After the floods....

⇒ Mopping up
⇒ Tours availability
⇒ Swartberg - the adventure continues
⇒ Tech Stuff
⇒ Across the Karoo
⇒ Social Media - where to next?
⇒ Mountain Kingdom 
⇒ Featured Pass

Listen to an AI-generated discusion of this week's newsletter: 

Nou ook beskikbaar in Afrikaans:

MOPPING UP

A huge amount of progress has been made since the May storms, but some routes remain closed. Our latest intel informs us that the following passes remain closed:

• Meiringspoort
• Robinson Pass
• Perdebont Road
• Uitkyk Pass (Cederberg)

The list below is of passes that have been reopened:

• Huisrivier
• Seweweekspoort
• Bosluiskloof
• Road to Gamkaskloof (Die Hel)
• Swartberg Pass
• Prince Alfred's Pass
• Seven Passes Road
• Bains Kloof Pass

Some of the repairs have been of a temporary nature and will be fully repaired as resources allow. Well done to the Western Cape and Eastern Cape governments for stepping in, although a couple of 'knelpunte' did rear their heads - like the washaway on the R62, which required the action of local farmers to get a proper detour built. Apparently that particular repair has now been approved and actioned for a proper rebuild of the bridge with adequate retaining walls.

One thing is for sure, the power of water is an incredibly destructive force.

TOURS ON TAP

With a few cancellations having come through, there are still a few opportunities to book onto one of our tours.

September 13-18 : Cederberg Spring Tour (1 spot available) - A relaxed tour with a few kilometres of technical driving, stunning rock formations, waterfalls, wild flowers, buchu and Rooibos tasting, San rock art, camaraderie and great accommodation. As is the case with all our tours there is no camping, no dishes. Just thrill & chill.

October 28th to 6th November: Mountain Kingdom Tour (1 spot available) - The very best of all the finest attractions Lesotho has on offer under the expert guidance of Trygve Roberts and Philip Rawlins. Think massive mountain passes, cultural events, huge dams, waterfalls. The tour includes Sani Pass, Katse Dam and Mohale Dam, a visit to the newest Cathedral in Southern Africa, the worlds highest diamond mine, a drive over the new Senqu mega bridge and a visit to the magnificent Sethlabathebe National Park.

27th Nov to 3rd December - Ben 10 Official (2 spots left) The big one! A must for the more adventurous. Ten high altitude, challenge passes in 6 days. Bastervoetpad, Naude's Nek, Jouberts, Heuningneskloof, Otto du Plessis, Lundean's Nek, Dangershoek, Volunteershoek, Carlisleshoespruit & Pot River Pass. It's much more than just driving passes though - there are historical bridges, a dizzying drive up to the 2500m Dawid se Kop, vulture viewing,  remote villages, friendly locals and a stay in an hotel that dates back to 1883.

SWARTBERG CLASSIC - We soldier on....

The day started with a rather crisp temperature of 3C. Log fires in the dining room at breakfast set the tone for another great day of gravel travel.

First up was the Assegaaibosch Pass - a short, narrow pass with steep drop-offs and some very sharp corners. As the ascent gets to the halfway point a beautiful view of the valley at Assegaaibosch spreads out in the valley. It was particularly lush and green this year.

The Rooiberg Pass was in good condition with no issues whatsoever and by 09.30 we had arrived in Calitzdorp. There are a surprising number of excellent guest houses in the town, a lovely old sandstone church, many Victorian era semi-detached homes that have been beautifully restored and last, but not least, the town is home to South Africa's award winning port producers - Boplaas Winery.

Boplaas Winery - Finest South African port wine / Photo: MPSA

It was a little early for tastings, but guests bought plenty of the good stuff to take home. The service levels at Boplaas were excellent and the whole place was spotless.

Traversing the Huisrivier Pass on our way to Ladismith, there was evidence of several rock slides that had closed the pass briefly, but Dr Graham Ross' engineering skills were still on point, where most of the rocks were caught behind the substantial catch walls, which he pioneered back in the 60's when this pass was rebuilt. It was originally built in 1897, upgraded in the 1950s and completely rebuilt and modernized into a new tarred highway layout in 1996.

Not too many people know about the Hoekoe Valley Road. It's a mixed surface road that runs around the northern side of Ladismith in the shadow of the Klein Swartberg. Verdant farms with neat orchards, tall trees and inky blue dams are a feast on the eye. The road was however, quite dusty, which caused a long convoy length by the time we reached Ladismith to refuel.

The distinctive cleft peak known as Towerkop (2189m) near Ladismith / Photo: MPSA

Our route headed west over the plains of the Karoo traversing a brace of interesting little passes including the Outol Pass, Klein Swartberg Pass, Volstruisnek, Wasbank and Perdefonteinkloof, where we took a well deserved lunch break in quiet sunshine on a perfect Karoo winter's day.

A short stint on tar took us east again via the Witnekke Pass, then along a beautiful valley, appropriately miniaturised by the massive bulk of the Swartberg range to the right and the Elandsberg to the left.

