Friday midday saw four of us jump in the Kombi and hit the road to The Tankwa Karoo National Park. We hadn’t made any bookings or phone calls but we were sure that we would get a place from what we had read up about the place. None of us had ever been there before and we were quite excited to see this much talked about place.

We traveled up through Bainskloof from Wellington and then through Mitchell’s Pass, Ceres and the R355. At the R354 we turned right.

Turn off to Tankwa

According to the maps we had about 60 kms to go to get to the Park’s reception office but the leiklip road had other ideas for us. We probably had about 45 kms to go when I felt something strange and pulled over. The right rear tyre was half flat! Out came the pump (manual hand pump) and we pumped the wheel up till it looked ok and off we went again. After about all of 5kms later we were once again parked alongside the road, this time to put on the spare.

This amazing late afternoon picture greeted us as we made our way a lot slower towards the reception office.

Tankwa

When we got there the lovely Letsie greeted us and informed us that they have the necessary tyre equipment to repair punctures. Phew, what a relief! She booked us into the Langkloof site and gave us directions how to get there and we said we would attend to the puncture Saturday or Sunday.

The Langkloof spot is far up into the lang kloof as the name implies and we slowly made our way up into the valley as it narrowed towards the mountains. Deep into the valley we suddenly smelt wood smoke from a fire. We thought this was very strange that someone else was up here as we were under the impression that there was only one spot and we were booked in. Any way we thought maybe we were going further up past the smoke but just after that the track turned left and circled around through a dry river bed and we were at the ruins of an old house that Letsie said marks the spot. Only thing askew was that here in the absolute middle of nowhere was a solitary camper with his bakkie and a huge fire. We made our greetings and asked if it was ok if we set up camp adjacent to his spot but quite a way from him. He said that was fine and even said it would be ok to join him at his site. We turned down his kind offer and set up camp outside the fenced off area which was the old farm yard where he was.

There was an abundance of dry wood nearby where a lot of alien thorn trees had been cut down and we also made ourselves a huge fire and had a lekker braai.

Lekker Braai

Much later that night the most spectacular full moon appeared from behind the mountains and bathed our valley in a silvery hue. We got totally carried away with our cameras trying to take the best shot because each minute the spectacle got better and better.

Early the next morning our neighbour was on his way and we had the entire place to ourselves. We considered moving camp into the main spot where he had been but we decided to stay where we were. We were in paradise anywhere there anyway.

Our Camp

After breakfast we went to have a look at the ruins of the old farm house. It must have been very pleasant here in its heyday on the banks of what must have been the Tankwa River. They must have had quite a good life here although, as we all know there must have been a fair share of hardships as in any existence but the place looked established and well equipped with a decent infrastructure.

Old farmhouse

What is left of Farmhouse

Remains

Poles

We couldn’t figure out what these two pillars on the river bank could have been for. As I’m writing this I realise that it could possibly have been bridge posts and we didn’t think of going to look on the opposite bank to see if we could find evidence of anything similar on the other side. On one of the photos above they can be seen right in front of the house.

We went exploring a bit more and came across an old windpomp and water tank. Some poor baboon and its offspring must have climbed into the water tank for shelter and they couldn’t get out again. Their remains are still there. Shame!

Baboon Remains

A bit further away and still with the remains of a fence around is the Shepherd family’s grave yard. From the outlook one only sees or notices three or four graves but we scratched around a bit and found seven in total. One of them must have been a baby or young child because it was very short.

Graves

Child Grave

After a very pleasant day of lazing around, exploring a bit more, gathering fire wood and so on we had a lovely braai again that night with a gesels vuur of note.

Kuier Vuur

The next morning, Sunday, we slowly started packing up and when we cleared all the stuff away from the left rear wheel we noticed that it was semi flat!! That put our plans of going to see the Gannaga Pass to rest. Out came the hand pump again and Edgar and I pump until the tyre looked ok.

Off we went back to Letsie’s office again and we had to wait a little while for the staff to report for duty and a very helpful chap repaired the two punctures for us with our help. The first one which punctured on Friday needed a mushroom plug so the tyre had to be taken off the rim to be fixed and the left rear just needed a normal plug which we did with my puncture repair kit. Unfortunately the mushroom plug did not seal 100% but we had no option but to ride with it like that with the hope that it would seal itself as we rode.

I enquired about the Shepherd family at the office and was told that he had built the Gannaga Pass and was granted a tract of land in lieu of payment from the Governor of the Cape. I’m not sure if that is correct though because to my knowledge the Gannaga Pass was built by Thomas Bain. I think the story could be a charismatic fabrication of the story about the Verlatenkloof Pass between Matjiesfontein and Sutherland which was laid out by Thomas Bain. A Scotsman William Hesketh was appointed to complete the job. Hesketh (I wonder if there is any relation to the Hesketh raceway in PE?) undertook to build the pass at his own expense because the government apparently didn’t have funds at the time. When payment for his work was due the government still did not have the funds to pay him so they gave him a farm Klipbankrivier in lieu of payment. So the Shepherd boot hill remains a mystery.

We bid them farewell and off we went with the knowledge that we had 60 odd kms of leiklip road before we got to the R355. On the way we could see a bank of cloud rolling in over the Cedarberg and we knew we were going to be in for some heavy rain. I watched the right rear tyre in the mirror like a hawk and we stopped once or twice to check it and the other tyres and it seemed to be holding out. As luck would have it though, we probably had about 15 to 20k’s to the R355 when I felt a flat wheel again. We pulled over and the left rear tyre was going flat. Without removing the wheel we rolled the car forward until the hole was accessible and I plugged the hole. Edgar and I pumped the tyre again and off we went.

At this stage we were getting pretty worried and the rain clouds were getting closer but we eventually reached the R355 and turned left for Ceres. At the tree and braai rock on the right we stopped again for another check and all was still ok. This popular spot was filthy dirty with broken glass and tissue / toilet paper everywhere. It had by then just started spitting and shortly after that we started getting heavy rain.

We stopped in Ceres to pump the tyres properly and again in Mitchell’s Pass to admire the view as the rain had let up a bit. When we got to Bainskloof we couldn’t believe what had happened to the Witterivier. The normally sedate little river through the valley was a raging torrent of water. Some adrenalin junkies had got wise to the white water and there were four kayaks down in the gorge. We stopped and watched them for a while until they disappeared around a bend. They were tackling section for section and waited for each other after each rapid, and then they would tackle the next one, one kayak at a time. They obviously knew what they were doing and you could see they respected the river as they put their skills to the test.

The rest of Bain’s masterpiece was magnificent with water gushing off the mountainside and running along next to the road until it disappeared into the gulleys of the dry packed rock which the master built so long ago and the system still coped admirably under such harsh conditions.

We were disappointed that we didn’t see Gannaga Pass and some of the other places around there but we will definitely return but maybe via Sutherland this time.

A good weekend was had by all and I almost forgot; I got a 12v tyre pump in my Xmas stocking that Christmas. Now the manual hand pump just comes with as a back-up if the lazy-mans toy decides to pack up.

By the way for those interested in a bit of trivia, the photo of the mountain with the afternoon sun on it (second pic), shows the exposed layers of submarine fans of the Skoorsteenberg formation which provide geologists, geophysicists and petroleum engineers with a unique study tool. The Tankwa Karoo is the only non-submerged place in the world where the layers are basically horizontal, making it possible to carry out detailed measurements which assist greatly in the exploration of natural gas and oil reservoirs.

Peter Taylor