by Don Kwikshot

Created on: July 17, 2008   Last Updated: October 31, 2010

To hell and gone exploring Die Hel
I have always been one of those people with strange ideas: many years ago I was a steepleholic if there was a church steeple with a good view I would be the first to climb to the top. Then there would be disused railway lines and tunnels, or canals from the Industrial Revolution.

Since we have few of these in South Africa it has always been a mission of mine to find places which the average person would overlook.

Over the years I have crossed the famous Swartberg Pass between Prince Albert and Oudtshoorn several times and have always been strongly attracted by the sign at the top of the pass pointing downwards through the mountains to Die Hel.
Perhaps the attraction of this road is the warning that there is no petrol available for the entire trip, or it could be that most of the books warn of a road which should not be undertaken by the faint-hearted.

That is probably why, on a dreary damp morning in June, three of us sandwiched ourselves and enough supplies to keep an army going for a week into my small Mazda Soho and set out on our voyage of discovery.

We made Oudtshoorn in mid-afternoon; the clouds had lifted and a pale sunlight lit our way as, with a full petrol tank, we started the climb up the Swartberg Mountains.
Firstly the road led through the endless tourist traps (Crocodile ranches and the like) which have sprung up to the north of the town, and then, becoming more scenic wound through Schoeman's Poort, hills high on either side, towards the famous Cango Caves.

Soon after the caves the road changed from a good tar to a particularly slippery dirt and we began climbing the Swartberg proper. The pass climbs 1 000 metres in only about 25 kilometres and has changed little since it was built by teams of prisoners over a period of four years, finishing in 1888.

The clouds descended once more as we skidded through hairpin bends, climbing steadily all the time, until at the end of what seemed like an eternity we reached the top of the pass and stopped for a breather at the signpost to Die Hel, about 55 kms from Oudtshoorn.

There was little to see on this relatively flat plateau at the summit, but since the afternoon was rapidly sinking to dusk we headed westwards towards Die Hel, better known today as Gamkaskloof.

The road was at first wide and gravely, leading past dark stands of pines and all the time following the Waterkloof River which flowed in the valley to our right. Then it began to climb and become steadily narrower.

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