Baviaanskloof Kareedouw side entry

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Zanie

Race Dog
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Location
Table View, Cape Town
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Honda CRF-250 Rally
I follow the motto of work hard, play hard. This means that I’ve only managed to keep up to date with some of my 2- or 3-day trip ride reports; ignoring the day escapades and sadly neglecting the rides that served as highlights to my year.

Another motto I follow: rather late than never. So here it is, over a year late. A 4-person 6-day adventure to Baviaanskloof and back, including the infamous and hair-raising side-entry from Kareedouw. This is the scariest route I have tackled to date.

The team:
Ilse (Suzuki DR650) and Gerhard (Triumph Tiger 800)
Lance (BMW 800GSA) and Zanie (BMW 650GS)

The video is long, so if you want to cheat and just see the Kareedouw 4x4 and Baviaans bit, it starts at 06:00:

[flash=800,450]https://www.youtube.com/v/JoktH8JDCYE[/flash]

Day 1 (28 Dec 2016): Cape Town to Gamkaskloof Dam

Stats:
Distance: 383 km
Moving time: 6h30 (59 km/h)
Total time: 7h59 (48 km/h)
Departure: 12:09
Arrival: 20:07
Click here for Google Maps link

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Murphy’s Law struck early. Ilse’s bike refused to start. A new battery was obtained a day or so previously, but it also ran down. Something was draining it.

Lance and I set off from Cape Town at noon. Ilse and Gerhard said they would catch up when they find the electronic gremlin. We later heard that incorrect wiring of spotlights was the cause.

Given our late start, we needed to make up time. Yet that was no excuse for missing Du Toitskloof Pass in favour of the tunnel.

Du Toitskloof Pass:
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After lunch and a refuel at Touwsriver, we headed to a gravel back-road that would eventually connect with the Witteberg Road. We were met by a gate with a very business-like lock. Later research revealed that, sadly, this road was recently deproclaimed.

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Not to be disheartened, we decided to reroute through Anysberg. This was my third traverse through the amazingly varied landscape of the reserve.

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It was hot, even at 4:30pm. Any shade was welcome.

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Given the late hour, we saw more game than we had seen on all previous Anysberg rides combined. Shortly after entering the reserve, we scared up a large herd of springbok, which dashed away in style. We had gemsbok and ostrich running in front of us on the road (we even saw an ostrich chick) and woke up a herd of red hartebeest that were snoozing in the road.

Ostrich:
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Red hartebeest (gemsbok on the right, further away):
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My most interesting sighting of the day: a massive gold stripe across the road. That colour in this context could only mean one thing: cobra! I was heading straight for it. I hit the brakes hard; locking my back wheel. Lance, behind me, thought I had a flat tyre, given the wild antics of my bike’s rear end. If only I could have a clue as to the business-end of the cobra. It complied, raising its hood while still maintaining its unidirectional course for road edge. Given the clue, my strategy changed from brake to swerve. I managed to head past the tail-end without squishing the snake.

By the time Lance reached me, the cobra had vanished. I’m sure he thought I was into telling tall stories, as this was the second time I saw a cobra on one of our trips, without Lance seeing it. Thankfully, 10 months later, I had an opportunity to show Lance one that did not vanish by the time he arrived. This one was more brown than gold.

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Back to Anysberg. There were some more pedestrian animals to be viewed as well.

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The scenery to the east of Anysberg was just as pretty as in the reserve itself.

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It was getting late…

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…but we were finally in Bosch Luys Kloof.

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Thanks to the late hour, we had one close encounter with kudu before we arrived at Gamkaskloofdam at 8pm. The dam was bone-dry. Apparently it had been so for months already, but it can fill up almost overnight if there are good rains. The farmers in the region were taking massive strain.

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The caretaker of the accommodation and the dam is a character, as suggested by his name: Fox. He’s ok as long as you don’t mess with his grass or catch him on a bad day. To a disgruntled biker out there somewhere: Fox still feels bad about yelling at you after you rode on his grass. In reality, he was massively frustrated after installing a door incorrectly!

Given the dam’s dry state, Lance queried about the possibility of crossing it by bike. Fox would have none of it, but decided to entertain us with a story of someone who did try by 4x4 not too long ago. The guy got really stuck and his friends weren’t too keen on helping out when he called in the evening. Stuck Guy eventually decided to stay in one of Fox’s accommodation units rather than spend the night on the pan.

Unbeknownst to him, his friends eventually did decide to try a rescue mission, in the middle of the night, only to find an abandoned vehicle! In the morning, Stuck Guy headed back to his car; by which time his friends had already gone home! The struggle to retrieve the vehicle took days. Fox claims it would still be there if a local farmer (who actually knew a thing or two about 4x4-ing) did not come to the rescue.

The accommodation consisted of converted workers’ cottages, complete with old ablution and cooking fixtures. The hot water runs on gas, but our unit’s system apparently started giving issues that day, flaring a gas flame so high that it looked as if it would set the roof alight. We assured Fox that we could survive one night without a shower.

Old-style toilet:
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Old stove:
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Lance and I managed a small braai in a nook sheltered from the cold wind that had picked up. The only news we had from Gerhard and Ilse was relayed via Fox, who said they “would not come through.” Whether that meant “today” or for the trip in total was still a mystery to us.

In fact, Lance’s dad Ernie had helped them fix the DR. Gerhard and Ilse set off late; eating supper in Worcester at 8pm. They started phoning around, looking for any nearby accommodation. Eventually they got hold of Karoo Saloon after 9pm. Though they do not usually allow for late check-ins, the lady took pity on Ilse and Gerhard. Sight unseen, she left them a key and asked that they leave the payment in their room before their early departure the next morning. Great hospitality!
 
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