Baviaanskloof

We were eventually on our way to the Baviaanskloof. This has been on our bucket list for a long time so we were excited and full of anticipation! Our first stop was at the Komdomo Campsite on the border of the Baviaanskloof Nature Reserve, where we checked in for two nights. The reserve forms part of the Kouga-Baviaanskloof Complex IBA.

En route we travelled through a cutting, halfway between Patensie and Komdomo. The cliffs had the most interesting geological structure, composed of rounded alluvial rocks and pebbles which seemed cemented together and appeared to be very stable. In fact, we initially thought that it was stone cladding applied as a means to secure the rock face. Upon closer inspection we saw that it was actually natural!

We visited the Kouga Dam during our exploration of the area the next day. It won a Civil Engineering award when it was built in 1967 and boasts an 82m high dam wall. Quite impressive!

After our visit to the dam we had lunch at the award winning Padlangs Restaurant. It was interesting and the food was good but we were rather taken aback by their aggressive signage. One of the signs prohibited video or camera recordings, another promised “You will NOT be served if you self-seat!”.

Komdomo had a good feel about it. The campsites are open and spacious, the mountain is awesome and we enjoyed the warm evenings around the campfire. When the moon rose the cliffs seemed to fluoresce; it was totally fascinating!

Our next stop was the Rooihoek Campsite within the reserve. The dirt road crosses many drifts and meanders through beautiful scenery until one gets to the control point near the Cambria settlement. There the officials told us flatly that we could not go any further with the trailer. We reluctantly decided to leave the trailer and Suzi behind because we were not about to miss out on the adventure after coming all this way. It took some fancy reversing to get Suzi into the yard but hey, Roger can do it in his sleep by now!

Now it was buckle up and put Ufudu through his paces. And he passed with flying colours! In fact, secretly we thought that they had over-reacted and we would probably have managed with the trailer. Or would we?

The fact that we could not take the whole train has seriously messed up our planning. We had planned to traverse the Baviaanskloof, exiting at Willowmore, before heading north towards Camdeboo and Mountain Zebra National Parks. Now we had to come back to fetch the trailer, missing out on the eastern section of the kloof, besides the additional time and travel distance.

Rooihoek Campsite is situated on the banks of the Kouga River. One has to take your own water and the only facilities provided are braai areas and Enviro Loos. You have to bring all your rubbish back to Komdomo camp. When we got to camp there was one other occupied campsite. The owners had just returned to find that their bakkie had been raided by the baboons. They told us that the vehicle was locked but the baboons still managed to open the canopy and make off with all their meat. They had only bread rolls and 2-minute noodles for supper so we offer them a pack of cheese grillers which they gladly accepted.

It started raining in the late afternoon and soon became very cold indeed. Our plans to use Ufudu’s outside shower were shelved in favour of an indoor shower. Thank heavens for options…

We went for a walk along the river the next day and while getting ready I put some snacks and water out on the breakfast table. Roger and I were both in Ufudu, chatting while getting changed, when suddenly a large male baboon came sneaking in. When Roger saw his grey furry arm reach in he shouted, the baboon got a huge fright and turned on his heals but not before he grabbed a container of peanuts off the table and left a turd on our ground sheet! After this we made sure everything around our campsite was secure. Not a window or door open or unlocked, etc. etc. We were feeling confident that the baboons were not going to raid us while we went out walking.

We had a leisurely walk, taking in all the majestic beauty of the mountain and the river and just thoroughly enjoyed the surrounds.

Getting back to Ufudu was somewhat of a shock! The baboons could not get in but certainly did a lot of damage trying. They bent the windscreen wipers, bent the aerial and broke its clip, tore the grip on the door handle, ripped out the door seal, broke off the reverse camera, knocked over the waste water bucket and left turds and paw prints all over the place, including on the awning!

At about 9 o’clock on our second evening at Rooihoek we heard the eerie sound of rocks falling. We were rather baffled because it sounded like ‘something’ was moving on the slopes but we reasoned that antelope would not dislodge so many rocks. Eventually it stopped and next we heard movement in the bushes near our camp; then a snort. We immediately thought it may be buffalo. The GO! Magazine mentioned the possibility of buffalo but of course we thought it was rather tongue-in-cheek. Roger immediately went about setting up a camera trap on a tree 20 metres from Ufudu and guess what it revealed the next morning? It was really special!

Anyway, after our second cold night we headed back the way we came. It was relatively early and we took our time driving and enjoying the scenery. I started driving Suzi again and now took a turn driving Ufudu for the first time since my foot op. I did not drive more than a few kilometres but it was a start and it was fun!

Everything was fresh and dust-free after the rain so on this reverse trip we took our time to enjoy it all. At the top of Holgat Pass we went in search of the Winston le Roux cableway. According to GO! Magazine  he was a farmer that was not willing to tackle the pass every time he had to take goods to town so he built a cableway across the Waterpoort ravine in the 1960’s.

In the Poortjies area the road crosses over the stream umpteen times in a series of drifts. We stopped for Roger to get his feet into the clear water. It was too cold so I did not want to join him…

We got back to the control point, collected the trailer and Suzi and got to Komdomo camp in time for lunch. We decided to stay for the night; it was such a lovely place…