when there were a few tears shed at the farewell function.

Day 1 - We gathered at the Mountain Zebra National Park near Cradock on Monday 3rd June just ahead of the storm system. We got all the radios installed before the deluge began. SANPARKS allowed us to use their conference room, which they kindly warmed up to 30 C which was a bit of a shock after the 10 degrees outside.

We knew the next day was going to be very wet with a forecast of rain the entire day and throughout the night. We made an early call with knowledge from the MZNP rangers that all the 4x4 routes had been closed and declared the first day to be a free day, where guests could choose to do as they pleased. After a hearty dinner, it was a case of getting an early night and as the chalets all have fireplaces, the parks board shop ran out of firewood fairly quickly.

The forecast was accurate, but that didn't dampen the enthusiasm as most guests engaged 4WD and went game spotting. A surprising number of good sightings were reported, including a cheetah close to the main gate. We were getting a bit concerned about how wet the gravel route would be down to Somerset East, but as always we had a safety plan in place, just in case.

The next day we departed MZNP, but as the rain had stopped, we included a partial circumnavigation of the MZNP.. It really has some very nice routes and everyone appreciated getting a second chance to see what they had missed the day before. From MZNP we drove through to Cradock to visit the Egg Rock just to the north of the town. The gravel road to the rock which is a shared road to the local airstrip, was nice and muddy offering a foretaste of what lay in wait for us for the rest of the day.

Egg Rock is a stand-alone rock about 15m high, weighing around 488 tons. A lightning strike in 1937 sliced off about one quarter of the rock (the part to the right in this photo), The rock seems precariously perched on a ledge and is composed of gneiss. Many people confuse gneiss with granite. The easiest way to tell the difference between gneiss and granite is to look for the different bands of color in gneiss. The metamorphic processes that form gneiss force the different mineral crystal to orient themselves in parallel sheets of color. Granite, however, is speckled with chunks of the minerals.

 EggRockEgg Rock near Cradock is well worth a visit / Photo: MPSA Guest Photo

From there we drove along the N10 briefly, before crossing the Great Fish River in the direction of the first mountain pass of the tour - the Tarka Pass. Initially the road follows the railway line, then crosses a small river and heads off over the Karoo plains towards the mountain range in the distance. The quality of this road was good, despite the heavy rain of the previous day and soon we found ourselves crossing past a motorised gate (which was open) following the signs marked "Blomfontein". 

The pass initially climbs steeply towards the 1175m high summit, which is reached after 3.3 km revealing a wide view southwards down the Tarka Valley. The quality of the road was surprisingly good and we soon discovered why. Blomfontein is a very popular and upmarket wedding venue, located along the pass in a secluded valley. It really is a lovely spot where the stately buildings are graced with lush lawns, fountains and gardens. Beyond Blomfontein there was an immediate drop in road quality. Up till that point, the venue can be reached with normal vehicles.

There are several motorised gates along this pass (around 5 of them). In some instances one has to press a button, where a remote camera takes a photo of the vehicle and driver, but there was nowhere where we were refused entry. It is a public road, but based on our observations, the farmers themselves are maintaining the more southerly side. Once we had passed through the last farm (Waterval) the road deteriorated to a slightly overgrown and bumpy track. (see photo below)

TarkaPass22The southern side of the Tarka Pass is a perfect road less travelled / Photo: Derick van Eeden

We took a lunch break in this secluded valley completely devoid of humanity soaking up the feeling of isolation and complete silence.. 

The afternoon presented some new challenges as we followed the service road of the Fish Tunnel back into the north to drive the elusive and difficult to find Dassiedeur Tunnel. This is an old disused railway tunnel which has a road running through it. It's about 300m long.

Everyone was looking forward to this part of the tour, when we found our path blocked by a large amount of rocks, with a 44 gallon drum and a farm gate. It made things very clear that the local farmer did not want anyone driving past that point. We had no option, but to (gingerly) turn our convoy around and drive back to the previous intersection. I say "gingerly" as the narrow and muddy gravel road was flanked by a deep ditch on one side and a single strand high voltage electric fence 1m above the ground on the other side.

Fish Tunnel BlockadeEnd of the road! / Photo: Charon Roberts

Subsequently we have established that the dairy farmer who owns the last of the farms through which we drove, had illegally closed the road, to prevent the spread of foot and mouth disease amongst his dairy herd, which could easily mean financial ruin for him. We hope that by next year the blockade will have been removed. We support the farmers at all times.

