Travels along the paths of green !

 

Baviaans  Kloof - September 2005  - Morne Stevens

 

The idea behind the Baviaans trip did not start out next to a fire with some good wine, not even in a pub of some sort, it was more a case of HR sending me an email stating that I had too much leave.  I said, “In that case I’ll see you in two weeks”   Well, perhaps it was not as simple as I make it out to be but that is very much how this trip began.  I called my dad and told him that we were going touring for 14 days and that I didn’t know where yet but it would be for 14 days.  He said fine, he is coming along.

 

Day 1: Cape Town to George: 400km (4h50 travel time)

Two months later I met him at his Superette in Reehbok.  The road from Cape Town was pretty uneventful bar being harassed by an obese bergie in Aston.  Earlier that day I stopped at the local butcher for some biltong and dry sausage.  With Jared (3y) in hand and Ethan (4 months) in my arms she started to harass me.  She even followed me into the shop.  By that time Ethan started to moan, Jared was just short of tears and the pathetic butcher did nothing about the bergie.  Now being goal orientated is not always a good thing,  my mind was set on buying biltong and with the harassment from the rear, a crying boy on the one side and a moaning baby on the other side I bought the most horrific biltong I had ever tasted.  Eventually, I chased the bergie out of the butchery myself and stormed out furious but with my biltong “trophy” in hand.  It was only later that I realized this error in judgement.  The cow herders however did not seem to mind when I distributed liberal portions amongst them just when we were off the Tradouw pass, near Heidelberg.  That evening, Jared and I drove along to drop the shop workers in Great Brakriver and lo and behold, two rhino come strolling down the field, a mere 20 meters from the road.  Whilst it was exciting to see them, it was a bit of an anticlimax to see rhino on one’s doorstep, when one has a whole trip of scenic drives and game viewing planned.

 

 

Day 2: George to Makedaat (Baviaans): 262km (7h55)

In miserably cold and wet (CAW) weather we left George, leaving the tar roads behind at Wilderness as we climbed Wilderness Heights and continued along the old Knysna road. The wet weather made this road even more scenic and we really got an appreciation for the beauty of this part of the land as we traversed the Hoogekraal Pass and Homtini Pass.  This is indeed the true Garden Route, though few realize it and even less experience it.  Lunch time saw as arriving at the Mother Holly tea garden in the Millwoods Forest, just in time for the last home made apple tart.

 

On the T4A maps a track is shown through the Millwood forest that exists to the north of Spitskop.  Not even the local tour operator was aware of this track but we decided to give it a go and turn back should me dad’s 4x2 not be able to cope with it.  For the greater part the track traverses a walking route under a tree canopy, sometimes in natural forest and at other times in pine forests.  My dad coped very well and we drove the 20km in just over 1 hour.  The rain was now coming down in buckets and turned the normally hard surface into a slippery quarkmire which required lots of concentration, especially on the narrow tracks of the Prince Alfred Pass.  It was late that afternoon that we entered Baviaans through the Nuwekloof pass, first stopping at the Key to Baviaans before heading through to Henriette at the Makkedaat Cave. Henriette runs the Baviaans Information Office on the Willowmore side of the Baviaans.  Give her a gap and she will keep you occupied with interesting stories on Baviaans and its people for hours.  We had a look at the Makkedaat cave but decided to book in the considerably warmer Van Terrebert cave, but not after I had a spectacular fall off the rotating gravitational see-saw at Makkedaat. That evening Henriette was a star with her home cooked venison pie.

 

 

Day 3-4: Baviaans to Mountain Zebra National Park (Cradock): 262km (7h55)

A chilly wind greeted us the morning with the thermostat reading a mere 3.5 degrees Celsius.  We left Baviaans to follow the tar road to Aberdeen, Graaff Reinet and eventually Mountain Zebra National Park near Cradock.  The + 100km stretch between Willowmore and Aberdeen must be one of the most boring in South Africa, especially after the scenic roads of the previous day.  We spend a leisurely two nights in the Park.  One of the highlights was driving the Ubejane 4x4 loop that is situated in the park. Not a challenging trail at all, but it allows one to get very close to the animals and we had some of our best sights there.  We even saw 4 rhino (in total), not to bad considering that there are only 4 in the park.  Jared also grew an infinity for the steering wheel and his driving skills improved rapidly over the next few days.

