TRAVELBUCKET

TRAVELBUCKET

Tag Archive: Gamtoos Valley

GONJAH AND TOLBOS IN GAMTOOS VALLEY

It sounds like a children story title or, if you are adventurous, it might sound to you like the adventures of two travelers in some remote area. Well, you might be right whichever way your thoughts take you. All our special days, including birthdays, mother’s day, father’s day, Christmas and any other special day we can think of, is spent exploring different places. The Gamtoos Valley is quickly becoming one of our favourite places to explore. It was thus a no-brainer to spend Felicity’s birthday in the citrus capital of the Eastern Cape. Except, this time around there were no citrus involved, but instead we discovered another secluded campsite not to far off the main road. After spending a night in Baviaanskloof, it was time to meet the parents for a weekend camping and spoils for mom on her birthday. So after stopping of at Tolbos (more about this quaint… Read more >

….. AND WE ARE OFF TO THE BAVIAANSKLOOF MEGA RESERVE

This will be our eighth escape to the magical world of the Baviaanskloof in the adventure province of the Eastern Cape!   From all of our trips we entered only once from the Eastern access gate and all the other times we entered through the Nuwekloof pass on the Willowmore side.   It does not make any difference from where you enter, the rugged beauty is always special to us.  On 15 March 2019 the catchment area of the Baviaanskloof had a down pour of about 75 mm in a time span of 40 minutes which caused huge damage to roads and alike.  Once through Raaskrans and crossing the first “drif” we noticed that big amounts of water rushed through the kloof.  Debris was hanging from trees to indicate the water’s reach.  This was the trend for the next two days – short and easy water crossing, longer water crossings, washed away… Read more >

LET’S GO CAMPING INNIKLOOF

by Inge Triegaardt Nestled in the heart of the Gamtoos Valley, 12km outside the town of Hankey in South Africa, lies the perfect spot to spend the weekend. John and Catherina Wait have outdone their selves with providing an enjoyable camping spot for the whole family at inniKloof. Whether you are looking for a place before you enter Baviaanskloof or have just exited Baviaanskloof or even just a nice breakaway weekend, this is the place to be. inniKloof offers a main campsite with grass and multiple electricity points. The ablution facilities are neat and clean with an attached scullery. A big undercover platform is available with a built-in braai for those who do not wish to make use of the big round braais in the middle of the campsite. Might I add that these big braai pits becomes the centre of attention when a big group descends on inniKloof. A… Read more >

KOUGA DAM, BAVIAANSKLOOF

On our recent trip to the Baviaanskloof – another World Heritage Site ticked – we made a slight detour to visit the Kouga Dam. The dam is situated about 21 kilometres outside the village of Patensie on the R330 in the beautiful citrus growing area of the Gamtoos Valley in the Eastern Cape. Although the end of the citrus season was near the air was still heavy with the smell of oranges as we took the gravel road of about 7 kilometres to the dam wall. Some of you will know the dam by its former name of Paul Sauer who was a prominent politician on the South African scene. However, after 1995 the name of the dam was changed to the Kouga Dam. The dam was built in 1957 for irrigation purposes in the valley and to supply drinking water to the greater Port Elizabeth area. Something that I… Read more >

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