A circular route through the Langkloof, Wilderness, Swartberg Pass – and a detour through Gamkaskloof – and finally Baviaanskloof. If you think that sounds great, you’re in good company. Anton Strooberg of Grahamstown says it’s the best 1 000 km he’s ever tackled.

It didn’t take much to convince old friends Anton Strooberg and Werner Gouws to take a trip to explore the Southern and Eastern Cape. Both of them have Eastern Cape roots, and together they’ve hiked these areas extensively. 

To plan their route they drew a circle on a map of the region, including as much dirt road and as many interesting passes as possible. October is the best time for touring – the weather’s great, you can drop in anywhere without booking and except for Oudtshoorn, they were the only people in the campsite.

Day 1 | In the footsteps of Fiela’s child

The first stretch, from Jeffrey’s Bay on the N2, just flies by. The odometer reading on the Toyota Condor TX 3litre diesel 4x4 is at exactly 105 000 km.

The Langkloof road, the R62 through Kareedouw, Joubertina and the hamlet of Haarlem and right along the Langkloof mountains, brings us closer to the real starting point of our off-road tour.

At Avontuur we turn left on the R339 towards Prince Alfred’s Pass. And here, facing a signpost that says Knysna is still 84 km ahead of us, we’re once again impressed with Thomas Bain’s way with mountain passes. All around us are pools, streams and cascades, and we find ourselves crossing quaint little bridges.

The rain and mist veil the mountainside and all the kloofs we’d been hoping to see, but the pass remains sheer driving pleasure. 

After driving about 19 km through the pass we find the tiny De Vlugt, headquarters of the Prince Alfred’s Pass with a few houses, a church and a school.

A little further down the road, past the signpost to Diepwalle, we take a right onto Kom se Pad, which runs past the Gouna forest station and into Knysna. Now we’re on Fiela’s Child turf and the road winds through the Knysna Forest.

We drive past the most beautiful yellowwood trees and we can’t believe that in days gone by these trees were cut down for mere firewood or railway sleepers. The forest enfolds us and we expect a herd of elephants to come bearing down on the Condor at any moment.

In Knysna we turn right onto the N2, heading off in the direction of George, but not for long. At the Rheenendal/Millwood turnoff we swing right and drive the few kilometres into Rheenendal. Now we’re on the renowned Seven Passes road, which hugs the foot of the Outeniqua Mountains. It’s not as forested as Kom se Pad and due to all the farms along the way there are many clearings, but it’s still a sight to behold.

Stop at one of the remaining mine tunnels at Millwood, but watch out for the bats deeper in the tunnels – the size of rats, there are thousands of them.

From here it’s dirt road again across the Homtini Pass (Kraaibosch), to the forestry town of Karatara. About 6 km after Karatara we’re on the Hoogekraal Pass. It’s a bumpy ride - the road is quite corrugated in places - but the natural beauty makes up for it. After another 18 km we turn right in the direction of George on Forest Road.

We get to the campsite in York Street, George, just after five. We pitch our tent to protect ourselves from the rain. It’s a stormy night and bitterly cold ...