 

Day 5-6 Cradock to Addo National Park (Patterson): 283km (9h13 includes game viewing)  It started to get easier with Ethan now.  The past few days have been short of extremely difficult and challenging.  He started to teeth and was crying a lot.  He was also eating much more food and we were grateful to be able to get the extra supplies in Graaff Reinet, even after having to visit 4 shops.  Alex is in some serious need of a good nights rest. The trip ahead had me a bit worried but it was looking better after Cradock so we left for Addo, full steam ahead.  On T4A, bless their soul, I saw a POI marked as Eggrock on the R61.  With little distance to travel for the day we headed off to investigate.  I could not find out to much about it, other than the obvious in that it is a large rock, looking like an egg.  The detour would take about a hour to visit with some gates but well worth the while.  It was interesting for me to observe the names and dates on the rock, some dating back to 1951.  By today’s standard this is considered history but by yesteryears standard it would be graffiti. Where does one draw the line…  Unfortunately the road to Addo had some roadworks which caused some delays, not that delay is the issue, but it bundles the worlds poorest bunch of truck drivers into tight convoy which made the road ahead treacherous and a bit nerve-wrecking at times.  The power of the straight-6 came into true form here and I was grateful for not driving the diesel truck anymore.

 

At Addo we slept in the Safari Tented accommodation.  It is built close to the fence and overlooks the park.  It is truly an excellent option which was most enjoyed by all.  The park is also very much geared for tourism and service.  What really impressed me is that even the braai grid that is provided, a Weber, gets cleaned daily.

 

We saw our usual share (fairly large) of elephant and were pleasantly surprised by the large amount of buffalo sights.  Buffalo are diurnal but due to hunting became nocturnal at Addo.  For this very reason, seeing a buffalo in the daytime is a rare sight despite their large numbers.  But with recent introduction of lions, the buffalo had to start changing their habits back to normal.  In the first month, 8 TB free buffalo were caught by the lions.  I do think this is the main reason for seeing them so much more in the daytime.  We even saw herds of up to 30 grazing in the open fields, a sight never previously experienced by myself.

 

 

Day 7 Paterson to Eagles Rest (Baviaans) 232km (8h06 include game viewing)

This was my day of mishaps.  On every trip I have a day like this.  It started rather early with a pocket knife slipping and cutting almost 20mm long the inner pad of my thumb.  Thankfully my mother, with years of nursing experience was around to quickly dress the wound.  It made driving a bit difficult but I was adamant not to let it ruin the trip.

 

With this rather exciting start for the day we headed off towards Colchester where we entered the new side of the Addo National Park at the Matyholweni rest camp.  A road is being built from the Addo main camp and once this is complete the new game fences will be put up.  This is expected to take another 18 months.  The rest camp is small and practical and has a lot of potential.  Next stop was at KraggaKamma game reserve on the outskirts of PE.  What a pleasant surprise this was with its fantastic game viewing of very tame animals and a beautiful scenic Mountain View drive. At the main reception is a hand reared tame cheetah named Duma, who recently starred in the movie name Duma.  It was one of the highlights for Jared to touch and stroke the very friendly Duma.

 

After lunch we left for Hankey via the R331 where we visited Africa’s largest sundial and the grave of Sarah Baartmann.  The sundial, at around 36.4m in diameter is pretty impressive and the time was rather accurate considering the scale of the dial.  Tolbos information centre (Patensie) was not too far away and was a great sight after a long day on the road.  Once again, I was pleasantly surprised by the hospitality of the people and their willingness to help.  He also gave us some great advice on what to experience in Baviaans but I struggled to understand their directions.  Everything was just after 5km, or just after a river, nothing specific and there were no sign boards.

 

We were rapidly running out of daytime when we left for Eagles Rest.  With no waypoint and “just past 5km” instructions it was a bit of a hit and run.  In hindsight, a 1:50 000 scale map would have been ideal.  I bought one at Tolbos but never bothered to open it.  The dusty road through the natural forest was just amazing.  The long shadows coming through the tree canopy were simply an awesome experience.  After several river crossings and asking directions no less than 4 times, we finally got the entrance to Eagles Rest.  One look at the downhill and I decided to drive it in reverse as there is no place to turn once at the bottom.  My dad drove down head first, but decided to rather reverse back up immediately rather than struggling when wet the next morning.  After 15 attempts he finally managed to get the 4x2 out.

