January 2024

On the first day of the new year, the weather was perfect for a day at the beach – the sun was warm and the sky blue. But a thousand other people (or so it felt) had the same idea and the beaches around Langebaan were abuzz with tourists.

So, we decided to drive a circular route on one of the back roads near Langebaan. Armed with a few bottles of cold water and snacks we headed towards the dirt road at *Kapteinskloof.

  • In our last Throwback Thursday post (#50), we also took a quick drive through Kapteinskloof. To read more about that day, click here.

Tar road changes to dirt road

Kapteinskloof (it translates to ‘Captain’s Gorge’) is a scenic dirt road near the small town of Piketberg. This 17km/10.5 miles road runs through a beautiful ‘kloof’ (gorge). There is a short mountain pass over the Skurweberg Mountains with breathtaking views from the top. Since it is such fertile land, there are many farms on this road where orchards, potatoes, rooibos, buchu (*) and grape vines are grown.

→ What is buchu? Buchu is an herbal plant made from a group of aromatic herbs native to South Africa. (It is a natural anti-inflammatory and an excellent herb for disinfecting the urinary tract during bladder infections).

The start of Kapteinskloof if you come from Piketberg

It’s a good thing we had a few bottles of cold water with us (and an aircon in our ‘bakkie’), because when we drove into the gorge, the temperature rose to 40°C (104°F).

A sweltering day in Kapteinskloof

As we followed the road, we could see several farms. Some of these farms also offer accommodation from where one can go on several hiking trails.

One of many farms in Kapteinskloof

Remote cottage in Kapteinskloof

Almost at the top of the mountain pass, we stopped at a big rock. We got out and walked around while taking pictures of the rock formations. We could also see a few more cottages from here. We sat down in the shade of the rock and drank our water and eating fruit and ‘biltong’, while we enjoyed the silence. Coming to stay here for a few days must be so peaceful.

A road leading to one of the cottages

The rock where we stopped

Interesting rock piles

Another remote cottage

Cottage at the foot of high mountains

The road on which we travelled through the gorge

Another cottage

Closer shot of the same cottage as above

The top of the mountain pass is called ‘Patatdraai’ (translated to Potato Corner) and the 360° views are stunning. From here you can see farms, as well as high mountains in the distance. During the winter months, this area is various shades of green, but as we are in the height of summer, the colours now varied from brown to gold.

View over the farms from the top of the mountain pass

The descent is quick and easy to follow. There are about nine fairly sharp bends before you reach the valley again. In the valley, at one of the farms, we saw a large pile of hay bales. This reminded me a lot of one of the stages on the Camino Frances that we walked in Spain in 2017.

Hay bales

It was a lovely road to drive and even though it was very hot, I think it was a much better option than being on a crowded beach.

The end of our dirt road

Of course, we ended the day by making a fire. And then we opened an ice-cold bottle of Pinot Noir Chardonnay. We definitely kicked off 2024 on a high (and hot) note!

A bottle of old wine on a scorcher of a day