The road between Laingsburg and Bosluiskloof was in superb condition / Photo: MPSA

The condition of the gravel road along this section was superb and often smoother than tar. The next altitude gaining pass to get back up above the 1000m contour was the Koueveld Pass. Once again the dust was getting hectic as the afternoon wore on with the convoy length stretching to well over 5 km, requiring regular stops to regroup and ensure good radio comms could be maintained.

Probably the highlight of the day and one everyone was eagerly anticipating was the descent of the Bosluiskloof Pass. Just after the May floods, a big landslip occurred about halfway down the pass, completely blocking the road. No one could get in or out of the valley and the Gamkapoort Dam. This status quo remained in place for almost 6 weeks, before the roads department were able to get machinery in to clear the road.

A basic ramp was built over the landslide as a temporary fix / Photo: MPSA

The volume of sand and rock was enormous, so the short term solution was to build a sort of ramp over the rockfall. Apparently they will return at a later date to do the job properly. Our group was the first tour group to venture down the pass. You can see the sheer size of it in our featured video lower down on this page.

The staff were ready and waiting to welcome us at Bosch Luys Kloof Lodge with big smiles, warm hearts and a shot of sherry. The service levels at the lodge are beyond reproach with staff memebers always willing to go the extra mile to ensure guests are happy. All our guests always rave about their stay at this lodge and many return of their own volition.

The two young ladies, Sarah and Anthea as well as Daniel gave us guided tours to San rock art, a fantastic game drive as well as a guided trip to see the dam. The legendary water bailiff at the dam, Fox Lederboer, gave talking to our group a miss, as he had guests for the day. But more of that in our mext missive.

TECH STUFF

Kinetic Straps – Recovery with a Difference

A kinetic strap is a recovery tool designed to get a stuck vehicle moving by using controlled elasticity rather than a rigid pull.

Unlike a conventional tow strap, a kinetic strap is made from specially designed, highly elastic webbing. When stretched under load, it stores energy. As it contracts, that stored energy is released smoothly, creating a progressive pulling force that can help free a bogged-down vehicle.

A kinetic strap is an essential tool for a serious offroader / Image: tauro.co.za

The technique is relatively simple. The strap is attached to suitable recovery points on both vehicles, leaving enough slack for the strap to stretch. The recovery vehicle then moves forward steadily, rather than accelerating violently. As the strap stretches, it absorbs the initial shock and transfers the stored energy to the stuck vehicle. This can produce a surprisingly effective pull without the sudden shock loads associated with a conventional tow strap or chain.

The major advantage is reduced shock loading on both vehicles and their recovery points. However, kinetic recovery is not risk-free. Never attach a kinetic strap to a tow ball, and always use properly rated recovery points and equipment.

Used correctly, a kinetic strap is one of the most effective tools in a 4x4 recovery kit.

There are many products available in South Africa. Prices range between R 1000 and R2500 (for the fancier woven rope type - which we use as it never loses its elasticity). Most standard kinetic straps lose their stretch after about 10 recoveries and then need to be replaced.

ACROSS THE KAROO

The second day of this tour is a free day, where guests get to explore the Addo National Park in their own time and pace. There were countless game sightings by various members of our group, who were able to guide other members to the right spots via the two way radios.

The sighting of the day was a group of young lion cubs, which stayed put long enough for some good photos to be taken.

After Addo, the group headed up the Doringnek Pass to meet up that night at the timeless and gracious Zuurberg Mountain Village. This was our first visit to this venue and it was excellent. Service, food and accommodation was comfortable and top class.

The real win was meeting Peter HenKal in person, who offered to address our group during dinner about the history of the Zuurberg. We managed to obtain a copy of his book 'The Fiery History of the Zuurberg Mountain Village'

Next Episode: We travel across the Zuurberg Pass to Somerset East, Pearston, up the Buffelshoek Pass, east on the Tarka-Botha Pass and finally north up the Tarka Pass to our overnight venue - Blomfontein near Cradock.

SOCIAL MEDIA

We have never paid for an ad on any of the social media platforms, relying instead on originality, quality and authenticity to keep us solidly planted where we want to be. There are no quick fixes. It is pure grit, hard graft to keep improving one's footprint. The last year has been good for us.

We started our first Facebook page in 2013 with a handful of followers. Today we stand at 293,000 followers, gaining new followers at a rate of about 1000 every 5 days. So we should reach the 300,000 target very soon. Its quite a milestone and involves hundreds of hours of moderating comments, answering (yes, we answer every single question), deleting, hiding and banning. It's very close to being a full time job. In the past 28 days we generated 6.3 million page views and fielded 432,826 comments. The numbers are big.



For anyone wanting to launch a business via Facebook, understand that there is no quick fix. You have to work very hard at it. Facebook is comfortably the best of the bunch as the platforms allows outside links in posts. Instagram and TikTok, do not. That relegates those platforms to much lower interaction and mainly people who want visual stimulation, who tend not to read captions or stories. 'Threads' is a waste of time.