I was not impressed with Eagles Rest at all.  The location is idyllic but the place was filthy, so much so that my mother spend half an hour sanitizing the bathroom.  The beds are in a poor state of disrepair with some having broken pieces of hardboard for a base.   The farmer forgot to turn on the gas, so the fridge never got cold and he arrived only after 18h00 with a battery for the lights, he forgot about that too.

 

The day would off course not be completed without me falling into the river in front of the house.  I managed to keep the camera dry but now my only pair of shoes were wet.  It took two days before I could wear them again.

 

 

Day 8 Eagles Rest to Swartland (Kudu Kaya)  150km (9h50 including Ossberg 4x4)

A very early departure and uneventful hill climb and we were back on the road. At Kondomo we met Barto, Thys and Christo from PE from where we departed on the Osseberg 4x4 trail.

 

I really enjoyed the Osseberg trail.  It is not challenging, very scenic but with several water crossings to keep it interesting.  Some of the water crossings are up to 200m long and with several turns through roof high reeds and relatively shallow water (but I have been told that it can get quite deep).  Thys did a swell job of keeping us informed about the history of Baviaans, its people and the trail.  It certainly was one of the highlights for me and made the day so much more enjoyable.  Alex, my long suffering wife, was a real star, there she was sitting in the loadbay of Barto’s cruiser, recording us coming through the water crossings on our 11^th wedding anniversary with not a single fancy restaurant insight.  Certainly not your average way to celebrate an anniversary but she thoroughly enjoyed the outing.

 

One of the things to experience in Baviaans is Queen Victoria’s Profile in the enon conglomerate.  Despite all the “just after 5km” instructions I could not find this rock feature, but Thys was so kind to lead me to the Queen Victoria before departing on his journey home.   With Kouga dam just around the corner, Jared took the wheel as we slowly snaked across the road to a lovely shaded picnic spot at the bottom of the dam.  I was just finishing the last sandwich when a retired couple of Jeffery’s pulled up.  The came up to Baviaans for the day with no provisions, not even water. They look parched.  We invited them over and they gratefully accepted the cream cheese, gherkin, steak, tomato and lettuce sandwich.  Being able to have fresh cold but not frozen veg and fruit is really a joy.

 

Later that afternoon we booked into Swartland (another house at Kudu Kaya) that is situated next to a small stream after a leisurely drive through parts of the Baviaans kloof.  The house is well situated and very well equipped and naturally lends itself to socializing till late at night.

 

 

Day 9 Kudu Kaya to Geelhoutbos 60km (7h39) Average moving speed: 7km/h

Poortjies is considered to be the true entrance to Baviaans and I tend to agree.  As one enters Poortjie (and also the Baviaans Eastern control gate) the road becomes narrow and winding with rich plant and tree life hugging the road.  Streams are plentiful and every few kilometers you would encounter a water crossing of varying depth.

With only 60km to cover for the day we took it leisurely, stopped frequently and just appreciated the environment.  The first pass we encountered was Combrinks Pass.  It was a relatively easy drive, though narrow at times.  The views are simply stunning and with every sharp turn one experiences a new part of Baviaans with its many biomes.  Vehicles with trailers could end up in a tight spot, should they need to reverse as there are very few places for a vehicle to pass.  Another biome awaited us on the plateau which reminds one a lot of the sandveld fynbos.  Here I encountered my first of many frustrations of the day, blocked roads.  Eastern Cape Nature Conservation has placed booms (some locked, other not) on every single road off the main raid.  The first of many we encountered was the entrance to Bergplaas but more about this later.  On the same plateau I noticed the waypoint for a geocache a mere 80 meter from the road.  After some searching, we found the geocache about 10 meters from the indicated area. We were the 7th visitor and Trailguide (LCCSA member) being the previous visitor.

 

We were about to descend the Holgate Mountain Pass when I noticed a heavily overgrown track leading north.  One of the points of interest that I intended to visit was Winston le Roux’s cable that he erected in 1961, effectively bridging the Waterpoort to link the Enkelpoort and Bergplaas farming communities. The cable transported farm produce (wheat, vegetables and even livestock) between the two areas bypassing the tortuous and time consuming mountain road.  We decided to find the cable and it turned out to be a good decision, as bout 155m from the main road the track opened on the cliff with the cable in clear site.

