Western Cape: Meiringspoort Pass remains closed until further notice! [update]

update (13 June 2024): The Greater Oudtshoorn Municipality in South Africa's Western Cape has anniunced that Meiringspoort will be opened at 17:00, 13 June 2024. The restrooms will remain closed due to damage. Travelling through Meiringspoort must be done at a lowered speed and with utmost caution.

The Greater Oudtshoorn Municipality in South Africa's Western Cape has announced that the Meiringspoort Pass, one of the most scenic mountain passes in South Africa, remains closed until further notice due to extensive construction works. Significant repairs are underway, including the rebuilding of sections of the road as well as addressing hazardous ditches formed along the riverbanks. These conditions pose a serious danger to motorists, necessitating the closure. The Pass and other roads in and around Oudtshoorn were closed due to heavy rains which caused flooding and rockfalls last week.

Meiringspoort is a mountain pass on the N12 in South Africa's Western Cape, where it crosses the Swartberg mountain range. The pass is a gateway that connects the Little Karoo and the Great Karoo, through a gorge with a 25 km road crossing the same river 25 times in the span of the 25 km.

South African National Parks (SANParks) has released a new destination video showcasing Tankwa Karoo National Park!

South African National Parks (SANParks) has released a new destination video showcasing Tankwa Karoo National Park, which is located on the southern boundary of the Northern Cape. The National Park is bounded on the east by the Roggeveld Escarpment, on the west by the Cederberg, to the north by the Kouebokkeveld Mountains and on the south by the Klein Roggeveld Mountains. Tankwa Karoo National Park's size currently stands at approximately 143 600ha.

Tankwa Karoo National Park is part of the Great Karoo, one of the richest arid areas in the world. The vegetation in the National Park falls within the Succulent Karoo biome, one of only two Southern African regions designated as Biodiversity Hotspots by Conservation International. One is the Cape Floristic Region in the Western Cape and the Eastern Cape, and the other the Succulent Karoo, which stretches along the coastal strip of southwestern Namibia and South Africa's Northern Cape.