Spring break in "the Hell" and Baviaans

[yotaman]

Took a Spring break in Oct 2012 and decided to go down the Cape way; Prince Albert, Swartberg pass, Gamkas kloof (the hell), Mosselbay, Hartenbos, Knysna, over the fantastic Prince Alfred pass to Uniondale, Willowmore entering the Baviaans, in the West and out the Southern end to Patensie (Gamtoos valley),PE, Boknesstrand, Port Alfred and back home via Cradock.

Early morning coffee break at Bloem

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Leg stretch somewhere in the Karoo

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On our arrival at Prince Albert at about 3 pm, we decided to set up camp in the local Caravan park.

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We shared the park with an elderly couple from Knysna who are permanently on tour through SA. Its a lovely camp site with shady trees, 220v and clean ablutions

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[Thunder02]

Hi,i like the way who have set up your IFS ,keep the pics coming Shane

[yotaman]

The next morning we woke up to a rather chilly day and decided to do breakfast in this place. The breakfast was a disappointment but it did not deter our enthusiasm as we made our way to the turn off of the great Swartberg pass just outside of Town.

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Some more pics of this fantastic quaint little Karroo town

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[yotaman]

Hi,i like the way who have set up your IFS ,keep the pics coming Shane

Tks Neil, the set up is working OK for us but there are a few changes I'm planning to make to it. I'll post some more pics of the trip

[CasKru]

Daai lyk dan mos nou darem maar erf lekker

[Thunder02]

I can just imagine what those capies are talking about in that last pic boy do i miss the cape now

[yotaman]

Ja Cassie ten spyte van al die reen was dit n lekker mild trippie.
Yes, Neil the locals there are a peaceful and friendly bunch. The Cape is just so much different.

Some more pics (Prince Albert)

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Swartberg pass

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[roeland.vlok]

Shane, baie mooi fotos. Jy maak mens sommer lus om in die trokkie te spring en te begin ry. Darem nie meer lank nie dan kan ek ook deur die Karoo en Swartberg pas ry oppad Stilbaai se kant toe.

Lyk of dit 'n baie lekker trip was!

[Hoppy]

Like jou set-up, sal goed werk behalwe vir die "gryp en hol" brigade wat jy deesdae orals teekom

[yotaman]

Roeland eks seker jy gaan beter weer he as ons, geniet dit
Ja Allan dit is maar 'risky'. Tot nou toe darem nog geen probleem gehad nie. Kamp maar meestal van die tyd met die voertuig in die oog of bly in plekkes wat veilige parkeering bied

The turn off to the Hell lies more or less in the middle of the Swartberg pass. The sign says its a 2 hour drive for the distance but we did it in 4 hours. Its a nice but somewhat scary drive but most enjoyable especially the last 20 Km's down to the Kloof

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Met this little Klipspringer who amused us by running in front of the vehicle for about 2 km's. We spotted quite few of them in the area.

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Our arrival at the only shop in the Hell, we had a nice cold one and made a booking for two nights camping at at "Oom Piet se Staning"

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[yotaman]

Camping at "Oom Piet se Staning". Although the camp offers nice and plenty shady sites, there's no 220v power (which we don't mind at all) and ablutions (gas) which are basic but derelict in most sections. There's also quite a few old rigged caravans for rent scattered all over for those who do not carry camping stuff.

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And yes, then there's the Baboons (some of the biggest I've seen in a long while) who sit and watch when you leave the camp site to raid your spot. They are quite clever and in spite of the owner making use of screw top lids for the refuge bins, these scavengers taught themselves to open them.

