Part 2: Trip report: Karoo & Southern Cape Dec & Jan 2013

[Alex Roux]

The rains during the 2012 winter on the Kouga mountains were such that it result in the death of the neighbouring farmer of the Baviaanslodge.
He apparently attempted to cross the Kouga river with his bakkie and got swept away.

The rest of the report to follow in part II.

On the next day we drove my all time favourite road, the Kouga pass, from Baviaanslodge, accross the mountain towards Baviaanskloof.
- This is a 33 km road that takes about three hours to drive.
- It is not the most difficult road (mostly grade 2, and some grade 3 due to the recent rains),
- It is very very scenic, but there are other passes that can contend on this front too
- It is very remote - we drove for three hours and only spotted other humans for the first time, once we reached Baviaanskloof.

For me, it is the combination of the above that makes it a favourite, a journey over pristine wilderness, rather than just another 4x4 trail, and you feel like you are the only people in the world.

11Kouga4x4Route.JPG (817.16 KiB) Viewed 2265 times

Ben's new rock sliders did the job, as can be seen form the picture below:

12BensSlidersTakingaKnock.JPG (578.02 KiB) Viewed 2265 times

Inside Baviaanskloof we spotted this donkey cart, complete with differential gears. Not sure if hey can lock.

13DonkeyCartwithDiffgears.JPG (765 KiB) Viewed 2265 times

Next stop was a farm house just north of Nieu Bethesda.
On our way there we spotted this piece of rock "art". As with any art I will allow the viewer to make his / her own interpretation.

14StatueofJulius.JPG (826.09 KiB) Viewed 2265 times

Parts of the Karoo recevied 200ml of rain during December.
This made certain roads impossible to rive. By January the transformed from "impossible" to "interesting" as can be shown from the picture below. This picture was taken when driving around the northern side of Compass Mountain.

15MuddyKaroo.JPG (785.91 KiB) Viewed 2265 times

After the Karoo we trekked onto "Tussen die Reviere" near Bethulie (Freestate).
This place is well worth a visit. Especially if you like to combine a game park drive with 4x4'ing.
However at the main gate, we got this message - closed due to high water levels of the Orange river!
We got no prior warning of this, and there was no-one at the closed gate to explain how to get to the emergency gate!
But this seems to be the laid back style of this place.

16ClosedGateTussenRivere.JPG (869.57 KiB) Viewed 2265 times

The view form the chalets were very beautiful, and the chalets themselves were of a very good quality (better than Kruger at least).

17TussenReivereViewfromChalet.JPG (766.79 KiB) Viewed 2265 times

The same applied to the picnic sites.

18TussenRivierePicnicSite.JPG (995.22 KiB) Viewed 2265 times

There are two main roads in the park that can be driven by a plat kar. The rest are 4x4 tracks. Mostly not very tricky at all. ECEPT for Tommy's pass, that takes you down from a koppie to the side of the Orange river. This was certainly no easy road. The pictures, as usual do not do justice, but suffice to say that being on our own on this road, lead to some tension in the car, of which I was not given permission to divulge on!

19TussenRivieveTommy'sPass.JPG (916.54 KiB) Viewed 2265 times

The second main (platkar) road of the reserve crosses an overflow of the Orange river which we did NOT attempt to cross.
For a plat kar this would have meant a tremendous ompad to get to the camps.
Just to give some perspective, there are nine chalets and a camp site. On 4th December (prime time in anyone's book), only three chalets were occupied. It is probably more full during the hunting season, but certainly an under utilised little treasure.

20TussenRiviereDeadEnd.JPG (902.34 KiB) Viewed 2265 times

After "Tussen die Riviere", it was Sunday 6th January. That is significant as it is Marietjie and my 17th anniversary!
Also the day we get back to civilization, toll roads, and the rat race.
Now what will keep me going for the rest of the year?
Planning the next tip!

[Jorrie]

Thanks agian. I enjoyed reading this report.

[XenoBlitz]

Brilliant! Thanks for taking the time to write this up.

[ricster]

Sweeeeeeeet report Alex !!!

Looks like you had a ball !!!

[Izak]

Cool Report Alex

Regards

[Herrie]

Baie mooi

[marakasmalan]

Lekker man!

Bly julle het by TDR uitgekom, het julle darem wild te siene gekry?

Groete

[Peter Connan]

Thanks Alex

[Alex Roux]

Lekker man!

Bly julle het by TDR uitgekom, het julle darem wild te siene gekry?

Groete

Ja redelik
Maar teen die tyd wat ek die kroos in die kar het, met padkos ens, is al die diere al onder bossies om skuiling te kry teen die son.

Het jy al Tommy's pass gery?

[Aries66]

Alex
Mooi report en lyk sommer of julle dit geniet het.