British Fort at Cogmans Kloof

On top of the Cogmans Kloof tunnel outside Montagu stands an old English fort built by the British in 1899 during the Anglo Boer War.  The fort has a great view of the approaching road and kloof through the mountains and one can immediately see why the British chose the spot.  To get to the top there is a steep little path from across the road from the parking area and after a couple of minutes of huffing and puffing you get…

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Cogmans Kloof

Cogmans Kloof outside Montagu is one of the famous landmarks on Route 62 through the Klein Karoo.  The Cogmans Kloof Pass passes through a poort (a poort being defined as a path through a mountain range) which runs through the Langeberg between Ashton and Montagu.  The first white farmers in the area were allocated farms from 1725 onwards and the original road through the poort was a dangerous one alongside the Kingna River which incorporates eight hazardous drifts.  To get around Kalkoenkrantz…

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Cango Caves

Some people probably think caves are all small damp passages full of creepy crawlies and only accessible to the most adventurous. If so then clearly those some people have never been to the Cango Caves outside Oudtshoorn in the Klein Karoo. The Cango Caves are magnificent, huge and probably one of the best show caves in the world to visit. What makes it even better to visit is the fact the because the caves go into the mountain and not…

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The KidZ at Ronnie’s Sex Shop

The KidZ were absolutely amazed with what they saw at Ronnie's Sex Shop on Route 62 outside Barrydale and were snapping away pictures with their cameras the whole time we were there.  They even went to Ronnie himself to get pictures with him.  I finally got the two of them to stop bouncing off the walls long enough for a picture in front of the famous bar before they went off again.

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Ronnie and his Sex Shop

I have passed Ronnie's Sex Shop on Route 62 close to Barrydale so often but *sticks head in a hole* have never pulled over for a look.  Yes, shame on me.  But if you don't know what Ronnie's Sex Shop is, don't think it was a case of wanting to stop there to have a look at kinky toys and lingerie.  Because that's not what Ronnie's Sex Shop is about.  So what is it about?  Let me tell you the story…

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Montagu Museum

Montagu op Route 62 in the Klein Karoo het twee fantastiese museum wat besoekers aan die dorp by kan gaan inloer.  Die Montagu Museum is geleë in die ou Sendingkerk wat in 1907 gebou is en konsentreer op die dorp se kultuur-historiese skatte.  Die museum het verskeie uitstallings met die kerk se preekstoel and ander kerk items wat sentraal hieraan is.  'n Belangrike deel van die museum is die medisinale plantnavorsing wat hier plaasvind en ook uitgestal word.  Agter die museum…

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Sacred Ibis

The Leidam in Montagu in the Western Cape must be one of the best places in the area to do bird watching.  From the bird hide next to the road one can get great views and photographs of particularly sacred ibis and egrets with herons and weavers also around.  Due to the big amount of birds around the dam there is a bit of an ... odor in the air, but the quality of the sightings makes more than up…

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Montagu Church roses

Whenever I find a beautiful historic building I like to take at least two kinds of photos.  One straight on to show the building itself and a second one with something in the foreground so that the building forms the background of the picture.  I would have preferred the white roses in front of the Montagu Dutch Reformed Church in the Western Cape to have been red as was the case with the Old Mission Church in Montagu, but I'm not complaining.

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Old Mission Church rose

The Montagu Museum in the Klein Karoo town of Montagu is housed in the town's Neo-Gothic style Old Mission Church which was built in 1907.  At the end of 2011 we spent 10 days in the town and decided to return at the end of 2012.  After our 2011 visit I did a blog post about the museum so I don't really want to do a similar one this time around.  I did look for a nice angle to photograph the building…

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Avalon Springs

When we went to Montagu at the end of last year the first thing people asked was if we were going to go to the hot water springs.  The hot water springs at Avalon Springs is probably the best known attraction in Montagu and it gets thousands of visitors every year.  We weren't particularly planning to but decided to check it out.  The pools at complex are fed by a 43ºC thermal spring originating roughly 2km's under ground and pumped to the…

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