Our Baviaans trip Mach 2 … It begins on the farm Rus en Vrede in the Baviaanskloof Valley, after having obtained a permit for the trail at the farmhouse. We set off on this 78-kilometre track in the morning at around 10 a.m. It winds its way up and over the crests of many, many hills of the Kouga mountain range, then descends to Kareedouw in the Langkloof.
Haven’t left the Baviaanskloof Valley yet. The Spekboom Spa, anyone?
This time the driving involved a lot more careful negotiation over a track that consisted purely of rocks, stones and holes. For long sections, we encountered sharp, embedded, tyre-munching stones; sometimes it was purely piled-up boulders; often there were holes to climb into and then out of. Then there were the stretches where our vehicles turned into bucking broncos.
Looks pretty benign, but then this was just the start. And the photos never do the challenging bits justice.
The views were stupendous. That’s the road we’ve just climbed up from.
The slope was much steeper than it looks in this photo. And rockier.
At one heart-stopping section, we had to climb up a vertical slope that was just a jumble of big boulders piled haphazardly on top of each other, with the road curving round the edge of the mountain. I think my heart did stop once or twice.
At the top end of the photo is the most beautiful hand-packed stone wall to support the edge of the track. We’re about to head up there! Shows how the road just hugs the sides of the mountains.
On the website the trail is given a grading of 2. We felt that short sections of the road were definitely grade 3.
(But then we’re not the build-your-own-road kind of 4×4 trail lovers.) We did have tortoise roadblocks, though, which required careful removal.
A little intervention necessary …
The leopard mountain tortoise is the largest species in South Africa. It was quite a hefty move.
We climbed and climbed, staring down onto rounded, green-baize-covered hills. The sheer dropaways had nothing but contorted witgat trees to break a tumble into the valley. Right at the top we met a stray border collie with bright eyes and a strong eagerness to herd our vehicles into line along the mountain crest.
Shabby chic deconstruction underway here. Apparently the ongoing battle between farmers and leopards in these parts hasn’t gone away . . . . heart-breaking to think that leopards still sometimes get shot. But then there are the friendly farmers . . .
There were A LOT of gates to open and close . . . executed by Yours Truly. I must have opened 25 or 30 gates. That’s until Keith corrected me. He counted … 11. Or so he says.
Towards the end we hit a well-graded section of the trail. It felt like we were purring across a velvet carpet. It took us 4½ hours to cross the 78 kilometres over the Kouga mountain range. In that time we passed 2 other farm vehicles.
In the middle of nowhere . . . what looked like a palm tree on a mountaintop! But, no, it’s a cycad apparently 100s of years old.
Mach 3 of our Baviaans trip was Meiringspoort, Prince Albert and the Swartberg Pass.
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