4x4 DESTINATION

Mountains draw you in, especially if you love passes, valleys and views. The Swartberg mountain range has no fewer than 17 passes… and before you descend to the ocean, there’s a mysterious kloof to visit.

Our route starts in Willowmore in the Eastern Cape and ends at the De Hoop Nature Reserve in the Western Cape’s Overberg district. If you leave Gauteng before dawn, you should arrive in Willowmore early that same evening – and Capetonians can drive the route the other way around and start at De Hoop – it’s only two hours away from Bellville.

Willem Ore, as Willowmore is sometimes jokingly called, lies on a undulating dry plain between the Aasvoëlberg and Slypsteenberg in the Koup district. There isn’t much to see or do in the town, but if you spend the night at Finchly Farm, you can drive up the Aasvoëlberg the following day to see where the Swartberg mountain range begins. This range consists of the Great Swartberg that starts here in Willowmore, and the Little Swartberg that stretches from Calitzdorp to Anysberg, 230 km from here as the crow flies.

The twin-track that winds its way up Aasvoëlberg received a concrete slab a few years ago, and you no longer need four-wheel drive to get to the top. Sedans won’t make it, however, as here and there the track runs through dry riverbeds – Finchly Farm charges R50 pp to drive the route. Another point of interest lies 30 km outside Willowmore on the Klaarstroom road: the derelict Vondeling train station, from where you can walk along the track for 9 km through the Great Swartberg to the station at Toorwater. Your driver then drives 80 km around the mountain to pick up the hikers on the other side. Hikers and the motorist will take almost the same amount of time. If you want to do both the train track and Aasvoëlberg, you’ll need to spend an extra day in Willowmore.