Between Nxuba (formerly Cradock) and Graaff-Reinet, stretching to all points as far as Nieu-Bethesda, Middelburg, Murraysburg and Pearston, is an enormous arc of mountain massifs. The greater Sneeuberg massif includes the Camdeboo mountains, Meelberg, Koudeveldberge, Toorberg, Winterhoekberge, Lootsberg, Renosterberg and Agter-Renosterberg. It also includes the Wapadsberg, Tandjiesberg, Coetzeesberg, Bankberge, Aasvoëlkrans, Groot Bruintjieshoogte and Boschberg near Somerset East.
All along their east-west axis, these broad-shouldered crags intercept the high rain clouds, wring out their moisture in rain, snow, frost or mist, and send it trickling downstream. In summer, when the rains have been good, the land can look as green as the Scottish highlands. In winter, its bones lie bare.
Ironstone crowns rise above the snowfalls that settle along the long, level contourlines of ancient riverbeds. Jutting head and shoulders above these great interlinked massifs is the distinctive ironstone peak of Compassberg (2,503m), the Matterhorn of South Africa and the Karoo’s greatest free-standing mountain. Nardou, at 2,429m, is the next highest, but it does not have a distinctive peak, and is deep within the range.
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You’ll only see it from certain angles, but in winter it often wears a telltale skullcap of snow. The headwaters of the Sundays River rise to its west, and the Great Fish River to its east. Downstream, these rivers support hundreds of thousands of jobs, and billions in revenue from wool, mohair and citrus exports before they empty into the sea.
Whatever the temperature is in our home town of Nxuba (formerly Cradock), it is invariably six degrees cooler in the heights of the Sneeuberg mountains. We were there in high summer, and at first it didn’t really feel as if we were ascending any serious heights. We bounced along the increasingly rutted and eventually invisible track, but all along we were climbing steadily, from green valley to green valley.
Each one seemed to have its own spring, water bubbling from the earth. My husband Chris and I were heading off to Petrusdal Farm with our friend Gavin Holmes who wanted to check on his cattle. They graze on land rented from farmers Anton and Andalet Olivier.
In summer, this is heaven for livestock. It has moist uplands, and delicious and nutritious grasses.
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