GARCIA’S PASS...is named after a former Civil Commissioner of Riversdale, AH Garcia, who in the 1860s saw the necessity for a direct route between Riversdale and the Little Karoo. After surveying a route, Garcia used convict labour to built a footpath over the mountain. Following appeals by the residents of Riversdale for a proper road, the Cape Parliament approved the construction of a pass in 1872. The route was surveyed the following year by Thomas Bain, and convicts were put to work to build the pass. |
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Progress was slow, however, and it was not until 31 December 1877 that the pass was opened to traffic. A tollhouse was built at the summit of the pass, and tolls were collected until the end of 1918. The tollhouse, a national monument, now serves as a starting point of two hiking trails traversing the Langeberg Mountains. Dominating the scenery to the west of the pass is the well-known peak, Sleeping Beauty, the outline of which resembles a sleeping woman. |
RIVERSDALEThe pleasant town of Riversdale was established on the farm Doornkraal in 1838 as an agricultural centre for the surrounding farms. It was named after Harry Rivers, Commissioner and Resident Magistrate of Swellendam from 1834 to 1841. Art-lovers should be sure to visit the Julius Gordon Africana Centre in Versveld House, a magnificent residence built in the Georgian style. |
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The centre houses a fine collection of South African paintings, including the second-largest collection of paintings by Thomas Bowler, as well as works by Jan Volschenk, Gregoire Boonzaaier, Pieter Wenning and Irma Stern. Among the collection of antiques are stinkwood chairs, old clocks, china and a horse-drawn hearse.
Other attractions are Jurisch Park, which includes a section for exotic plants, and the indigenous Van Riebeeck Park, noted for its variety of aloes. Among the town’s historic buildings are St Matthew’s Church (1856) and the Old Prison (1859). |
HEIDELBERGEstablished on the banks of the Duivenhoks River below the Langeberg, Heidelberg is the centre for the surrounding wheat and sheep farms. The town developed around a church established in 1855 to serve the farming community living in the area between Swellendam and Riversdale, and was named after the German city where the catechisms were originally drawn up. |
 GROOTVADERSBOSCH NATURE RESERVE22 km northwest of Heidelberg, covers some 250 ha of magnificent indigenous forest of yellowwood, stinkwood and red alder. Visitors can explore the reserve along a network of trails ranging in length from 2 km to 10 km. The Grootvadersbosch forest is the largest tract of indigenous forest west of the Knysna forests.
Noteworthy among the nearly 200 bird species recorded in the reserve to date are the Knysna woodpecker, Narina trogon, forest buzzard and Victorin’s warbler. The forest offers excellent birding opportunities, and a canopy-level bird hide is a delight to birders. |
 BONTEBOK NATIONAL PARKThis small but delightful national park was proclaimed in 1961 to save the bontebok (Damaliscus dorcas dorcas), a species restricted to the coastal plains of the southwestern Cape, from extinction. The park was originally established in the Bredasdorp area in 1931, with a nucleus of only 17 animals. However, it proved to be too small and unsuitable, necessitating a move to a larger site. |
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The population grew rapidly in the new park (which has a carrying capacity of around 200 bontebok), and so animals have had to be moved to other nature reserves and private land. Today, the total population stands at between 2 000 and 3 000. In addition to bontebok, visitors can also see red hartebeest, Cape mountain zebra, springbok, grey rhebok, grey duiker, steenbok and Cape grysbok. |
 Among the over 190 bird species found here are Stanley’s bustard, blue crane and Cape sugarbird. Picnic facilities are available for day visitors on the banks of the Breede River and swimming is possible in the river in the vicinity of the rest camp. There are two short circular trails, starting and ending at the rest camp. |
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