BlackBook the smart guide The little Karoo route Route 62 is a 850km route ending in Port Elizabeth, through the hot, dusty backcountry where towns and villages have survived the last two centuries hardly altered, and the landscape is alternately bucolic and dry. It begins in Worcester, an hour and 15 minutes from Cape Town on the N1 highway, but comes into its own around Robertson, 50km farther on. McGregor, Bonnievale and Montagu come in quick succession, the latter home to the Montagu Museum (41 Long St; +27 23614 1950), with art exhibits in a century-old church. Toward Barrydale, the landscape widens, and the veld is dotted with flat-topped kopjes, the hillocks that characterise the Karoo. Ladismith follows, then pretty Calitzdorp and finally Edwardian Oudtshoorn, where the CP Nel Museum (3 Baron van Rheede St; cpnelmuseum.co.za) provides the background to what was an ostrich-feather boomtown. Each of Route 62’s towns has landmark historic homesteads lining its streets, while orchards, vineyards and farms illustrate the deeply embedded roots of country living. An overnight stay en route is recommended. Sanbona Wildlife Reserve (sanbona.com), just beyond Montagu, has luxury lodges and tented camps – a place to spot lions, rhinos and giraffes and to see San rock paintings, more than 3,500 years old – while The Robertson Small Hotel in Robertson provides comfortable accommodations in a turreted Victorian villa. The stretch of Route 62 from Robertson to Calitzdorp is also the start of the Klein Karoo Wine Route (kleinkaroowines.co.za), where you’ll find Robertson’s Springfield Estate (5km SE of Robertson on R317; springfieldestate. com) as well as Calitzdorp’s De Krans Wines (dekrans .co.za) and Peter Bayly (Groenfontein; peterbayly.co.za), producers of showcase wine and port. The road is also peppered with farm stalls and restaurants offering country cooking, craft shops and artists’ studios (particularly in Barrydale). For the adventurous, Route 62 offers hiking, riding and fishing, plus caving in the subterranean, stalagmite-filled Cango Caves (cangocaves.co.za) near Oudtshoorn. Car + driver Regional roads make up the majority of Route 62 and are less busy than the national (N) roads. The route is paved, but feeder roads to and from it – to scenic overlooks, picnic areas and so on – may be dirt. Avoid Sunday morning travel, when freight is on the move. Take care at night, when wildlife crosses the road. The section from Worcester to Oudtshoorn (312km) is best and can easily be done in a day, but plan on breaking at Robertson, Montagu, Barrydale or Calitzdorp to explore the areas. Where to stay Robertson The Robertson Small Hotel Rooms start at 6; 58 Van Reenen St; therobertsonsmallhotel.com Between Montagu and Barrydale Sanbona Wildlife Reserve Rooms start at 2; Rt 62 between Barrydale and Montagu; sanbona.com Barrydale Barrydale Karoo Hotel Rooms start at 6; 30 Van Riebeeck St; barrydale-karoo-hotel.co.za Calitzdorp The Retreat at Groenfontein Rooms start at 4; Groenfontein; groenfontein.com Welgevonden Guesthouse Rooms start at ; St Helena Rd; welgevondenguesthouse.co.za Oudtshoorn Rietfontein Ostrich Palace Rooms start at 4; Rt 62 between Calitzdorp and Oudtshoorn; rop.co.za Where to eat Robertson Reuben’s at The Robertson 58 Van Reenen St; therobertsonsmallhotel.com Montagu Die Kloof Padstal 1 Long St; diekloofpadstal.co.za Barrydale Joubert-Tradauw Rt 62, 11km west of Barrydale; joubert-tradauw.com. Calitzdorp Die Dorpshuis 4 Van Riebeeck St; diedorpshuis.co.za Oudtshoorn The Colony 5 Baron van Rheede St; queenshotel.co.za 42 CENTURION-Magazine.COM
illustrations john hutton The Cape Peninsula route The Cape Peninsula flanks the waters of False Bay immediately to its east, poking its crooked finger out into the freezing Atlantic at Cape Point, 64km beyond the city to the south. Often erroneously considered the point at which the Indian and Atlantic oceans meet (it’s actually Cape Agulhas, about 255km southeast), the peninsula’s tip is a place of violent storms, wild seas, extravagant mountains and endless views. If you leave Cape Town on the M3, Muizenberg (27km away) and then St James (accessed by the M4) are first on the coastal drive. St James retains its early-20th-century style, its mansions heaped up on the terraced mountainside, while surfers ply the waves from Muizenberg’s wide sandy beach and shark spotters keep watch for Great Whites, famously the inhabitants of the waters here. The route winds on quickly to Kalk Bay, with its picturesque harbour and antiques shops—browse Quagga Rare Books & Art (86 Main Rd; quaggabooks. co.za) before a meal at one of the many restaurants. Fish Hoek follows, then the naval base at Simon’s Town, outside which Boulders Beach (sanparks.org) is a sanctuary for a colony of endangered African penguins. Farther on, the road skirts the nature reserve at Cape of Good Hope (sanparks.org), part of Table Mountain National Park, with pristine wilderness that is among the region’s great treasures. Stop here and admire the view from Cape Point before continuing, via the M65, to Kommetjie and spectacular Noordhoek, with its expansive beach that runs five miles long. Then the route climbs the seaward flank of Constantiaberg Mountain and heads for Hout Bay via Chapman’s Peak Drive, one of the Cape’s superb cliffside passes, continuing along the Atlantic seaboard’s corniche to Llandudno, Camps Bay, Clifton and Bantry Bay. Beachside, built-up and spread out beneath the majestic Twelve Apostles mountain range, these are places to holiday in hotels, lounge on beautiful beaches or dine on restaurant terraces. Car + driver The circuitous route is about 145km and is easily covered in a day. From Cape Town to Muizenberg, where it begins, it’s a 30-minute drive outside rush hour. From Bantry Bay, where it ends, to Cape Town, it’s ten minutes. Where to stay Camps Bay, Cape Town POD Rooms start at 0; 3 Argyle Rd; pod.co.za The Twelve Apostles Hotel & Spa Rooms start at 7; Victoria Rd; 12apostleshotel.com Clifton, Cape Town Cape View Clifton Rooms start at 0; 232 Kloof Rd; capeviewclifton.co.za Bantry Bay, Cape Town Ellerman House Villas start at 00; 180 Kloof Road; ellerman.co.za Where to eat Kalk Bay Harbour House V&A Waterfront; harbourhouse.co.za Olympia Café & Deli 134 Main Rd; +27 21788 6396 Camps Bay, Cape Town Azure Restaurant At the Twelve Apostles Hotel; 12apostleshotel.com Grand Café & Room 35 Victoria Rd; grandafrica.com The Roundhouse Off Kloof Rd, the Glen; theroundhouse restaurant.com Sea Point La Perla Beach Rd; laperla.co.za CONTACT CENTURION SERVICE FOR BOOKINGS CENTURION-Magazine.COM 43
