We went in search for the wagon trail used to get over the Cpae Mountains. We found the marks of an old era in South Africa's history. #southafrica #capetown #history
In 1971 I moved from the UK to CapeTown South Africa. I was one of the riders that followed the cattle wagons on a re - enactment of that very trail. We went from Sir Lowry's Pass over the mountain and finished at Oak Valley Farms.My friend Diney Rawbone Viloen's family own it still today. We were all in costume it was an incredible effort even in the 70's. You young men probably weren't even born then😊
Gantouw means Pad van die Elande. Farmers departed from Cape Town. They took one full day to travel to the foot of this pass. The young boys was send out to hunt for dinner on their horses. They camped at the foot of the pass. The next morning they hand carried the cargo up the pass. Two teams of oxen was fastened to one wagon to pull it over the pass. Then they overnighted at the top of the pass. There is an old signal canon nearby. The toll office and house did not had anything to do with Gantouw. It was only use for Lowrys Pass.The derelict and stripped building is Steenbras station. One steam locomotive with wagons departed from Cape Town. Then it was hooked to two additional locomotives at Lowrys Pas station. At the top, at Steenbras station, the two extra locomotives was unhooked. So the train could carry on to Protem with only one locomotive. The two extra locos was again attached when the the train returned.
@@darrenmanuel509 "dont u mean dutch. afrikaners are the coloureds" The Dutch weren't the only people at the Cape. May I suggest you define Afrikaner so we know what you mean?
@@former9085 afrikaner refers to the creole native/slave descendents of the cape colony, afrikaans is a dutch based creole language created by the creole slave population
@@darrenmanuel509 "afrikaans is a dutch based creole language created by the creole slave population" Correct. The first Afrikaans book was written in Arabic script. But that doesn't define an Afrikaner. Afrikaner is a culture of the Afrikaans speakers. There are more than six well defined Afrikaner cultures.
Were taken there on a school trip in 1976. Have a photo of those tracks somewhere and every time I cross Sir Lowry’s (a few times a year) I think about these.
Imagine the amount of trade going back and forth over the mountain. Farm implements coming from Cape Town, produce coming back from the farms. Hats off to the teams that took the wagons over.
In 1988 het n groep mense van Bredasdorp en Overberg met voortrekkerwaens hier oor berg gegaan na swellendam en Overberg. Hul het ook plekke opgespoor waar water was. Ons het hierdie geskiedenis ook in skool geleer en geweet van die spore van waens in die klip oor die berg. Ek was darem in 1972 in Matriek. Lank voor 1994.
Yes, I personally saw those tracks when I first did that hike in 1980, starting at the top of sir Lowry pass to landroskop hut 21km away..enroute we came across those tracks .
It was not only for the people to seek groener weivelde, my fore fathers had to go back of the mountain from Swellendam every time they had to sell their produce. You should tell the rest of the story. When ships arrived in the Cape used canons on the hill tops to signal the arrival to the farmers in the Overberg.
We found those same tracks on the family farm in Houhoek going over the saddle to Claitzdorp., but not as clearly defined. Perhaps there were other directions they split up and went to after clearing the first big pass you've shown. Anyway, that was a very nostalgic look at the countryside I wandered about in, now I wander about in NZ!
great video. The Gandoupass is well known to Mountain bikers riding the Wines2Whales 3 day event. We push our bikes up or down it each year. It is amazing the first time you see those wagon tracks in the stone.
the more i live in the western cape the more i respect the voortrekkers. cruising with those oxwagens with no suspension, not only over all the fynbos and the mountains and what not and afterwards they hit the karoo and then imagine the bros that cruised through the eastern cape, "oh this seems like a decent path..." (boom, bloukrans and all the other crazy valleys.)
Wow! Thanks for sharing this piece of history! Do you guys know about the gold mine shaft on Lions Head? And the manganese mine in Hout Bay? I'll be glad to show you where these place are.