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[yotaman]

More pictures of the area

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After our stay in "the Hell" we head back to complete the Swartberg pass on to Oudsthoorn / Mosselbay where we stayed over a few days

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Spotted some whales

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[yotaman]

After our stay in the Hell we went on to complete the Swartberg pass and decided to stay over in the Mosselbay area for a few days. Some pics

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After our stay here we left for Knysna to take the Prince ALFRED pass towards Uniondale and Willowmore from where we would enter the Baviaans in the West
Pics of the latter pass

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[ROOFER]

oh!! thanks for the report & pics Shane really cool

[yotaman]

More pics of the Prince Alfred pass

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Uniondale

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Entering the Baviaans

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We decided to stay over a few nights in the Makkedaat caves which turned out OK in spite of a shortage of water at our particular cave. The owner Henriette and hubby tried their level best to resolve the problem but to no avail. That afternoon we used this as an excuse to venture deeper into the valley with the truck to look for water. We found some in abundance in a nice stream and quickly filled our Coleman cooler box with clean spring water for some cooking, a bit of cleaning and of course to feed the open air loo! The next day we still had no water and decided to cut our stay short and move on. They gladly accepted this and took our banking details for one night's refund

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[yotaman]

More pics

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Inside the cave

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More pics of the Baviaans

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[DassieHassie]

Man dit lyk baie lekker, dankie vir al die foto's..............nou jeuk ek

[Hilux 1]

Jislaaik, maar daar is darem mooi plekke in ons land

[yotaman]

Our next stop was at the fabulous Doringkloof park. Its a clean and neat camping resort with 220v, very clean ablutions, braai areas, the works! There's even a little dam with some Kurper in. This place should be high up on any camper's "Baviaans list" We stayed 2 nights there in spite of the chilly and rainy weather.

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The finches wake you up early in the morning and could be a lot of fun to watch. This, the fire and the mere tranquillity of the place beat any TV show hands down!

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[Family_Dog]

Great pictures & report, Shane! Beats sitting in an office all day any day! :)


-F_D

[swartvark]

Nice man...............THANKS!!

[yotaman]

We spotted a lot of these in the moist reed sections of the Baviaans. looks to us like a Common Rheedbuck

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Tried my hand at the panoramic feature of the camera

Combrink's pass somewhere in the Baviaans

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Due to the incessant rain, we found some rather nasty obstacles on the way!

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The photo's do not bring out the awesomeness of the place

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[Niel]

Maak my sommer lus vir n toer - Baviaans is n baie nice plek en n mens kan weer en weer soontoe gaan

[Thunder02]

Great trip report,yip we have some great places here in SA

[yotaman]

Boknesstrand - River meets sea

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These pics were taken at Boesmans river mouth. Lots of buildings and residential damage throughout the place

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Craddock

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Total km's travelled (+-) = 3600
Total litres used (+-) = 480
= 7.5 km's/Lit or;
=13 Litres/100 km's
I THINK!


Tks to all for the comments

[Thunder02]

Wow those floods look bad, must add that the route you choose has little of everything to offer,thanks for sharing your trip with us

[swartvark]

Thanks Shane............I've been wanting to visit Baviaans again..........only spent one night in the Aalwynbak Cave in 2007.
Thanks for the nice pics!

[Haboob]

Thanks for sharing your trip with us Shane. Awsum trip, Beautiful area, Good Break & Fantastic0 Report

[Toppie4x4]

Baie mooi fotos, Nou kan ek nie meer wag vir die 13 de Desember nie, gaan baie van die plekke ook besoek

[mcw]

good report cant wait for December for my trip to Bots and Namibia

Martin

[Oupa Stig]

Those pics of the flood at Bushman's River Mouth:
My folks had just retired there and were busy building their retirement home, including a large garage/workshop/flat. All buildings sit above the flood line, but even so the water reached the windowsills of the flat, there where it is almost 10foot from ground level (built on slope). My dad was ticked off because the french drain they were busy digging caved in and all his building sand ended up in the ocean...
Looks like an awesome trip!
So many thing to see in our country, so few leave days... And even less cash...

[Basjan14]

Baie nice, daai rooi ford cortina het ek ook gesien toe ek daar was, kan nie daai mags mis nie. Het dit selfs al op kokkedoor se beeldmaterial ook gesien. Moet 'n gedenk teken of iets van prince albert wees...