Scenic
Drives South Africa. Robber's Pass Mpumalanga.
Robber's
Pass connects the little town of Pilgrim's Rest to Ohrigstad, a long tarred
road rich in history with a particularly scenic landscape, and one the best
drives through Mpumalanga.
Starting
in the historic town of Pilgrim's Rest, the birthplace of South Africa's gold
rush, with a history of fortune seeking gold miners and robbers to add to the
allure of the pass.
Robber's
Grave, in the Cemetery above the town, a thief was caught pilfering in another
mans tent he was lynched and died and was buried in the cemetery above town. The
Robbers Grave is facing north/south as opposed to east/west for the other
graves. However he was not the robber after whom the pass is named. Wonder what he was trying to pilfer from the tent ?
The pass
was named after some notorious highwaymen. A stage coach was robbed of £10 000
worth of gold and no-one was convicted or even caught. A second robbery
occurred in the same spot, 13 years later, for which Tommy Dennison was convicted
and jailed. When he returned to Pilgrim's Rest after serving his sentence, he
started the Highwayman's Garage. Who said crime doesn't pay?
The pass on the R553, begins on the
northern edge of Pilgrim's Rest and leads in a north-westerly direction into
the mountains, a distance of 26 km, at an average gradient of 1:5, driving
speed is between 40 and 100 km an hour. Summiting at 1790m a rise of 545m above
Pilgrims Rest, makes this a fantastic drive, well suited to the MX5, with
numerous hairpin bends and sweeping curves, absolute driving bliss best enjoyed
top down! At the end of the pass, if you turn left you head towards Lydenburg
and if right to Ohrigstad, be warned this road is horribly pot-holed, so best
make an about turn and enjoy this ride all over again! Ensure you check out the
beautiful scenery on your return trip
Drives
like these are like life, it has its ups and downs, twists, bends and turns,
but that's the Beauty of it all! Enjoy the pic`s below and you can easily see
why this is such a scenic drive!
Please
ensure you do this drive in clear weather conditions, pretty hairy if there is
mist about!
You will
pass some interesting viewpoints along the way, The Morgenzon Plantation famous
for the rarely seen wild horses, the Jock of the Bushveld monument, Mount Sheba
Nature Reserve, Crystal Springs resort, Alanglade house, which was the mine
manager of Transvaal Gold Mines residence.
In order
to get to Robbers Pass, one travels through some other spectacular drives. From
Lydenburg through the Long Tom Pass into the town of Sabie and onto Graskop
passing waterfalls and magnificent viewpoints. Turn off the Graskop road to
Pilgrims Rest and a twisty turny stretch of road down into the Pilgrims Rest
valley is challenging enough. Stop for refreshments before heading off to
Robbers Pass, this is without doubt one of the gems of scenic drives in SA.
The word “awesome” is somewhat jaded by its over-use in
today’s times. Boss is often used in modern vernacular to describe Awesome. The
antonyms “bad” and “sick” pretty much mean Awesome. The Auzzies have “Bonzer” ,
but South Africans have “Lekker” which is probably the best way to describe
MX5er`s Weekend Away to Klein Kariba in Bela Bela (formerly Warmbaths) Situated
some 7 km`s North of Bela Bela, another of Limpopo’s hidden gems. Truly a Lekker place to spend a
weekend away with fellow MX5er`s.
