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Calendar
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Self Drive Tours |
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CLARENCE DRIVE
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Chapmans Peak Drive from Hout Bay to Noordhoek is the most famous, but Clarence Drive which hugs the coast from Gordons Bay to Pringle Bay is more spectacular as you've a view over the Cape Peninsula as well as the coastline. It's also not a toll road. |
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GARDEN ROUTE
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The Garden Route snakes along a narrow coastal plain between Mossel Bay and Storms River Mouth. It's a green, forested swathe, 200 kilometres long, cut by rivers and fringed with sandy beaches. It winds through South Africa's Lake District - seven expanses of quiet water between Wilderness and Knysna hemmed between the sea and the Outeniqua Mountains. Just because you're on the N2 you don't have to rush. Take time to stop at one of the many roadside stalls. |
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OLD PASSES ROAD
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A pass does not always go up and over: drive along Old Passes Road (R102) on the Garden Route which dips through the tree-lined gorges of the Groot and Bloukrans rivers along passes built by Thomas Bain, who wouldn't hear that is was an impossible task. |
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IVORY ROUTE
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The African Ivory Route, which has its origins in the legendary exploits of early ivory hunters and gold traders, stretches through a wild and untamed part of the Limpop Province. More then a thousand Kilometers long, it traces a giant arc through national parks, private nature reserves and game farms, skirting or traversing four mountain ranges: the Strydpoortberge in the south, Waterberg in the northwest and Drakensberg and Lebombos in the east. The trail gives you a taste of the area's rich cultural heritage, including rock art, archaeological sites and Venda crafts. |
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ROOF OF AFRICA
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The Roof of Africa in Lesotho offers spectacular driving through a landscape of soaring sandstone and basalt cliffs with patchwork fields and bubbling streams far below. Simply head east from Maseru on the main cross-country artery. The 2263 metre Bushmans Pass is just the start of the amptly named Mountain Road. Next comes the pass called Molimo Nthuse, which means ‘God help me' From here on it is continues, and often thrilling ascents and descents all the wy to Sabi Pass - winding down into Kwa Zulu-Natal. |
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NAMAQUA 4 X 4
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Avoid the N14 and R382 by taking the Namaqualand 4X4 trail which starts at Pella and stretches for 614 kilometres to Alexander Bay. Its well signposted. The route requires only limited 4X4 skills, but some parts traverse harsh terrain and are very isolated making it somewhat hazardous for the unprepared. |
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PRINCE ALFRED'S PASS
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Reminisce on the old woodcutters days on the southern section of the Prince Alfred's Pass (R339) while gawking at ancient forest giants yellowwoods and stinkwoods. Pass Diepwalle, Kranskop and Buffel's Nek. On the other side of the Keurbooms River Valley, the northern section will eventually lead you to Avontuur in the Langkloof, 65 kilometres later. |
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THE LONELIEST ROAD
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In conversations about which is the longest bit of road in South Africa between bits of ‘civilisation', the R355 between Ceres and Calvinia always comes up. Head out of Ceres on the R46 and after 40 kilometres turn onto the R355; 104 kilometres later, much of it dirt, you'll get to Calvinia. Be sure to check your spare tyre before you leave. |
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SHIPWRECK TRAIL
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From the icy waters of the Atlantic coastline, past two old diamond-mining towns and on towards the rugged rangers of the Hardeveld and Kamiesberg is the 37-kilometre Shipwreck Trail, which clambers past ships that found theyre final resting place on the shore. Its a route over sand dunes, along beaches and on old prospecting tracks - but what makes it special is the sighting of the wrecks. Its 4X4 ing with a place to go, something to see. |
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ROUTE 62
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Instead of taking the hectic N2 from Cape Town down the coast, mender along the scenic Route 62 from Montagu to Oudtshoorn. The route passes towering sandstone formations, fruit orchards, gusging streams and a wealth of indigenous flora. Alternatively turn of the N2 at the R324 through Suurbraak and head up Tradouw's Pass to get onto Route62 at Barrydale (a good place to stop for coffee) |
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SA'S WORST ROAD
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The worst route in the whole of Southern Africa is the N4 from Johannesburg to Waterval Boven and the delights of Kruger beyond. It provides hours of boredom through the Highveld flatlands, boasting such architectural delights as the Witbank cooling towers and the Ridge Hotel, a casino-cum-shopping mall of the lowest aesthetic order. You've got to do it to truly appreciate the horror. |
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MEIRINGSPOORT
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Zigzag across the Groot River 30 times on the 13-kilometre gash through the Swartberg known as Meiringspoort. Look out for ‘Herrie,' the name of CJ Langenhoven's fictional elephant in Herrie op die Ou Tremspoor which he carved into the rock in 1929 (do not follow his example and carve anything yourself!) Picnic at the 55 metre waterfall, before heading back out onto the road. |
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SWARTBERG PASS
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Linking the Little and the Great Karoos, the Swartberg Pass took master pass builder Thomas Bain (and several hundred convict labourers) five years to build and hasn't changed much since. It rises 1220 metres above the Little Karoo and, on the Prince Albert side, climbs 1000 metres in 12 kilometres. The historian Lawrence Green claimed he'd travelled only one road more dramatic: ‘the 15 000-foot pass beyond Darjeeling that leads into Tibet. You don't need a 4X4 for the pass - in dry weather you can do it in a Tazz. If you're nervous on dirt roads, drive it from south to north (don't take the side route down to Gamkaskloof aka ‘Die Hel') and return to Oudtshoorn through Meiringspoort |
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SEVEN PASSES
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Bypass the holiday N2 traffic and see the ‘real' Garden Route by driving the back roads. Take the alternative 80-kilometre Seven Passes road from George to Knysna through forested river gorges (that might number more than seven). The stone over Kaaimans and Silver rivers are national monuments. |
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