We are not strangers to the Baviaanskloof valley, but we haven’t explored it for a long, long time. So we set out to put things right. Just under 200 kilometres in length, the valley is hemmed in by the Baviaanskloof mountains to the north and the Kouga mountains to the south. Our Gravel Road Adventures offroad excursion, over the course of three days, took us into the Baviaanskloof via the eastern Poortjies Gate, on the Patensie side, then two-thirds along the valley to the amazing Sederkloof Lodge for the night. The following day was a hectic 4×4 trek (78 kilometres) that just about took us all day to do … the Rus en Vrede trail across the (many) tops of the Kouga mountains, then down into Kareedouw in the Langkloof. From there we drove to Prince Albert through Meiringspoort.
Bliss. But a lot of hard (track negotiating) work.
The Karoo can’t claim it gets much rain but this year, definitely, It Has Rained. We trundled across the foot of vegetated rock cliffs held together by trees, shrubs and ground cover, everything verdant in every shade of green. Our first sighting was the emerald plumage and scarlet chest of a Narina Trogon. Rare, and thrilling.
Then the fun began. The surface of the road, uh, track more like it, red and irregular as the craters of Mars, required the careful negotiation of a Basotho pony or a mountain goat. There were dongas, washaways, protruding boulders, and the worst of all, deteriorating concrete strips with broken sharp edges that were a menace to tyre walls. (No punctures, I can happily report.) We bounced and rocked and rolled through water crossings and past sprookjies forests and over mountain tops for hours and hours.
The 4×4 trail into Baviaans is not for the faint-hearted. But we loved every minute of it.
Then we were in the valley where bushbuck and kudu and baboons and vervet monkeys crossed our paths. To our right, the Baviaanskloof mountains were fat dinosaur thighs, to our left, the Kouga tight rows of fingers. To travel the 76 kilometres from entrance gate to the luxury Sederkloof we took around five hours with a lunch stop. (But we are known to drive carefully and smell the fynbos along the way.)
Finally into Sederkloof Lodge territory, we were instructed to climb a narrow, winding track that hugged the curves of a mountain right to the crest. Here we found six magical stone-and-glass cottages lining the mountain edge, each discreetly placed, all with stupendous views onto the rounded hills.
The view from our unit in the evening, when we arrived.
The view from our bed in the morning, when we woke up.
Wherever you look, there are mountains, even reflected back at you in the mirror at the sink.
Behind that stone wall is our unit. I also loved the jagged-edge rim of the wall made of standing stones.
There is a shared lounge / kitchen / pool deck space with its own stupendous views.
Lounge arranged around a wall-to-wall fireplace and a bright breakfast setting outside on the deck.
First leg of our trip done and dusted. Rus en Vrede 4×4 trail next on the list. Watch for the next Post!