The term Karoo refers to a semi-desert natural region of South Africa, defined by its low rainfall, arid air, cloudless skies, and extremes of heat and cold.  The Little Karoo (in Afrikaans, the Klein Karoo) and the Great Karoo are distinctively divided by the Langberg and Swartberg Mountain Ranges.

With Richard, our new saffer friend, we spent three days (19-21 June) meandering through the Klein Karoo along a section of South Africa’s famous Route 62.  After departing Cape Town, we traversed the Du Toitskloof Pass in tricky cold, misty, and rainy conditions, but as soon as we passed through Worcester, Robertson, and then Montagu, the renowned Karoo conditions kicked in.

In glorious blue-sky weather we continued to Barrydale where we took a little side ride through the stunningly scenic Tradouws Pass, before checking into the quirky Karoo Moon Motel.  A tasty feed at the Country Pumpkin, a hot shower and a log fire were all we needed to conclude a successful first day along Route 62.

Day 2 was scheduled to be a scenic 500km ride with a few challenges thrown in for good measure.  Starting out at 8am in 1 degree C temperature, was the first challenge.  Like our stylish socks-and-sandal pairings, our clothing was carefully layered using just about everything out of our panniers!  

The road between Barrydale and Ladismith was nice, however the road between Ladismith and Calitzdorp, with the indigenous winter flowering aloes, was stunning.  After Calitzdorp, we took a gravel short cut to the start of the Swartberg Pass.  The Guzzi handled the track admirably, but Richard’s challenge was to keep his BMW R1100 road racing tires from slip, sliding away.  The fact that he is still with us, speaks volumes.

The Swartberg Pass is a natural wonder that is considered one of the most scenic drives in the world.  The road is gravel, but more solid than the short cut we had previously ridden, so Richard got into a rhythm which I managed to captured in Pillion Postcard images.  Not satisfied with reaching the summit, Richard insisted we ride further to see where the Pass continued to the quaint village of Prince Albert.  The man was unstoppable!  Time prevented us from reaching Prince Albert, and given the BM’s slippery rear end, we chose to stick to tar and head back to Calitzdorp via Outstroorn.

Richard had explained that Karoo Lamb graze on indigenous fynbos shrubs, giving the meat its sought after, distinctive flavour.  We decided to have an early dinner in Calitzdorp before riding back to the Karoo Moon Motel and our log fire.  For the second night running, I had Karoo Lamb, this time served in a baby sized potjie, South Africa’s three legged version of our Aussie outback camp oven.  Being a lamb connoisseur, I’ve decided to have Karoo Lamb shipped back home!

By this time, it was just starting to get dark and we still had to ride past all the flowing aloes and the long stretch to get back to Barrydale.  We’d had such a great ride to that point, that none of us had really thought much about the 120km return journey in the dark!  Another challenge for the day was getting back into Barrydale safe, sound and not too frozen.  Tick and done!

Day 3 was “head-home day” as storms were forecast for Cape Town in the afternoon.  Our route back was to turn off before Worcester, head to Villiersdorp for lunch, then descend towards the coastal road and back to Muizenberg completing a 1025km circuit.

The weather had turned perilously gusty, apparently something not uncommon in this country.  One minute you’re cruising comfortably, then next the wind would hit with such force you were left wondering which way you could possibly fall.  So fall, we eventually did!  We were at a busy T-junction; Dale lifted his left foot to put the bike into gear, and bang, before we had a nano-second to react, the gust came from the right and we went down to the ground on the left.  Luckily, the truck driver behind us jumped from his cab and helped get the Guzzi back upright.  A quick assess of bodies and bike was done before crossing the highway to stop and fully inspect the damage.  

The Guzzi was fine all bar a broken clutch lever, and the pannier and front crash bar had saved our bodies from any harm.  Unfortunately Dale sprained his clutch changing wrist, so it was a painful drive back home.  That’s a She Said account; the He Said account is to follow…