Next Episode: Waainek Pass to Somerset East and a night at the Duke of Bedford.


KRAAI ME A RIVER

THE ACCIDENT OF 1992

On Saturday 10 October, during the 1992 Lady Grey Spring Festival, an entertaining race between train and runners was organised between Melk siding and Lady Grey. Upon the return of the train to Lady Grey, an evidently inebriated passenger illegally entered the cab of the locomotive, pushed the driver aside and pulled the regulator to full speed on a section posted with a 30 km/h restriction.

By the time the train entered a sharp curve, speed had increased to 76 km/h and the locomotive and five coaches derailed in a curved cutting. Between the locomotive and the coaches behind, the first coach was crushed, killing five people instantaneously – the Lady Grey station master, his wife, and three children from the area. Four days after the accident the engine driver succumbed. A further 38 people were injured.

Barkly East Train Accident

Subsequently, a monument was erected at the scene of the derailment. Following this accident, for similar future trips it was impossible to purchase insurance at reasonable rates. However, exactly nine years after the accident, on 10 October 2001, Bushveld Train Safaris ran the ultimately last trip over the line, a commemorative passenger train, after which the line was closed and no further trains were run. 

Being “lovely beyond any singing of it”, the area will attract further railway enthusiasts and other tourists. Friendly farmers allow, by appointment, hiking along the line, which mostly lies close to the main road. Furthermore, two heritage sandstone bridges built in the 1890s, both national monuments, are located close to the railway line. 

Compiled by Johannes Haarhoff, Francis Legge, Mike Johns, Bill James & Johan de Koker. First published in Engineering News in 2013 magazine.


 

LESOTHO TOUR 2024 - PART 4

We only had a short drive to reach our overnight venue, Lelani Lodge, on the outskirts of Hlotse. There was still one obstacle to deal with - a seriously long stop-go along the main road with very heavily congested traffic. They only allowed a certain number of vehicles through at a time. That cut-off point just so happened to guillotine our convoy in half. That in turn meant the front half of the convoy had to try and find space to park just after the roadworks to wait for the rear group. It took close to an hour to regroup. Ironically a week later with the V3 group, it was plain sailing getting through that spot with hardly any hold-ups.

Lelani Guest Lodge is mostly under thatch with a U-shaped set of buildings (some double storey) surrounding a spacious garden with fountains and lush lawns. Philip took guests to the local craft market to support the local markets, who make goods and crafts by handicapped ladies. Our group supported them generously, arriving back with armloads of goodies.

Lelani Guest House x 800Aerial view of Lelani Guest House, Hlotse, Lesotho / DJI Mini 3 PRO

The rooms at Lelani were comfortable and the food was local and fresh. 

The next day took us through the suburbia of Hlotse and on towards the massive Mafika Lisiu Pass, one of the highlights of the day.

This pass is without question one of the most dramatic and beautiful tarred passes in Lesotho. It was built ahead of the construction of the Katse Dam to provide an all-weather road suitable for the large trucks carrying fly-ash and cement from Ficksburg to the Katse Dam construction site. It won an international engineering award for its design and engineering excellence.

The statistics of this pass are impressive. Firstly, it's a very long pass at 26.2 km with a summit height of 3091m and an altitude variance of 1104m. It snows regularly on the pass, making it dangerous for non 4WD vehicles. Black ice occurs on the pass too, rendering a highly dangerous situation; even for 4WD vehicles.

Mafika Lisiu Pass summit x 800Mafika Lisiu Pass summit 3091m ASL / Drone DJI Mini3 PRO

The scenery is breathtaking, especially on the western side, offering a smorgasbord of deep valleys, gullies, waterfalls and burbling streams, towering cliffs and in winter it's a snowy wonderland.

It connects Hlotse and Pitseng in the west with Ha Lejone in the east. Allow an hour to drive the route and more if you want to stop for photos. There is a large, safe and well-constructed viewing point at the summit (12 km mark) with magnificent views down the valley to the west, as well as the famous built-up hairpin bend near the summit. (See photo above)

After descending the pass we arrived at Ha Lejone and got a view of the head-waters of the Katse Dam. Our route folowed the flank of the dam until we reached the main intake tower, after which we crossed the dam via a huge bridge with 80m high pylons, of which 80% was below the surface of the water. The engineering of the dam itself is serously impressive, but don't ignore all the peripheral engineering that makes the entire system work. It really is a world class project.

