Photos

This shot was taken on the road to ‘Die Hel ‘ (The Hell), a remote and hidden valley in the Swartberg Mountains. The final 37 km journey takes in excess of 2 hours to negotiate in a 4X4 vehicle. The scenery is breathtaking and the road can be challenging. Pictured here is the yellow leaved golden sunshine cone bush (Leucadendron Laureolum) one of the Cape Fynbos shrubs which turns the mountainsides bright yellow.

The name "The Hell" is attributed to a local stock inspector, who had to make a monthly trek into Gamkaskloof to check stock for disease. The route he followed was down the steep track known as "die leer" - the ladder. On one occasion he said it was like "going to Hell and back" - and it stuck. The Gamkaskloofers DID NOT approve of the name at all.
When a Gamkaskloofer received a letter from the Receiver of Revenue addressed to "The Hell" he sent it back unopened with a note scrawled across the front: "They don't pay tax in Hell."

The valley where a small, proud community lived in isolation for more than 100 years was only accessible was on foot and horseback and harvests of dried fruit and wild honey were carried out by pack animals.
Legend has it that Gamkaskloof was discovered when trekboers lost their cattle and followed their spoor into the fertile valley. Petrus Swanepoel was the first to farm there and the valley supported the hard-working community until 1962 when a road was carved into the valley. A gradual exodus occurred and the last farmer to leave was Piet Swanepoel in 1991.
Now one of the Gamkaskloof families, the Jouberts, has returned to the valley and shares tales of the old days with their guests.
This photograph is copyright of Rosemary Walden - © Rosemary Walden 2013. All rights reserved. Any redistribution or reproduction of the image in any form is prohibited. You may not, except with my express written permission, copy, reproduce, download, distribute or exploit the content. Nor may you transmit it or store it in any other website or other form of electronic retrieval system