Leisure Wheels – September 2019

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ATTAQUASKLOOF

OX WAGON PASS:

THROUGH ROUTE

NOW CLOSED BY

CAPE NATURE (NHR)

Although now closed

to 4×4s and any other

traffic (see the Bonniedale

website for alternative

routes), eight years back

I had the good fortune to

ride alongside Nico in his

beefed-up old Hilux for

the first half of this Grade

2–3 pass and can vouch

for the spectacular scenery

along this ancient elephant

trail. On that day I made a

posthumous acquaintance

with a psychopath at a

nearby gravesite. His name

was Bloubaard Swanepoel,

and his ghoulish reputation

made me think he may have

eaten Hannibal Lector for

breakfast. A local farmer

who was in the habit of

employing labour and

thereafter getting his dogs

to tear them apart to get

his money back, Bloubaard

was eventually caught out

and has the ignominious

honour of being the last

man to be publicly hanged

in South Africa (George,

28 April 1856).

Nico Hesterman tells

of the long list of early

European explorers who

transited the pass: “The

first ox wagon to use this

route was an expedition of

21 men and two wagons

sent out by Simon van der

Stel, under the leadership

of Ensign Isaac Schrijver

in January 1689. It took

Schrijver seven days to

cross over the Attaquas

Mountains from the farm

Hagelkraal on the southern

Side to Saffraansrivier on the

northern side.

“A list of travellers passing

through the Attaquaskloof

Pass is a who’s who of

celebrated early explorers. In

the early 1800s came Barrow

and a host of other travellers.

In 1842, the official toll of

wagons passing through the

Attaquaskloof was 4 280.

It became known as the

gateway to the Karoo and

Eastern Cape.”

TRAVEL

ADVISOR

THE GARDEN ROUTE UNPLUGGED:

AN ALTERNATIVE EASTWARDS

BACK ROADS ROUTE

Get off the N2, 13km out of Caledon

(take the Jongensklip turnoff) and

head via Rietpoel, Klipdale, Protem

and the San Souci Farm track to

Malgas. Cross over the Breede River

on the pont and make for Mossel

Bay via the dirt track coastal

routing of Witsand, Vermaaklikheid,

Stilbaai and then passing close to

Gouritsmond, Vleesbaai and

Boggomsbaai until the T-Junction

with the N2, 16km from Mossel

Bay’s town centre. Heading for

Plett, I got off the N2 at Little Brak

and followed the coast-hugging tar

road past Glentana and drove the

remainder of the journey on the N2.

Caledon to Plettenberg Bay:

468km (the N2 route is 408km), of

which just over half was on dirt

tracks. But it will take at least seven

hours compared to the

conventional route’s four hours.

NHR

Nico’s Historical

Ox Wagon Route

SEPTEMBER 2019 53