GAMKASKLOOF

From the Karoo village of Prince Albert in the north and Oudtshoorn in the south, the Swartberg Pass ascends in a series of outrageous loops and turns. Approaching the summit, a seemingly innocuous road leads off and lures the unwitting Budget explorer down a passage from Dante’s Inferno – a thin zigzagging track to nowhere. Happily, the road does lead somewhere, to a verdant 20km cul-de-sac known as Gamkaskloof (Valley of the Lions), or more popularly as Die Hel. Why Die Hel we don’t know, because after the road in it is the next best thing to heaven. Once an isolated farming community blissfully cut off from the outside world, with its own school and self-subsisting economy, Gamkaskloof  is today a CapeNature reserve featuring a campsite, a dozen or so guest cottages, a sprinkling of permanent residents and an atmosphere still smouldering in exaggerated myth.

 

Things To Do
  • The first thing you can do is make sure your car gets to Gamkaskloof. Prince Albert (57km) and Oudtshoorn (52km) are the nearest towns – you can approach from either. The final leg of the expedition is the stuff of goose pimples: a precipitous zigzag that drops like a stone to the valley floor.
     
  • Your experience of Gamkaskloof will be enriched if you infuse the scenery with the fascinating story of the people who once lived here. For an accurate rendition of the characters and life as it was lived, try to obtain a copy of The Hell – Valley of the Lions, by Sue van Waart. Far more thrilling and (intentionally) way off the mark, Andre Brink’s, Devil’s Valley, is a fantastical tale of savage incest and other delicious horrors.
     
  • The 6km Grootkloof Trail is an interesting point-to-point interpretative walk (booklet provided) that provides a peek into early life in the valley. Tant Lenie Marais’ Agter-Osberg cottage – which she apparently built herself – is the highlight. Apart from the official trail, there is plenty of scope to do your own thing along the 20km dirt road traversing the valley. The road crosses multiple streams and passes most of the old homes.
     
  • Not only is Gamkaskloof of cultural-historical importance, it also offers ecological interest. The vegetation is diverse, featuring renosterveld, mountain fynbos, Karoo-veld and numerous bulb species. Many are in bloom throughout the year. And where you find diverse vegetation you will also find birdlife, in this case an array of species.