Because the bike was delayed in Cape Town, and I had to hang around waiting for it my travel schedule changed drastically. I am in the wrong place at the wrong time of the year. It is high season here and everyone has their summer holidays. That means that the Garden Route and the coast are totally booked up. Everyone is on the move. I decided, however, to try to do a small bit of the garden route namely the Swartberg Pass and a small bit of route 62.
Route 62 is a road stretching from Cape Town to Gqeberha over a distance of 782 kms. It is a much advertised and commercially exploited, to a small extent, route. But still really worth the ride. I was thinking of riding this route all the way to Gqeberha and returning via the N2 but unfortunately part of the coast road, N2, was closed due to storm damage. Also, the whole coastal area was booked up solid and traffic was enormous. I had also wanted to go to a spot called Angie’s G Spot, situated on the Keurbooms River, on the R339 a gravel road. But once again this was also overrun by holiday makers. So decided to change my plans again… “I’ll be back..”
I had based myself in a small town called Oudtshoorn. Stayed in a really nice little guesthouse run by a South African & English couple. Phil is South African and Linda, his better half, is English. This was one of my better choices of guesthouses. Phil is an overlander with a passion for travel and gave me loads of tips for Africa. He also gave me tips of places of local interest. Paid a visit to the Cango Caves.
This is a cave complex estimated to be over 20 million years old. It stretches for at least 4 ½ kms with more being discovered. Only a small portion of the caves are open to the public. Tours are organized every hour on the hour and the group is accompanied by a knowledgeable guide. There are two tours, a standard tour for a hour and a adventure tour that lasts 1 ½ hours. The Adventure tour means climbing and crawling through extremely narrow passages. The caves contain some of the biggest Stalactites (hanging pillars), Stalagmites (columns upward growing) and Helictites (columns which grow in all directions) They are a marvelous sight.
The entrance to the caves were inhabited by the San people over 500 years ago. There is no evidence of them venturing further into the caves. The entrance to the caves was rich in bushman art that is sadly lost now. Check out the like named photo album to see some of the fantastic rock formations.
After the Cango Caves I paid a visit to the Highgate Ostrich farm. I Hmmmnn’dd and Haaaa’dd about this. I don’t like animals being kept in captivity or animals being bred for the meat industry or the feather industry for that matter. But yes, I am here now, and this country is one of the largest exporters of ostrich meat, skin and feathers. The Highgate farm was really highly recommended as having the most knowledgeable guides. It is a working farm as opposed to a show farm. In a way I am glad that I did. I got to learn a lot about these fantastic birds.
Some facts in a nutshell. They have no teeth, and they suck their food straight down to their tummies. They pick up stones that settle in their tummies and this is what grinds the food up. The stones disintegrate into powder, and they pee them out. Ostriches can move their necks around without any discomfort and turn their heads 180 degrees. The ostrich’s neck is remarkably flexible and can turn in any direction. The myth that ostriches can put their heads in the sand comes from the fact that they can put their necks parallel to the ground when sitting down.
I decided to try to do a small bit of the garden route namely the Swartberg Pass. This is another feat of engineering created by Andrew Geddes Bain. Completed between 1883 and 1888. In the last post I rode another of his passes the Bains Kloof pass. The Swartberg holds a magical mystical attraction for many South Africans and their visitors. It is also a national monument and UNESCO world heritage site. It is the last pass built by Andrew Bain. It was opened on the 10th of January 1888 and once again it was built using convict labour. Some of the original dry-stone walls holding the hairpin bends are still in place today and are over 130 years old, some of them reaching heights of 63 meters. It is truly a remarkable feat of engineering even by today’s standards.
The pass is a 23 km long gravel road with way to many beautiful scenic spots along the way. It is mainly a first gear pass changing up into second gear hardly happens. The estimated driving time is 1 hour for the 23 km length of the pass. That is excluding scenery stops. Having said that some of the locals will do it much faster. This is a pass that you can do time and time again and still see something new.
I rode it from Oudtshoorn to Prince Albert. The last section, after two river crossings, and just before the tarmac road leading to Prince Albert is really spectacular, where towering rock formations encircle you, a truly spectacular sight.
I hatched out another plan together with Phill. We spent all morning drinking coffee and with the help of Phill’s fantastic, organized planning skills and a super database with things to do and see in the neighboring countries a plan was born. Phill had Tracks for Africa on his laptop and had spent Covid lockdown planning his next trip. I have now decided to head on up to Lesotho, the ”Kingdom in the Sky” and come back to South Africa mid-January.
But first Christmas had arrived. I had accepted JR’s and Audrey’s gracious invitation to spend Christmas with him and his family. This was really something special. I had already met most of the family on the breakfast birthday party, but another important member was also there… Audrey’s Mum. A really lovely person with a good humor. It was a really fantastic experience to celebrate Christmas South African style and I am truly honored and extremely grateful for the chance to experience this.
I was writing this in Ladybrand, waiting to cross into Lesotho, “The Kingdom in the Sky”
So make yourself a nice wee cup of tea, plop yourself down in your favorite chair, grab a nice bit of, left over, Christmas cake or a mince pie and click your way though the like named photo album on Facebook. Click and enjoy some of the sights from a really small part of the garden route.
Facebook album Swartberg pass, small bit of Route 62 and Christmas
Thank you for following, liking and commenting, much appreciated. In short thank you for sharing the ride with me.