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Road Travel
Artist’s studio along the road Grobler du Preez/Shutterstock
The Hell, Gamkaskloof Dominique de la Croix/Shutterstock
abundance of flora ranging from mountain fynbos to Karoo to broken
veld and succulent Karoo. Birdwatchers can indulge in some 180 different
species, while animals range from rheebok, klipspringer, the occasional
kudu, Cape mountain zebra, springbok to leopards, and numerous other
small species.
The Hell
After Ladismith Route 62 takes you to Calitzdorp. Just before reaching the
small town, the road crosses the Gamka River near the south-western
end of the mysterious, hidden valley known as The Hell, or Gamkaskloof,
although the valley cannot be accessed by vehicle from this end.
For about 160 years a small farming community lived deep down in this
isolated valley in the formidable Swartberg mountain range, cut off from
the outside world until the late 1950s. After a road had been built into the
valley from the Swartberg Pass on its north-eastern side, most inhabitants
gradually left. Today their cottages serve as guest houses owned and
managed by Cape Nature in the Swartberg Nature Reserve, Boplaas
Guest Cottages and Annatjie Joubert, one of the original inhabitants who
returned to the valley.
You can add The Hell to your itinerary via Oudtshoorn and the Swartberg
Pass, or you can drive up along the Gamka River towards the valley from
the R62. While you won’t be able to enter the valley by car, one can stay
in any number of lovely guest farms and cottages on the south-western
side. There are a number of hiking and 4X4 trails here that will allow you
glimpses up the Gamkaskloof valley.
Calitzdorp
Known variously as the port wine capital of South Africa, the fruit basket of
Kannaland (as the area and the local district municipality are known), or the
heart of the Klein Karoo, Calitzdorp is a uniquely charming little village that
will blow you away. The town, surrounded by mountains on all sides, falls
within the Klein Karoo Wine Route and the Cape Floral Region, the latter
being a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The valley’s climate and dry soil, similar to that of Portugal’s Douro Valley
and home of Port, makes it ideal for the production of its port wines. Several
other wines, similar in taste to Portuguese wines, are also produced here.
After touring the outlying areas of the district, park your car in the village
and explore on foot: pleasant surprises await you around each corner. Walk
down the historic Queen Street with its fascinating and well-preserved
old buildings, most of them now housing restaurants, galleries and guest
houses.
There are some fine examples too of the sandstone architecture typical of
the region dating back to the heyday of the ostrich feather industry. A good
example is the town’s original church built in 1912 in a neo-Byzantine style
with a Marseilles roof, declared a national monument in 1991.
Turn off Queen Street at Saayman Street to Boplaas, or at Station Street
to De Krans, and try their outstanding port and other wines. Or visit any
one of a number of excellent wine cellars, such as Axehill, Calitzdorp Cellar,
Du’SwaRoo, or Peter Bailey Winery, most of them within walking distance
from the centre of town.
Evidence of the area’s early San and Khoi settlements and rock art examples
are found in the district, but not all of these are accessible as their locations
are being kept secret to protect them.
The area has several nature reserves, mineral springs, and mountain
passes that can be explored. In addition the town offers good eating and
drinking plus entertainment, excellent accommodation, art and culture, a
museum, much history, and plenty of heritage attractions. There are also
guided hiking and canoeing excursions, horse and donkey trails, heritage
and biodiversity tours, and more, to be enjoyed.
Oudtshoorn, Volmoed and De
Rust
Finally we come to our end destination on this section of Route 62…the
erstwhile ostrich feather capital of the world, Oudtshoorn. It lies at the
centre of the full Route 62 from Robertson to Port Elizabeth.
From Calitzdorp it is a short 47km drive to Oudtshoorn on the way passing
close to the historic and interesting little settlement of Volmoed. On the
other side of Oudtshoorn, just before the awesome Meiringspoort, is
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