The ‘Land van Waveren’ and the wild beauty of Bain’s Kloof part 2 October 12, 2008
Posted by dodo in : Accommodation, Beach Resorts, Cape Town, Europe, Hotels, Rail Pass, South Africa, Tickets, Tour, Wellington , trackbackBain’s Kloof to Cape Town
From the viewsite the road winds down the pass to Wellington. Turn right at the T-junction into Main Street. After 1,5 km turn left at the four- way stop street, and right at the T-junction onto the R44, noting your kms.
Continue straight at the intersection with the Paarl-Malmesbury road. After 12,3 km turn right for Dubanville (R312), and roughly 22 km later turn left at the T-junction.
The road enters Durbanville 5 km after this. Turn left into Main Road, and follow the signs onto the N1 for Cape Town.
Searching for Monomotapa
Pieter Cruythoff led an expedition from the Castle in Cape Town early in 1661, under orders from Commander Jan van Riebeeck, to find a route to the legendary and fabulously wealthy kingdom of Monomotapa. They failed in this objective, but they did discover a way to the north as far as the edge of Namaqualand — and they made contact with new trading partners, the Nama.
On the way they encountered a great isolated ridge which Cruythoff loyally named Riebeek-Kasteel. Today the name applies only to the village at its foot, and the mountain is known as Kasteelberg (castle mountain).
In this vicinity the party found many hippopotami, rhinoceros, herds of buck, and even lions. The lions attacked them near the present Bothmaskloof Pass, which winds downhill towards Riebeek-Kasteel.
Bain’s Kloof Pass
This picturesque road above the Wit River, winding through rugged peaks of eroded sandstone and granite, was built by convict labourers under
Andrew Geddes Bain. In places the pass is carried on dry-packed stone walls more than 12m high. More than half its 30 km length had to be blasted from solid rock with gunpowder, as this was before the invention of dynamite. Bridges have been reinforced and the road has been tarred, but otherwise it remains as it was built by Bain.
Wellington — Early Colonial Limit
Limiet Vallei was one of the earliest names given to the Wellington district, when it marked the limit of settler expansion from the Cape.
The town of Wellington, founded in 1837, is the home of the Huguenot Seminary, started by the Rev Andrew Murray, and of South Africa’s first teachers’ college.
Capital of the Swartland
Malmesbury is the chief town of the wheat-rich Swartland (black country), so named not for the colour of its soil — which is reddish brown — but probably for the dark renosterbos (rhino bush) which formerly covered the area.
A warm sulphur spring was discovered in the region in 1744, and a few people settled nearby. The place became the venue for periodic Nagmaal (Communion) services, and three wells were sunk for fresh water. One of these, a national monument, may be seen inside the furniture store on the corner of Hill and Piet Retief streets. Malmesbury was named by Governor Sir Lowry Cole in 1829 in honour of his wife’s family.
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