Oases in the Cape's Own Wilderness

If you think that the Cederberg is a beautiful destination, you should push through past Matjiesrivier, and then change course for Wuppertal, just before you climb up the escarpment to the Tankwa Karoo. That’s exactly what EVAN NAUDÉ did.

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As a child, the Cederberg was synonymous with days of hiking up mountains and long walks. I can still remember as a teenager hiking high up into the mountains (or at least that’s what it felt like) with my father and camping between the fynbos, cooking meals on a tiny gas stove and washing in a freezing mountain stream. But these days my foreign friends are the ones telling me about all of the other things that one can do in this region. That can’t be, I think, and decide to go investigate it for myself.

I don’t have to be up and on the road at the crack of dawn for a change, because the Cederberg is only about 220 km from Cape Town. When I get to Citrusdal I leave the N7 and turn left into Voortrekker Street. Once outside the town, the road becomes gravel and heads north along the eastern banks of the Olifants River

It’s just another way to get to the turn-off for the Algeria Campsite (29 km before Clanwilliam), but you can get there faster if you take the N7, that’s if nature’s pull is too strong. I became acquainted with this road for the first time in a Fiat Uno, several years after the camping expedition with my dad, when the Olifants River was flowing too strongly over the bridge this side of the highway. That was back in the day when I was still naïve enough to go hiking in takkies. They say there’s a fine line between bravery and stupidity, and now that I find myself equipped with a proper vehicle, I hope that I’ll understand the difference a little better.

Today the bridge is clear, and it’s not necessary to take the gravel road, but it’s still a lekker alternative route, because it gives me a chance to get off the tar road sooner. From here, the Nieuwoudt’s Pass climbs over the mountain and at the summit a friendly sign that reads “Welcome to the Cederberg. You are now in leopard country!” welcomes me to this unique conservation region.