Prince Alfred's Pass
It is the variety and scenic beauty of the Prince Alfred's Pass that is so appealing. It goes from the dank Diepwalle Forest inland of Knysna over the Tsitsikamma ridges and down into De Vlugt Valley, before making the long climb out to Uniondale in the Langkloof.
From a romantic's point of view, it is the cottages and tea garden at De Vlugt that are most compelling, because this is where Thomas Bain decided to set up shop and home while building this and subsequent passes in the Garden Route area.
It was during the building of this pass that Bain was commissioned by the colonial authorities to organise what became known as 'The Great Hunt', in honour of the visiting Prince Alfred, to whom the builder also dedicated the road.
Swartberg Pass Circular Tour
Many are the traveller who has looked too casually at the road map and thought he or she could do a circular drive linking Seweweekspoort and Swartberg Pass. Look again, very carefully, and you will see the dirt roads on either side of the Gamkapoort Dam do not actually meet.
To do a circular passes route you have to link spectacular Swartberg to the much easier and tarred Meiringspoort to the east. You might turn your nose up at the tar, but when Meiringspoort was still the dirt pass Thomas Bain built, flooding of it would often wash away the low-lying road and it could be closed for months - even years in times long past. The local farmers do not mind that tar.
By David Bristow
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