Bokloof Guest Farm

It takes an estimated six to eight hours to drive east to west across the Baviaanskloof, and some sections of the route are only accessible by 4x4 or similar vehicles. There are no refuelling stops along the way, so planning ahead is essential: your nearest place to fill up on fuel and stock up on supplies is Willowmore, an hour and 50 minutes’ drive from Bokloof Guest Farm. There's more to Willowmore than a filling station though: a small town of colourful old colonial buildings, it’s steeped in Boer history and a good spot to book guided day tours of key historic sites, ancient rock art and the nature-filled mountains and gorges of the Baviaanskloof Nature Reserve. It’s also the start of a fab mountain bike trail that stretches for 110 miles through the valley and alongside the Baviaans River. Another spot that’s ‘near’ in Eastern Cape terms is Uniondale, around two hours and 20 minutes away by car. It’s an elegant and friendly small town with a good spread of shops and eateries, an abundance of feathered species to be spotted in its nature reserve and a major biking route (the 60-mile Karoo to Coast) passing right through. It’s also next door to the lush terrain of the Kammanassie Nature Reserve. Around half an hour's drive away there's a much-recommended mountain trail that zigzags its way through a slot canyon; strategically vital in the Boer War, it now gives cracking views across the Baviaanskloof and the Kouga Mountains. If you’re travelling onwards from Bokloof, it’s around four hours to coastal Knysna and seven to Cape Town.