Experiencing great heights, cold beer, and warm water

7 – 8 OCTOBER 2020

When we woke up at the ATKV Buffelspoort Resort that Wednesday morning, we realised that it was even more stunning than we had imagined when we arrived the night before. Our setting on the little stream was perfect, the campsites were paved, the ablutions were almost luxurious and spotlessly clean, and there were two heated swimming pools. At only R240 per night, it was a steal. Many of the sights that we wanted to see, were within easy reach, so we booked for two more nights. (https://buffelspoort.co.za/home/)

Then we hit the road to Hartbeespoort. Or perhaps I should say the road hit us! Sannie (Google Maps) indicated that we should drive the R102 past Mooinooi. This road was in a bad state of disrepair: pothole, upon pothole, inside another pothole. The experience became even more hair-raising when we started driving through informal settlements which seemed to be never-ending.

Experiencing Hartbeespoort

But, when we saw the Hartbeespoort Dam Wall, we quickly forgot how we got there. We were blown away by the construction of the arch wall and the architecture of the unique Triumphal Arch on the bridge. The way in which the sluices release the water into the canals on the eastern and western sides of the dam wall contributes to the natural beauty of the gorge below. A stop-and-go system regulates the traffic over the bridge and through the tunnel on the other side of the wall. We were so enchanted with the dam wall that we returned later that afternoon to walk over the bridge and take more photos.

No visit to Harties can be complete without a trip to the top of the Magaliesberg Mountain in the Hartbeespoort Aerial Cableway. At 1,2 kilometres long, it is the longest monocableway in Africa. An adult return ticket costs R240. ( https://www.hartiescableway.co.za/ )

I was as excited as a little girl about this cable car ride. Andre and I have developed this weird habit of me or mine on the right and he or his on the left (because he is left-handed). So, when I got into the cable car, I instinctively sat on the right – which meant I had my back to the wonderful view below. In my own excitement, I forgot that Andre has a fear of hights. Seeing his anxious face as I eagerly took photos of our lift-off, reminded me of how brave he was to humour me. That did not prevent me from having a bit of fun with my sister-in-law at his expense – I just had to share that photo with someone who would giggle with me! But it came back to bite me…

We ordered a pizza for brunch at Hero’s Pizza Shack right at the top of the mountain, before strolling to all the different viewpoints on the 1-kilometre Dassie Loop. The informative signs along the way explain the points of interest that you can see from atop the mountain. What an incredible view! And afterwards, our pizza was delicious and huge – more than enough for two people. We also appreciated the enthusiasm and friendliness of the staff at the Pizza Shack.

When we got into the cable car for the ride down, I made sure that I sat on the right again so that this time I could see the view going down. I had my cell phone ready to take more photos. But, the wind had picked up a bit, and this time, the lift-off was quite rocky! I just managed to shove my precious phone back into my backpack before grabbing onto the backrest of the seat for dear life. Andre got his revenge – a photo of my slightly hysterical face! And he insisted that I had to send that photo to my sister-in-law as well. Much to her amusement, of course!

We drove around in Hartbeespoort for a while, trying to find a spot next to the dam to drink our flask of coffee. Except for one or two spots where you had to pay an entry fee, we could not find a place where you could get close to the dam. Private, gated housing complexes were built all along the banks of the dam. In the end, we found the eclectic Vovo Telo Bakery & Café, where we also had WiFi to do some planning and research for the next few days of our trip. Excellent coffee, paired with rich chocolate cake for Andre and a lovely tart lemon tart for me, made an excellent lunch after our pizza for brunch. ( http://vovotelo.co.za/ )

Andre contacted someone at the local tennis club from their Facebook Page, and he set up a doubles tennis match for them for later that afternoon. Andre thoroughly enjoyed the competitive game with three great guys. I relaxed under a tree and tried to write a bit but ended up chatting to one of the coaches. Small world – I knew her sister-in-law, whose kids were at primary school with mine and sang in the choir with my daughter. (At this point, my kids normally die of embarrassment. They hate it when I chat to people, find out where they come from and then ask whether they know this or that person.)

We were caught off guard by how early it becomes dark as we travel further east. This meant that we had to drive back to Buffelspoort in the dark. If the road was scary that morning, can you only imagine how nervous we were on the drive back? If we drove too fast, we might damage the bakkie, but if we drove too slowly, we could be hijacked! In the end, Andre pulled off a brilliant strategy. Someone (clearly a local) drove at break-neck speed past us, only to slam on his brakes about a hundred metres further ahead. At first, we thought we were done for – this was the hijacking we feared! Then we realised he just evaded a massive pothole. After that, Andre gave chase and stayed behind this guy, following his lead to negotiate our way around the potholes. Hair-raising stuff! Safely back at the resort, we fell thankfully into the heated swimming pool back – a wonderful stress-reliever!

Around Magaliesburg

The next morning, we left the resort excitedly to visit the Cradle of Humankind. We took a detour onto Buffelspoort Road to scout out the Buffelspoort Dam – Andre hoped to do some fishing later that afternoon. The plan was to follow a gravel road through the Magaliesberg Nature Area to Magaliesburg, but although it was a beautiful drive through the farms, we could not find the road that Sannie wanted us to drive on our way to Buffelspoort two days ago. We reached the R24 near Olifant’s Nek and travelled back towards Magaliesburg. Just before town, we turned onto the R560 past Hekpoort and then onto the R563 and R400 until we reached the Maropeng Visitors Centre. To our utter disappointment, it was still closed due to Covid-19, and the Sterkfontein Caves as well. We felt totally deflated. This was one of the tourist attractions that we were really eager to visit on our trip. ( https://www.maropeng.co.za/ )

Andre spread out our picnic blanket right there next to the road and we had a lovely picnic with coffee and rusks. While we drank our coffee, about four or five more cars had to turn around in disappointment. Two ladies had to wait for their friend, and we invited them to join our picnic. And as it invariably always works out for me, the one lady knew my Erasmus-family in Riversdale. (I can just imagine my kids cringing at this!)

So, what do you do if you cannot explore caves? You do a beer tasting! We had driven past Brauhaus Afrika/Brauhaus am Damm twice already on the R24 near Maanhaarrand, and we were not planning to do that again. This brewery was the real deal. We loved tasting the authentic German beers, especially the Farmer’s Draught. A friendly and knowledgeable waiter, the stunning view and lively oompah band music in the background, made this a truly enjoyable experience. ( https://brauhaus.co.za/ )

The beer made us lazy and Andre abandoned his plan to go fishing. We took a leisurely drive through Olifant’s Nek and Rustenburg before returning to the resort. Andre took a nap while I did some writing. After our braai that evening, we ended off our stay at ATKV Buffelspoort with a last relaxing swim in the heated pool.