Words fail me as I recall my recent Cederberg experience… To say I didn’t know much about its majestic splendour is embarrassing, so I am going to paint a colourful picture which I hope will do it justice and...
Words fail me as I recall my recent Cederberg experience… To say I didn’t know much about its majestic splendour is embarrassing, so I am going to paint a colourful picture which I hope will do it justice and create a desire to visit this magnificent part of our country! Think of it as sunshine for the soul and read on!
It all started after my last trip ended…. We had done an educational called Cradle of Human Culture Artists Journey, which touched on some of the rock art in the Cederberg, as we skirted the edges of the Cederberg Wildness area, flirting briefly with the red rocks and San art on the Sevilla Trail near Clanwilliam, but not venturing further into this majestic wilderness.
A week later five of us had agreed on a hastily planned recce back to the area, intent on exploring more to put together an appealing package for local travellers. We started off at the coast (interestingly enough, part of the Cederberg) with a drive up to Lamberts Bay and quick stops at Port Owen for an obligatory beer tasting at Charlies Brewery, a comfort stop at the Elands Bay Hotel (where Sybrand, the wine maker at Teubus winery spontaneously came up and introduced himself to us) and a stop at Bokkomlaan in Velddrift to sample the unique spekboom cake baked by Avoo Health Café on the laan. Sadly, this local specialty was sold out, but I managed to buy some bokkom powder for my bokkom butter (just add butter, lemon and presto – you have a winning recipe).
Spekboom cake
After a tasty dinner at Roestyd just opposite the Lamberts Bay harbour, we returned for a nightcap and sleepies to the tired-looking, but fairly decent Lamberts Bay Hotel, eventually falling asleep to the raucous revelry coming from the police station next door.
The next morning, after a visit to Joos Engelbrecht, the head of tourism for the area, on his well preserved Cape Dutch farm, we headed inland on the R364 into the central Cederberg via Clanwilliam. Since this was a working recce, it required us take a gravel road detour to visit a few out of the way (and out of this world) places, like Donkieskraal – a private lodge off the beaten track with some amazing views and features. The Lodge is set in the beautiful Sandveld, surrounded by indigenous fynbos and breathtaking sandstone rock formations and accommodation ranges from upmarket rock chalets to quaint safari tents to camping.
It’s called Donkieskraal as it served as a hideaway for donkeys and horses during the Anglo Boer War. English troops constantly moved through the area and confiscated the horses and donkeys of farmers in the area. Because of the unique location – off the beaten track and surrounded by rocks, the area served as a “kraal” where these animals could be hidden from the English regiments. Today it is home to a private game reserve of 2000 hectares of unspoilt fynbos, veld and mountain areas. I could have called it a night right there, but sadly duty called and the day was still young, so we needed to move on to other sites.
The next stop was Boegoeberg, a secluded oasis on the farm Lambertshoek, at the foot of “Engelsman se Berge” (Englishman’s mountains). They say you can see Graafwater, Elands Bay, Lambert’s Bay and Clanwilliam on a clear day there. The hospitable owner, Sybrie de Beer, established the eco-friendly Boegoeberg which is best known for their 4×4 trail which got a Top Ten status in Drive Out magazine years ago. The accommodation area, with its well thought-out lapa, ablution blocks, abundance of shade and a huge swimming pool, are some of the reasons why Boegoeberg is so highly rated. It is also known for its rooibos tea and buchu (you can do tours in season) and we each left with a box of their Lea rooibos and buchu tea, courtesy of Sybrie (I think one of our group was hoping to also leave with Sybrie’s freshly slaughtered lamb chops we had heard about all morning!). Lea is the old English word for arable land!
From Boegoeberg we took a bumpy gravel road to Clanwillilam through scenic farms, orchids and mountains. A quick stop in Clanwilliam for gas, wood, braai meat and other supper supplies, and we were off through the Pakhuis Pass – a breathtaking mountain pass 25 km long and which reaches an altitude of 905 m, on the R364 towards the northern Cederberg.
The Pakhuis Pass was completed in 1877, and is one of Thomas Bain’s masterpieces, built with the help of convict labour that opened up a direct route between Clanwilliam and the Karoo.
After a quick stop at Travellers Rest to chat about the popular Sevilla Rock Art Trail with the unfriendly patron, we were back on the pass and took a turnoff into the Biedouw Valley and in the direction of Heuningvlei, Eselbank (with its pretty waterfalls) and the more famous Wupperthal, driving through some incredibly wild mountainous areas, including over Hoek Se Berg and down into the Kouberg Pass with its ridged mountains and awesome viewpoints.
