A week or two ago I posted on my trip over the Swartberg Pass (part 1 and part 2) during my recent holiday. I also had the opportunity to do another of the iconic Southern Cape passes while I was in the area. The Montagu Pass is the old pass over the Outeniqua Mountains from George on the coast to the Klein Karoo. The pass has been declared a National Monument which means that it is beautifully maintained and very…
There are two ways to get from the Karoo into the Klein Karoo over / through the Swartberg and both are very scenic. The Swartberg Pass is for those with lots of time and Meiringspoort for those in a hurry. The Meiringspoort road features soaring cliff walls with spectacular rock formations along the 25 km tarred road which winds along the floor of the gorge and crosses the Groot River 25 times. Each crossing, or drift, has its own name…
Picture take on the Swartberg Pass where there currently is very little rain and temperatures that easily reach into the upper thirties Celsius
Yesterday we drove up the Swartberg Pass and took a break at the top. Today we decent into the Karoo. The northern part of the pass is famous for its switchbacks and you won't find a travel book on South Africa that doesn't have at least one photo of the pass.Just before we started our decent I was curious to see where we were going and saw how the road snaked down the mountain side at a gradual decline. There…
One of the highlights (literally and figuratively) of the holiday was getting to drive over the Swartberg Pass outside Oudtshoorn. The pass links the Klein Karoo with the Great Karoo and its always been very high on my "to do" list. The Swartberg Pass was built by one of South Africa's great pass builders, Thomas Bain, between 1881 and 1883. The construction work was done by convict labourers and the pass was officially opened on 10 January 1888. The pass…
We spent the first week of our holiday in the Oudtshoorn area. Oudtshoorn is situated in the Klein Karoo and its economy is basically split between farming and tourism. The word Klein means small or little in Afrikaans (also in Dutch) and Karoo is a Khoisan word that means Place of Thirst.The Klein Karoo is flanked by the magnificent Outeniqua (the word means Men laiden with honey in the Khoisan language) Mountains to the south and the majestic Swartberg (Black…
The town of George at the foot of the Outeniqua Mountains was founded in 1811 and was the first town to be established in South Africa by the British. It was named after King George III. The town is the main commercial town on the Garden Route and is often just used by tourists as a stop over. It is also where visitors will find the Outeniqua Railway Museum where the Outeniqua Choo Tjoe steam train is based. Unfortunately the…
The Valley of Desolation is situated just outside the town of Graaff Reinet. It can be found in the Camdeboo National Park which provides the visitor with insights into the unique landscape and ecosystem of the Karoo, not to mention awesome scenic beauty. The Karoo was formed hundreds of millions of years ago and in some places, dolerite form jointed pillars. The best examples of which are found in the Valley of Desolation where erosion of the softer sedimentary beds…
In today's modern day people traveling between Port Elizabeth and Cradock crosses over the Zuurberg Mountains at speed via the Olifants Kop Pass (R32). In olden days travellers had to cross over the old Zuurberg Pass which was quite a treacherous journey. The Zuurberg Pass is still accessible today although its mostly a very bumpy dirt road. In the past I have travelled up to the Zuurberg Inn several times, but I've never been over the pass' back and down…
Proteas growing on the Robertson Pass between Mossel Bay and Oudtshoorn in the Southern Cape.