passes

Uncategorized

Montagu Pass Part 2

As you drive higher up the Montagu Pass, the road gets steeper and narrower. You can imagine how this could have been a problem during the early days of ox wagons. Two wagons could not pass abreast in most places, specially around the tight corners. Consequently the drivers and ox leaders had to whistle and shout and crack their whips continuously to warn one another of their approach. Very close to the top of the pass, the road passes under…

4 Comments
22/01/2010
Uncategorized

Montagu Pass Part 1

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…

9 Comments
21/01/2010
Uncategorized

Meiringspoort

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…

8 Comments
13/01/2010
Uncategorized

Swartberg Pass Part 2

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…

5 Comments
07/01/2010
Uncategorized

Swartberg Pass Part 1

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…

6 Comments
06/01/2010
Uncategorized

Zuurberg Pass

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…

3 Comments
07/04/2009