Day 16 (Thursday Sept. 21st )
Graaff Reinet To Cape Agulhas, and to Swellendon
This was to be a long driving day across the Karoo to the Indian
Ocean.
We began by laying out our mosaic of South African geological maps on the
cobblestones of the parking lot in Graaff-Reinet. Our route that day seemed to
cross nearly a quarter of the country, beginning in the high desert of the
Karoo, crossing the entire Cape Fold Belt which parallels the coast, the
following the coast to just a hundred kilometers east of Cape Town. The
crossing of the Cape Fold Belt would also signal our descent off of the high
central plateau of southern Africa, which we had been traveling across for
over
a week. After fueling up the vans and a quick tire change along the side of
the road (thanks to our crack tire-changing crew of James, Curtis and Gilead),
we headed southwest across the desert. The similarity between the Great Karoo
and the Mojave is just astounding. The highways shimmer along straight lines
from town to town, with occasional farms near rare water sources. The
geography of basins, eroded ranges, and dry lakes seemed familiar. Even the
towns themselves appeared lifted out of south-eastern California, with plywood
and concrete block homes clustered around a supermarket and a couple of gas
stations.
It was nearly noon by the time we reached the edge of the Karoo and
entered the Cape Fold Belt. The change in scenery was dramatic. Straight out
of the flat desert, the first ridge rose several thousand feet, with
individual
sedimentary beds running along its eroded face as far as we could see to the
east and west. The highway plunged through a narrow canyon in the broad
ridge,
and suddenly tropical dry forest replaced the succulent dominated desert
flora. After a few more ridges and valleys, with the vegetation increasingly
reflecting the temperate climate of South Africa's southern coast, we came to
the small town of Uniondale. To our surprise, the supermarket seemed to be
missing in this town, so we fanned out across various convenience stores and
pie shops to find lunch.
This was to be a long driving day across the Karoo to the Indian
Ocean.
We began by laying out our mosaic of South African geological maps on the
cobblestones of the parking lot in Graaff-Reinet. Our route that day seemed to
cross nearly a quarter of the country, beginning in the high desert of the
Karoo, crossing the entire Cape Fold Belt which parallels the coast, the
following the coast to just a hundred kilometers east of Cape Town. The
crossing of the Cape Fold Belt would also signal our descent off of the high
central plateau of southern Africa, which we had been traveling across for
over
a week. After fueling up the vans and a quick tire change along the side of
the road (thanks to our crack tire-changing crew of James, Curtis and Gilead),
we headed southwest across the desert. The similarity between the Great Karoo
and the Mojave is just astounding. The highways shimmer along straight lines
from town to town, with occasional farms near rare water sources. The
geography of basins, eroded ranges, and dry lakes seemed familiar. Even the
towns themselves appeared lifted out of south-eastern California, with plywood
and concrete block homes clustered around a supermarket and a couple of gas
stations.
It was nearly noon by the time we reached the edge of the Karoo and
entered the Cape Fold Belt. The change in scenery was dramatic. Straight out
of the flat desert, the first ridge rose several thousand feet, with
individual
sedimentary beds running along its eroded face as far as we could see to the
east and west. The highway plunged through a narrow canyon in the broad
ridge,
and suddenly tropical dry forest replaced the succulent dominated desert
flora. After a few more ridges and valleys, with the vegetation increasingly
reflecting the temperate climate of South Africa's southern coast, we came to
the small town of Uniondale. To our surprise, the supermarket seemed to be
missing in this town, so we fanned out across various convenience stores and
pie shops to find lunch.
From Uniondale, we chose the less traveled road over Saint Albert's
Pass
to cross the final range of mountains to the coast. The climb to the pass was
quick and easy, with a magnificent view of the Indian Ocean greeting us at the
top. The descent, however, was another matter. The now-dirt single lane road
spiraled down the mountain face into a deep canyon, dodged across the creek a
dozen times, climbed back out on a hair-raising incline, then plunged back
down
into another. Your author, who was responsible for this day's itinerary, was
beginning to doubt the wisdom of his choice. On, the road continued for three
hours, over clear-cut ridges and through small logging communities.
Finally, a
dozen kilometers from the coast, we entered the Knysna forest, the largest
remaining native forest in South Africa. Those final few kilometers were
magical, the road winding under a canopy of yellowwood and stinkwood, draped
with moss, ferns, and orchids.
Our arrival in the town of Knysna was both a relief and a shock - the
brutal road over St. Albert’s Pass was behind us, but the density of tourists
and development which we had descended into was nothing short of amazing.
Knysna was a traffic jam of cars and trucks creeping past T-shirt shops, post
card stands, and fish-and-chips restaurants. Beachfront summer homes sprawled
out around the Knysna lagoon, and smog hung in the still afternoon air. We
had
seen nothing remotely like this in our two and a half weeks in South Africa's
interior, where simply finding a postcard to send home was often a challenge.
The "Garden Route" scenery was of course spectacular: The coastal highway
headed west past beautiful white sand beaches and forested lagoons, with the
sharp peaks over which we had just climbed as a backdrop. All of us, however,
were struck by the contrast between this over-developed tourist trap and the
empty beauty of the Karoo where we had been just a few hours earlier.
Though we had originally intended on camping at Bontebok National Park,
outside of the town of Swellendom, we arrived twenty minutes after the park
gates closed and instead fell back on Plan B: the caravan park in town. The
second choice turned out to be a good one. The Swellendom Caravan Park turned
out to be one of the nicest that we visited in South Africa, with a shaded
grassy camping area, warm showers, and a spectacular view of the mountains
just
north of town. After pitching tents, we all walked a short distance into town
for dinner.
Written by Antonin
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