Interesting fact – You can take a donkey cart over the Pakhuis Pass to the quaint village of Heuningvlei – a rather novel way to get down the pass! Instead we bumped across three wonderful gravel mountain passes to our next stop for the night, Heuningvlei Backpackers Lodge (R165 per person per night).
Heuningvlei is one of the outpost villages of the Moravian Mission Church. The families living here survive on subsistence farming, planting sugar beans, potatoes and sweet potatoes and are also renowned for using traditional methods to produce organically cultivated rooibos tea. Dalene van der Westhuizen is the local info officer and everything else, and animatedly talks about what they can offer visitors to the area. I liked the idea of a meal with the locals, but we needed to have let her know a little in advance. Instead, we opted for a braai outdoors under a bright full moon peaking above the black mountain outline. The air was pure and the evening quiet and unspoilt. I even spotted the Milky Way when the full moon had dropped and the dark sky lit up with hundreds of tiny diamonds.
The next morning after a makeshift breakfast of braai leftovers, we headed out towards Wupperthal. I was excited as I had read about this picturesque Moravian village, famous as much for their locally made red veldskoens as for their stark white thatched buildings.
This Moravian mission station was established in 1865 when two German missionaries arrived in the Cape and settled amongst the Khoikhoi families in the valley. The village remains seemingly untouched by the 21st century.
The reality of today’s Wupperthal is nothing like that. It suffered a horrendous fire in late 2019. They are rebuilding it but many of the locals are disenchanted and unmotivated to carry on and rebuild and still living in the temporary housing erected after the fire. The shoe factory has closed down, the church building was closed and the town was practically deserted when we visited. Sad to see it has lost its way! I hope it finds its way back to its charm and distinctive appeal soon, as it is a must-see on this route.
As we moved further into the Cederberg Mountain range (named after the endangered Clanwilliam cedar tree endemic to the area) the region is richly coloured by iron oxides and has eroded into dramatic and often spectacular sandstone rock formations such as the well-known Wolfberg Arch, the Maltese Cross and Lots se Vrou, not to mention the pristine wilderness experiences of the formidable Stadsaal Caves and majestic Truitjieskraal, which boost excellent examples of San Art in many of the naturally formed caves and overhangs easily accessible via short walks or hikes.
Stadsaal is also home to the rock art site with the well known elephant paintings which depict groups of people and elephants and dates back thousands of years. This particular site is easily accessible from the parking, with a quick 50m jog up some rocky steps to see it. Both Stadsaal and Truitjieskraal require Cape Nature permits to enter, and can be obtained from the nearby accommodation sites.
If that weren’t enough to take in, tucked into rustic quiet valleys along stunning scenic drives are lush vineyards (with the obligatory wine tastings), abundant citrus groves, potato fields and rooibos farms all along the Oliphants River valley. All of this was on the itinerary for the remaining two days of our recce.
As we drover deeper into the Cederberg valley on gravel roads, we visited the picturesque Sandrift tucked away on the banks of the Dwars river at the foot of the Wolfberg. This accommodation is part of the farm Dwarsriver, also home to the Cederberg Private Cellar and acres of vineyards in the valley. This dramatic landscape is home to some delicious and award-winning wines and a tasting with the resident expert Peter is very much a must-do! Their luxury accommodation is top notch (but was a little out of our price range on this quick recce), so we chose to stay at the more rustic Cederberg Oasis, deeper in the valley tucked up against the mountains. It’s a peaceful and mellow retreat where we capped off the evening with a braai, roosterkoek and drinkies.
Our last morning was spent exploring Truitjieskraal’s hikes and rock art (and in my case, communing with nature and having a spiritual experience alone on the rocky paths), and visiting more upmarket accommodation like Kromriver with their stunning lakeside luxury chalets and wine tasting (they also do less expensive tented accommodation and camping) and back to Sanddrif for a look at their various accommodation options. It was with a heavy heart that we made our way in the direction of Cape Nature’s Algeria reserve over the most magnificent scenic passes and back onto the N7 highway home. A stop at De Tol for their amazingly delicious roosterkoek burgers eased the pain of leaving this beautiful part of our country. If you are interested in following our route or doing a similar tour, give me a call and we can talk about the exciting 5 or 6 day Cederberg to Sea tour we are planning to offer soon.