I'm aware of this track, but have never been able to walk there. I'm also fascinated with old mountain passes and roads. There's also some very old paths going over the mountains at Franshhoek.
It's known as the "gantouw pass". Read the book written by Peggy Heap : The Story of Hottentots Holland: Social History of Somerset West, The Strand ...
Remember these tracks vividly when back in day we could start the Hottentots Holland Hike from the top of Sir Lowry's Pass. Moordenaar's Kop waiting up ahead. We always promised newbees that there was a spaza selling cold coke on the very top. By the time they eventually reached the pinnacle of the kop, they were too exhausted to even be disappointed about the shop being closed.
I was wondering if you knew about the history of that little house and I was glad that you knew. Those are the kind of little things we should remember. There are similar marks in the Ceres Karoo near or on the farm Bizansgat. If I remember correctly those were from the people that were on their way to Kimberley to look for diamonds. Great video!
Gaan soek dieselfde in Nuwekloof waar treinspoor en pad ook saam loop. Daar sal julle ou teerpad en nuwe teerpad kry sowel as ou tweespoorpad aan dieselfde kant as die nuwe pad.
The Gantouw pass is well known (google it if you have any doubts), large mtb events use it regularly as portage. Other than the slightly misleading title a pretty entertaining video though.
As I am not a resident of that country and that particular province, there is not much I can do. I do however try to be civil in my comments. You also should try that. Nuff said! @@Sher5238
The families didn't always accompany the transporters; most of the journeys were to transport stuff to and from the Overberg i.e. in both directions, up AND down the Gantouw pass. The pass was in use for 166 years. In the mid 1830's, the Great Trek took place, but by then Sir Lowry's Pass was in use and only then did entire families accompany the ox wagons.
Think it was 2009/10 that the scouts obtained permission to fire one of the old signalling canons, use to indicate the arrival of a ship in Table bay, as part of a heritage day celebration from Gantouw pass at the wagon tracks.
You didn’t show the cannon at the top . This was used to alert the farmers that a ship had entered the bay and that they should bring their wares down to the harbor for sale. This was where the frequency of the wagons moving on this trail came from. A big missed opportunity to fully explain this piece of history 😢
It isn't that they were super tough or determined or whatever. That is just how they luved and they didn't know any different. Go visit Easter Cape (old Transkei) and you will see people living relatively contented lives and their most valuable posession is a plastic bucket.
The British were not ruling the Cape in the 1660s. The Dutch East India Company was and many early settlers wanted to escape their corrupt and autocratic rule. Hence the trekboers established the cities of Paarl (settled from 1688), Stellenbosch (founded in 1679), and Franschhoek (settled from 1688). To escape the backward and restrictive rule of VOC Dutch rule that went on for hundreds of years they later set up independent republics in the town of Graaff-Reinet (1795), and four months later, in Swellendam (17 June 1795).
Long before the British, my ancestors trekked to the Republic of Swellendam to get away from the Dutch East India Company repression. If you're using your real name, your ancestors were French Huguenots (Protestants) fleeing Catholic repression in France that settled around Franschoek.
Dudes - we have to walk up that thing every year in the Wines 2 Whales mountain bike race because it is a National Monument. The history is amazing but it is definitely not a new discovery !!! Getting to the top is a mission and just to think it took the wagons up to 3 days to get up there. Look out for the post office stones half way up and the oxen watering stations on the flat ground.....
Huh, why are you on the uphill (west, Cape Town) side describing it as the downhill side, which is on the east?! Also, they didn't lock brakes and slide the wheels downhill. That would cause total loss of control of the wagons. Instead, they (apparently) replaced the wheels with bushes and trees to drag the wagons downhill. It really is a fascinating landmark representing a key period in SA's history and you got some other facts right, but you've kinda broken the story. 😲
And today, we cannot find our own piece of land anywhere, no matter where you go some doofus will say: "If you want a piece of this, you must pay me" Me who??? That route is worth metal detecting, who know what dropped out of those wagons etc.etc.
