What's up Doc?
* Hello Summer?
* Tours & Trips
* Lesotho Tour Part 5
* Technical
* Katberg Tour Part 2
* Featured Pass
HELLO SUMMER?
With the shortest day of the year behind us, we can look forward to small increments of additional sunlight as we slowly move into the second part of the winter. From a Cape Town perspective it's been a very mild winter so far and not nearly enough rain has fallen. Local dams are standing at an average of 68% compared to the same time last year at 84%. The second half of winter is almost always more severe than the first half in the Western Cape, whereas upcountry, things tend to be the opposite.
The southern parts of the Western Cape, the Little Karoo and parts of the coastal belt of the Eastern Cape took a walloping in June with lots of infrastructure damage. Most of the roads have been either partially or fully reopened to traffic - and just in time for our Swartberg Tour which starts on 7th July.
In the grip of a 5 year financial winter is the Tiffindell Ski Resort. All the legal wrangles have finally been tied up and the property is officially up for sale. It will be interesting to see how the next Tiffindell chapter unfolds and whether The Ben MacDhui Pass will ever be driven again.
TOURS & TRIPS
We have been inundated with inquiries for our 2025 Katberg Tour. It seems we hit the sweet spot with this inaugural version. Half of the places have already been pre-booked.
We've had a cancellation for our 11th August Grabouw 4x4 Novice Training Day. Book here.
We are looking to grow our tour offerings in 2025 by engaging other guides to help with the workload, so next year we plan on doubling the number of tours. This will also allow me to explore and create new tours (like the Katberg Tour). More news on this development when its cast in concrete.
KATBERG TOUR - PART 2
Our route followed the Fish Tunnel for a while before branching off to the west, following a quiet dirt road up the northern flank of the Waainek Pass. This was a delightful drive with some nice technical bits thrown in to keep the adrenaline flowing. We passed the main farmhouse near the summit, then faced the very long descent down to the coastal plateau at Somerset East.