 

The decent into the valley via the Holgate mountain pass was slow and bumpy.  The road is badly washed away (not difficult) which requires your attention all the time.  Decending, using low range first and second made it much more manageable.  The scenery changed to dense tree and foliage again with the occasional river crossing.  We passed Doodsklip (boomed), Enkeldoorn (boomed) and turned into Rooihoek (boomed).  Rooihoek is just one of those must see places with the Kouga flowing past banks of beach white sand, set against the backdrop of sheer red cliffs.  We were about to enter the campsite when a ranger jumped out of the bush, asking for our permits, refusing us entrance despite my booking at Geelhoutbos.  After a long “song and dance” I talked my way in and we had a picnic near the riverside.

 

Driving past several more boomed entrances really irritated me.  When I booked the accommodation nothing was said about permits.  I visited Komdomo where nothing was said and Tolbos information office said one can just drive in anytime.  The rangers are ill equipped volunteers and cannot even issue a permit, rather informing people that permits are available at Komdomo (which based on my current driving was 6h away, though could normally be done in around 2h). What got me even more worked up, was that information on sites controlled by Nature Conservation are none existing, one simply does not know what it is all about until you stand in front of the boomed entrances.  One can not be adventureous and simply explore but have to buy a pathetic R8pp permit that is hours away and with all the variables on the Baviaans road one can just not be sure which permit would be relevant.

 

The more I brewed on the subject the more I realized that the part of Baviaans, controlled by the Parks Board, has become out of balance.  By removing its people it has lost a lot of its character, personality and warmth.  The controlled area is beautiful, but for me it has become lacking.

 

The final pass of the day was Grassneck, which was is in a considerably better state than the Holgate pass and certainly has some of the best views over the valley.  After being just short of 8 hours on the road we arrived at Geelhoutbos.  Geelhoutbos is about 3.2km off the main road driving into a beautiful valley.  The staff is extremely helpful and respectful towards their visitors.  Kiwiet has worked there for 18 years and was always around to help and share his experiences.  The accommodation is in old bush lodger houses. It is spartan but the place has a great atmosphere and plenty of safe places for children to play.  Go for a walk through the yellowwood forest to the swimming hole should you have enough time.  They also have some longer walks which is also recommendable.

 

 

Day 10 Geelhoutbos to Van Terrebert Cave 69km (5h02) Average moving speed: 13km/h

Leaving the western controlled gate one cannot help to notice that the river is not flowing anymore and that it is considerably drier than the area that we had just left.  The vegetation rapidly changes to Karoo scrubs and aloes.  Is it the result of farming, drought, height above sea level or maybe a combination of all?

 

Our first stop for the day was at Damsedrif tea garden where we had some excellent milkshakes and scones. While sitting in the tea garden the rubbish fire in front of the farmhouse got out of hand.  We rushed down to find the grassy field and some trees ablaze.  This was my first opportunity to play “Groenie die Drakie” and after a while we had the fire under control.  Feeling a tad smokey we took to the road again looking for the “Northstar shoes” that were mentioned in the recent Weg magazine.

 

“Tannie Aletta” greeted us with open arms at the Kleinpoortjie general dealer, taking us into her shop (her world) and sharing with us the stories of the countryside.  She had to prompt “Oom Lucas” a bit to get up to speed before he started to tell us how they used oxwagon to go to Willowmore and that they were one the road for 3 weeks to cover the distance of less than 80km.  The aunty chipped in every now and then when the uncle did not mention all the detail while telling me on the side that she is saving for a hip replacement.  Our visit was not complete until they showed us the bar next door and the leopard that her son shot close to the house.  We literally had to drag ourselves away, but not before the aunty pushed a chocolate into Jared’s hand. 

 

We were not even 200 meters into the main road before we turned off to have a look at the Kleinpoortjie cave.  The cave is very rustic with a big open fireplace and open sleeping quarters.  A further 600 meters, we stopped again at the Cambell 1916 flood victim monument.  The trees from which the Cambell’s were swept are still visible when standing on the stoep at Kleinpoortjie.  Ask “Tannie Aletta” to point them out to you.

That evening sitting around the table, eating Henriette’s cottage pie we could not talk enough about the wonderful, colourful people of the Baviaans.

 

 

Day 10-11 Baviaans to Mvubu (Sedgefield) 192km (6h30) Average moving speed: 31km/h

Jared was well pleased to find a tame horse visiting us the morning at the cave, but not as pleased as the horse that got all the old apples of the past few days.  Henriette shared with us some more interesting things to experience close to Nuwekloof pass and we took to  the road keen to see them before leaving Baviaans. We found Leeukop easily but I found that the Willowmore Cedar was a bit harder to find.  It was with some sadness that we left Baviaans after stopping at the Honey Ladder.

