Page 236 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - South Africa

234  THE WESTERN AND SOUTHERN C APE

e Four Passes Tour

The Little Karoo is a region sharply defined by mountain
ranges. Sandwiched between the Swartberg to the north and
the Langeberg and Outeniqua mountains to the south, it is
surrounded by spectacular peaks which severely tested the
genius of South Africa’s famous road engineer, Thomas Bain.
The most majestic of the four passes is the one that winds its
way through the Swartberg.

1 Seweweekspoort
The pass is a 15-km (9-mile) gravel route
through sheer walls of rough-hewn rock,
criss-crossing a rivercourse that meanders
through the Klein Swartberg moun tains.
Towering over the northern extent is the
2,325-m (7,628-ft) Seweweekspoort (“seven
weeks pass”) Peak. Local legend claims that
this name refers to the time it used to take
brandy smugglers to cross this route.

Worcester
Laingsburg

Gamka
Dwyka
Gamkaskloof
(Die Hel)
Middelplaas Waboomsberg
Pass
Groot
J
Amalienstein
Ladismith
Riversdale Little Karoo
2 Calitzdorp
The streets of this Karoo village are
lined with Victorian houses. Nearby is
a natural hot-spring spa, and some of Key
the best port wines in the country are Tour route
produced at Boplaas, Die Krans Estate Other roads
and the Calitzdorp Wine Cellar.
Park boundary

0 kilometres 10
0 miles 10

3 Oudtshoorn
The grand Victorian and Edwardian
sand stone mansions in Oudtshoorn (see p232)
were built on the riches reaped during
the ostrich-feather boom of the 1880s.
Lucerne (or alfafa), the favourite
food of ostriches, flourished in the
Karoo climate, enabling farmers to raise
these flightless birds commercially.

For hotels and restaurants in this region see pp386–7 and pp403–4

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