Day twelve - Kokstad,
14th October 2007

I left Kokstad early with Milner Snell. We explored the famous Ongeluksnek pass today - the route that  nearly destroyed the Griqua spirit in the early 1860s.

We arrived in Kokstad and met Vivian and Barbara Haviside who were taking us in their four wheel drive. Barbara's parents once owned a farm in the Ongeluksnek valley - it was taken away in the late 1970s as part of the homeland policy brought in by the white South African government.

The farmhouse today is a wreck and once fertile lands carrying thousands of acres of maize now stand unused - but Vivian is trying to enter into community agreements with the new African landlords to use the lands in a win-win situation.

Barbara and Vivian come into the Ongeluksnek valley most weekends so they no the place and the new farm owners very well- this soon became apparent as we stopped off at various farms and he chatted to the African men and who now lived in the white farmhouses.

The trip up the Ongeluksnek pass was simply amazing and this classic - image right - of the "loo with a view" sets off the beauty of the place. I was so lucky - a fire two months earlier, rain the day before and clear skies today created a perfect formula for photography. Never had the Ongeluksnek looked so stunning.


Composite image of Ongeluksnek pass from half way up lookng back down.

After passing through the border post on the South African side I took some photos - the road becomes impassable just a few hundred metres beyond this checkpoint - how the Griqua came down this pass with ox wagons defeats me! The slopes are near vertical in parts!

We then returned o the Kenira stream below and had lunch while a few locals fished nearby.

It was the off to Queen's Mercy where a decree by Queen Victoria in the late 1800s saw two waring African tribes separated by the Ongeluksnek valley - thus the name. t Queen's Mercy Vivian took me to his hidden place he appropriately calls "Gods' Window" - click on image below to get a proper idea of how amazing the scenery is.


Composite image of view of Ongeluksnek Valley taken from "God's Window"

Then back to Matatiele and, as the sunset, back to Kokstad... for an early night as tomorrow I am off to Grahamstown.  

On the road to Matatiele

Leaving Kokstad

Droewige Toestand valley
with Mt Currie at back

On the road to Matatiele

Matatiele from the

Haviside's deck

On the road to

Ongeluksnek

The oldest school in the region

Ongeluksnek valley -

deserted white farms

Queen's Mercy where Adam
Kok confronted Nehemiah

Amazing views... lands where

Vivian wants to cultivate

2 brothers and 3 sisters
(in the berg)

More deserted white farmhouses

The old Haviside farmhouse

now a crumbling shell

Vivian and Barbera Haviside
with Milner Snell

"Black occupation" and the
house goes to ruin

Ongeluksnek Valley

road

No plumbing so an
outside dunny

Bushman paintings

Amazing scenery

Where Vivian would like

to establish a B&B

The site of the spring where

the Griqua first rested.

Illegal hunting of game with
dogs is common now.

Rare flock of Crested
Cranes

The Cranes in flight

The scenery just gets

more beautiful

Sotho

Horseback

The amazing Mariazell mission

The Mariazell Cross in the
foothills of Ongeluksnek

The Mariazell Mission

The wall of the Drakensberg

Loo with a view

The hills start getting steeper

and become mountainous

Imagine taking an oxwagon
across these slopes

Looking back down
towards the valley

S African border post

Guards stamp my book

The Ongeluks Nek Pass -
click pic to see more

In nomansland on the way
to Lesotho

This route is still used by
cattle rustlers

That's the valley to the left
of the border post

The road soon becomes
impassable

The road soon becomes
impassable

A lone man walks up the

pass with his horse

Coming back to S Africa

The amazing views

Coming back into the

Ongeluksnek valley

My stamped book

Lunch by the Kenira river

The Mariazell church tower

An amazing church!

To ring the bells

The interior of  the

church - all handmade

All the stonework

was handcrafted

Above Mariazell

A backpackers

The view from the site of

the cross above Mariazell

The crypt and the

natural stone towers

Clouds break the light

Views from the site

of the big cross

national anthem for Scott

Scott at the site of the cross

More views

On the road to Queen's Mercy

The "drinking hole" at

Queen's Mercy

Emjoyimg the view at "God's

Window" above Ongeluksnek

Bustard bird

All telephone wires now stolen

More beautiful late

afternoon scenery

Coming back to Matatiele

On the road to

Kokstad

Return to Scott Balson's 2007 book tour