West Coast Part 2 – Spectacularly Rugged

After passing through vast plains of succulents and proteas we arived at the small town of Eksteensfontein named after the Reverend Eksteen (Originally named Stinkfontein -smelly water) for our park permit. This town was established by a mission that allowed the settlement of displaced coloured people after the start of apartheid.
We then went up to the Helskloof pass and just over the other side the cruiser stopped. We had seen no vehicles for hours and it would have been impossible to tow the vehicle over the remaining pass, so very concerned. I noticed the auxilary fuel gauge was also not working so suspected a blown main engine fuse. After a bit of a search and consultation with the service manual, I found the offending fuse and we were mobile again.
We then passed a valley of stone cairns that people had erected to give them safe passage over the pass. Too bad we had come the other way. Maybe that we didn't erect one was our downfall.
We stayed at a fantastic campsite called Fiddlers Creek. Had a canoe trip down the Orange River seperating South Africa and Namibia and had a wonderful evening with some other campers from around Johannesburg.

Rocks that have fallen down the mountain

Another remote drive but along a well formed bitumen road for most of the way to Clanwilliam. The drive in to Clanwilliam itself was gravel and lots of roadworks due to flooding from the previous wet season. We again stayed at a lovely campground (Kromrivier) although this one had a restaurant with exquisite meals as well.
We toured the area and visited the cave paintings of the San and KhoeKhoe peoples. We also hiked amongs the Tiuitjieskraal rock formations. On one of the roads in we came across what we think was a Black Mamba sunning itself on the road. Happily we were in the truck at this point. We did have a bit more of a hike than planned to start the day as we didn't notice the gate combination on the top of the access permit and had to walk from the gate instead of driving.