Two big passes lay ahead - Laitsoka and Nkoabee passes, providing tantalising glimpses of the Katse Dam as we forged our way towards the dam wall. We had to be there by 11.00 to catch the morning tour in time. A small group of classic sports car enthusiasts arrived at the same time as our group, of which easily the most interesting vehicle was a 1933 Alfa Romeo open tourer single seater, driven by a very dedicated, mud spattered owner who didn't make conversation with any of us. 

The tour of the dam wall proceeded without a hitch, after which the convoy got to drive over the dam wall for photos and videos. A short lunch break was enjoyed at a wide layby with a good view of the dam wall in the company of sheep, goats and a few cows. The water level had risen from 95% to 98% over a space of a week. We have compiled a new video for your enjoyment, combining footage taken in 2023 & 2024. Best watched in full screen with sound at 4K quality.

The afternoon was devoted to taming the 62 km dirt road to Thaba Tseka. As lovely as was what the views are, that roads requires intense concentration. We finally arrived at 1700 only to hear a peculiar sound emanating from the front of the MPSA Land Cruiser. After a brief investigation, it was determined that the brake fluid had boiled. That was an eye opener of note and it certainly reinforced the practice of gearing down on downhills for the rest of the tour. In fact I had probably been driving in 3rd gear for most of that 62 km, whereas if I had been in 2nd gear, the braking effort would have been a lot lighter. Lesson learned.

We arrived at The Clan Lodge by 17.30 and quickly settled in at the cosy pub to enjoy Chappies Hour, followed by a delicious buffet dinner.

Next Episode: Thaba Tseka and five amazing passes to Thaba Bosiu.


 WILD COAST V7 TOUR Day 12

We bade Kob Inn farewell on the final day and took that bad Transkei road to Willowvale once more, turning left just before the town with our first point of interest being Cats Pass which traverses the Xhora River Valley with it's unusual triple bridges, where cow dung is the main obstacle. For some reason the Wild Coast cattle love beaches and bridges. We took a leg stretch and got the drone up for some aerial footage. which shows the layout of the rivers and bridges.

The Kobonqaba Pass was the last of the multitude of passes we drove on this tour. The road surface has always been rough on this pass, but what makes this pass memorable is the high, single lane bridge at the lowest point of the pass, which spans the Kobonqaba River. 

In the 90's this little river came down in flood with such force that it not only over-topped the bridge, which is about 7m above the riverbed, but it bent the safety railings horizontal. They have never been repaired and still bear mute testimony to the power of water. (See photo below)

Kobonqaba BridgeKobonqaba Bridge showing flood damage to railings / Photo: Trygve Roberts

Soon we arrived in the bustling village of Centane where a battle between British forces and the Xhosa took place in the mid 1800's. Finally a brand new tar road saw the end of the gravel for the rest of the day as we enjoyed some smooth rattle free driving for a while, arriving at Kei Mouth on schedule. Two ferries were operating and got our convoy across the wide expanse of muddy water in short order.

An easy drive through to our final destination at Crawford Beach Cottages followed, but there was still one final little bit of drama on arrival. One of our guests, Mary Ann West, driving, driving a 76 series Land Cruiser, managed to get her vehicle stuck in a patch of soft sand in the parking area at Crawfords. It was much ado about nothing and she managed to extricate herself with a little bit of guidance and encouragement from MPSA.

It was a serious party that night in lovely weather and a fabulous spread of seafood, that went on late into the night. The Wild Coast Tour is the longest tour we offer and we do find that some of our older guests get a bit travel weary towards the last 4 days of the tour. The (fully booked) November 2024 tour will be the last 11 day tour we will be running. From 2025 we will offer two Wild Coast Tours at different times of the year, which will be shorter and more affordable. One will explore the northern part of the coast from Msikaba to Coffee Bay; the other will deal with the southern sector from Coffee Bay to Kei Mouth.


FEATURED PASS

This long tarred pass is located along the A3 route in Lesotho and forms part of a string of impressive passes, virtually running back to back fromm Thaba Tseka to Maseru. It starts at its eastern end where the Marakabei Pass ends and climbs steeply to its 2625m high summit within the first 4 kilometres. It then swings 90 degrees in direction into the north and follows the valley formed by one of the rivers that flow into the Mohale Dam. The pass provides access to the Mohale Dam and local lodges.

 

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 TSRBeardsmall

Trygve Roberts/Editor

"All the goodness of a good egg, cannot make up for the badness of a bad one" ~ Charles Anderson Dana (1882)