Instagram 35,800 Followers

TikTok 15,000 Followers .We started our page earlier this year and have shown rapid growth - This platform attracts a much younger, less literate audience. As is the case with Instagram, people on TikTok, tend to only watch the visuals.

There is of course, a very real danger for any business becoming social media dependent. You could have your page cloned, closed or hijacked and with it goes decades of hard work. It is very difficult getting one's page reinstated after a malicious attack, of which we have experienced three over that timescale.

And forget about making any real money. All those views and interactions generate a paltry online income stream of around R 2000 per month. The user is definitely not the one making the money!

MOUNTAIN KINGDOM TOUR (APRIL 2026)

DAY 4 is a really nice day, packed with interesting things and lots of back to back passes (each with its own history and allure). It's also not a long, tiring day, allowing us to reach our base at Thaba Bosiu, fairly early in the afternoon.

Departing The Clan Lodge is a slow, bumpy story on what can only be described as a terrible road. Besides the road surface there are slow vehicles (even slower than our convoy) consisting of taxis, horses, donkeys and pedestrians. There are two types of taxis - minibus and small hatchbacks (Honda Jazz) known locally as a 4+1 (4 passengers and a driver). These work in harmony with the minibuses and are identifiable by a large yellow stripe on either side.

After 40 minutes, it's time to negotiate the teeming traffic of Thaba Tseka, a fair sized regional town of considerable importance. It takes a while, adding regular doses of patience, and we are spat out on the other side of the town, picking up some speed as we take on the first of many passes.

The brand new cathedral at Mantsonyane / Photo: MPSA

The first one is the Mokhoabong Pass and it wastes no time in terms of gaining altitude. It's long and has hundreds of bends, corners and curves as it heads west towards the village of Mantsonyane. This is the home of Lesotho's prime minister, Sam Matekane, whose beautiful thatched roof mansion sits high on a hill overlooking the village.

Mantsonyane must easily be the most progressive village in Lesotho, helped in no uncertain terms by large donations by Matekane, who has funded a number of projects in the village, including a shopping mall, solar street lighting, a school, a sports stadium and more recently a brand new cathedral.

We stopped in at to have a look. There were still a few workers adding finishing touches to some of the out-buildings and the fountains. It is a modern structure, yet still holds the dignity and elegance one expects from a cathedral. 

Matekane made his fortune in mining and appears to be an excellent leader. He won the general election based on a strong social media presence and is a much loved leader all over Lesotho. He has succeeded in bringing much needed political stability to the landlocked country.

Up Cheches Pass (another biggie), Marakabei Pass and Likalaneng Pass before turning off to the Mohale Dam, where we had booked an official tour for the group. This was the first time we had done this and we were incredibly lucky to find the dam overflowing with billions of litres of fresh water thundering down the spillway. 

Screenshot from a video clip shows the relative size of that standing wave compared to a large SUV - Size matters! / Image: MPSA

We were allowed to drive down the zig zags on the face of the dam wall and under the spillway via a short tunnel to the astonioshing sight and sound of the water powering overhead in a thunder of spray and rainbows. As a first time exercise, our logistics and planning needed some refinement, as we had quite a traffic jam at the turnaround point, but eventually we untangled the convoy and drove back up to the top of the wall and turned right onto the observation deck, where we parked and enjoyed a talk by the very entertaining young lady guide, who also took us into the building where the tunnels are accessed. A truly fascinating excursion and one we will definitely be making a permanent part of our future Lesotho Tours.

There were a few more passes to drive - Blue Mountain Pass, God Help Me Pass and Bushmans Pass, before we arived at the outskirts of Maseru, but we took a little gravel road to visit Lesotho's only winemaker at Sani Wines.

Kananelo Thamae is a humble young man, 4th generation farmer, trained in Stellenbosch and now runs the family farm producing some good wine in the highest vineyard in Southern Africa. The wine tasting was an entertaining and delightful experience as guests stocked up with boot loads full of product.

Kananelo Thamae - Lesotho's only winemaker / Photo: Trygve Roberts

Thaba Bosiu would be our home for the next two nights as guests settled into their chalets.

Next Episode: Turning guests into drummers and that Ahah! moment.

FEATURED PASS

We were able to refilm the Bosluiskloof when we were there in July. We filmed it twice on two different days. It's actually a tricky pass to film. In bright sunlight there is a heavy shadow component which plays havoc with the camera's light sensors. When its overcast, the colours appear dull and washed out, requiring a lot of post-filming attention.

To access the pass page use this link: BOSLUISKLOOF PASS

Here is the 2026 video. It's 15 minutes long. Filmed in 4K. Narrated with lots of history. We hope you enjoy watching it as much as we enjoyed filming it.

Trygve Roberts - Chief cook and bottle washer

"A lantern does not remove the entire darkness.
It simply gives enough light for the next step.
Maybe that is all we need sometimes?
We don't always need to know the whole journey ahead.

Sometimes we just need enough courage for today.
Enough hope for tomorrow and enough faith to keep walking.

Small steps still move us forward.
A little light is still a beginning."

Author ~ Anonymous