* Tours and trips
* Swartberg Classic Tour bookings open
* Wild Coast Tour (one place available)
* Cape Talk interview
* Bedrogfontein Tour (Part 2)
* Pass of the Week
* New videos uploaded
* Paraprosdokians
Our newest tour has just been launched - The Swartberg Classic (10th to 14th October). It's a four day journey covering 39 mountain passes (big and small) including all the famous ones, like Gysmanshoek, Seweweekspoort, Bosluiskloof, Huisrivier, Meiringspoort, Swartberg, Gamkaskloof, Elands Pass, and Die Hel. We have carefully selected excellent accommodation and meals (4 star) at the various overnight venues, to ensure guests have a first class experience both on and off the roads. (More details lower down...)
We have had a cancellation for this previously fully booked tour, so here's an opportunity to join us for a ten day adventure down the Wild Coast from Matatiele to Chintsa. All accommodation and two meals per day are arranged in first class accommodation venues with beautiful views, where you will be pampered. The tour includes walking excursions to Waterfall Bluff, Cathedral Rock, Magwa Falls, Hole in the Wall and much more.
(Late edit: Sorry, this ticket has just been sold)
We have been waiting for 10 years to get an interview on 567 Cape Talk and finally, through a twist of fate, things fell rapidly into place. One of the producers at Cape Talk contacted us via email requesting information on the (now famous) Ashton Bridge. They wanted to do an interview with one of the engineers. We helped them out with names, contacts and phone numbers. I gently dropped a hint about doing a live interview on passes for them. That seemed to work and a week later we had an official invitation to do a 15 minute slot. The interview proved to be very popular with the listeners and the show was extended from 15 minutes to an hour. Next step is to arrange a regular slot on the subject of once per fortnight or month. Watch this space!
(Link to the podcast is displayed lower down...)
The second day of the Bedrogfontein Tour was a "free" day where guests could go to the Addo Elephant National Park and enjoy the game viewing at their own pace. Those with fortitude and patience were rewarded with good game sightings. Your scribe had little luck and gave up after two hours and headed over to the entrance gate of the Kabouga section of the park, to pave the way for a smooth process for our convoy for the next morning.
That evening back at base, photos and war stories were swapped around the cosy fireplace at our lodge as the staff prepared a delicious traditional braai for our group. It gets cold at Kirkwood after the sun sets (in winter anyway) and soon the mercury hovered at the 5C mark, sending guests scuttling off for hot showers, warm beds and heaters.
The final day of the tour dawned calmly and with perfectly clear weather. It was as well that I had done the prep work at the Kabouga gate the day before, as the young lady on duty had used our convoy driving sheet to put the whole convoy onto one permit. The entire signing in process took less than 20 minutes and we were on our way, heading west down the first long valley.
(See more lower down...)
Mountain Passes South Africa is a website dedicated to the research, documentation, photographing and filming of the mountain passes of South Africa.
Passes are classified according to provinces and feature a text description, Fact File including GPS data, a fully interactive dual-view map and a narrated YouTube video.
We are as passionate about maps as we are about mountain passes. A good map is a thing of beauty that can transport you into the mists of time or get your sense of adventure churning. It is a place to make discoveries about deserts and seas, mountains and lakes; of roads leading into places you have not been before; a place to pore over holiday destinations or weekend camping trips. A map is your window to the world.