Take The High Road

A quick escape into the Eastern Cape Highlands

- Micky Baker

If you’re not chasing the best roads in South Africa, you’re simply not doing it right. By roads, of course, I mean dusty mountain passes with spectacular views. As travellers and overlanders, we live for the langpad, and the Eastern Cape Highlands has long, winding roads in abundance.

On my way back to the Cape from a recent Wild Coast expedition, I couldn’t help but sample the region famed for the ‘Ben 10’ passes – a collection of mountain routes that traverse the highest roads in South Africa. Among them is Makhollo, AKA Ben MacDhui, which, at 3 001m, is the highest driveable road in the country, dwarfing the far more famous Sani Pass.

I had just fitted a brand new RSI SMARTCANOPY and SMART KITCHEN to our Isuzu long-termer, so it was only fair that I got a chance to test it all out over the course of a few days. Departing Pietermaritzburg, we headed southward, and also upward, towards the jagged outline of the southern Drakensberg, first through Kokstad and then on to Maclear, where our mini-journey truly began.

Rise and fall

With a rapid rise in elevation came a sharp drop in temperature, a far cry from the tropical pleasures we had just been enjoying in Pondoland. With limited time in the Highlands, our goal was simply to climb Naude’s Nek and visit Rhodes and Tiffindell Ski Resort. En route, we took a much-needed rest break in Maclear, a bustling town at the very foot of the ‘Berg.

Eager to test out the new kit, we checked in to Caravan Park Tortoni, a quiet and exceptionally well-manicured campsite just outside of the town. We arrived late, having spent several hours dodging cattle and foot traffic, so we quickly got cracking on supper.