 

The road to Knysna was pretty uneventfull as we traced the same road back. We decided to give the turn into Millwood forest a miss and took a quick drive up Spitskop for a stunning view over the indigenous forest to the south and pine forests to the north.  I particularly enjoyed “Kom se Pad” which compares well with the Old Knysna road that we traveled a few days back.

 

We arrived at Mvubu excited about the prospects of staying for two nights in the lap of luxury.  The dream was quickly shattered when we found a repair crew leaving the lodging after they had just varnished the deck overlooking Groenvlei.  The inside of the lodge is truly beautiful with stunning views over the lake, on-suite bathrooms with a slipper bath with its own view.  Our next shock came when we switched the lights on and every nook and cranny was covered in spider webs.  First impressions were great but the reality is that the place is in a state of disrepair and in need of a serious clean. With crawling spiders around us we went to bed, but the night sounds quickly got drowned out by the airbrakes of the trucks driving on the N1 across the vlei.  The next evening the wind changed direction and we had a better nights rest with the spiders. Feeling a bit more rested by the next morning we started our drive back home.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Travel Summary

 

Total distance: 2789km

Average Moving Time: 51km/h

Total Moving Time: 54.43 h

Average Fuel economy: 5.3km/l

Best Fuel Economy: 5.6km/l

Worst Fuel Economy: 4.6km/l (Baviaans Passes)

 

 

Accommodation breakdown

 

Vanterbert Cave

Book with Henriette

Tel 044 923 1921

Cost is R180pppn for the Vanterbert Cave and R120pppn for the Makkedaat cave

Supper is R40pp

Highly Recommended

 

Mountain Zebra NP Family Cottage

Book at Parks Board

Cost is R560 per house sleeping 5.

Recommended

 

Ubejane 4x4 loop is Gratis

Must Experience

 

Addo NP  Safari Tents

Book at Parks Board

Cost is R250 per tent sleeping 2.

High Recommended

 

KraggaKamma GR

R30 per adult

R10 per child

 

Access to Duma

R20 per adult

R10 per child

 

Eagles Rest

R200 for the first two and R45 pp extra

Kerneels and Colati  Tel 042 283 0622

Not Recommended

 

Swartland (Kudu Kaya)

R120pppn

Petrus and Helene Tel 042 283 0793

Highly Recommend

 

Osseberg 4x4

R144 per vehicle

Book with ECPB Tel 040 635 2115

 

Geelhoutbos (ECPB)

R276 for 4 adults

Book with ECPB Tel 040 635 2115

Recommend

 

Kleinpootjie Cave

R80 pppn

Tannie Aletta Tel 049 839 1010/12

 

Mvubu

R540pn sleeping 4 (minimum of two nights)

Book with Cape Nature

Not Recommended

 

Things to experience in Baviaans

      Loerie Dam

      Tolbos Information Office

      Enon Conglomerate

      Queen Victoria’s profile in the mountain

      Phillips Irrigation Tunnel

      Berg View Window

      OsseBerg 4x4 trail

      Tjaart vd Walt Monument

      Poortjies

      Bergplaas

      The 4 mountain passed

      Combrinks Pass

      Holgate Pass

      Grassneck Pass

      Nuwekloof  Pass

      Winston le Roux Cable

      Rooihoek

      Grassneck Pass Viewpoint

      Geelhoutbos walk to the swim hole

      Damsedrift Tea Garden

      KleinPoort General Dealer

      Cambell Monument

      Kasey’s Anglo Boerwar hole in the rock

      Makkedaat or Van Terrebert Caves

      Walking trail at Matjiesfontein (ask Henriette for more detail)

      Willowmore Ceder Viewpoint

      Leeukop Viewpoint

      Key to Baviaans

      Honey Ladder

      CocksComb Mountain

      Redfin Minnow

 

 

Tourism Information Centre

 

Baviaans Tourism
Tel : 0449231862
Cell : 0825703778
tourism@baviaans.co.za

 

Information Steytlerville
Tel/Fax : 0498350153 
weaversbnb@baviaans.co.za

 

Baviaans Municipality

Tel : 0449231004
municipality@baviaans.co.za
www.baviaans.co.za