SOUTH AFRICA’S ROOIBOS HERITAGE ROUTE
Words and photography by Simon Pocock
The Cederberg mountain region of Western South Africa is home to the magical rooibos plant, and it’s the only place in the world where it can grow. The name rooibos translates to “red bush,” and the plant has been used by the Khoisan, or indigenous, people for over 300 years to create herbal teas with a number of health benefits and homeopathic medicines with reputable healing properties. Simple and subsistence farming has been the way of life in that region for hundreds of years, and to this day rooibos is still harvested by hand and processed by the people who live and work along the small tracts of land found in the remote mountains South Africa.
Feeling inspired to explore that unique history, we embarked on a motorcycle journey along the Rooibos Heritage Route, a road that winds north through the mountains from Wupperthal up to the arid plateau of Nieuwoudtville in the Northern Cape. This route connects sparsely populated villages and farms that still harvest the rooibos plant, and the overlapping mountains and deserts along the route are lined with stunning views of wildflowers as far as the eye can see. This lesser-known part of the world has an early frontier-like feeling to it, and the sight of donkey carts used to move between the small villages is common along the old trade route north. The region is packed full of history and beauty, and it made for an incredible experience to explore on two wheels.
Our plan for the ride was five days on the road, leaving from and returning to our homes in Cape Town. I was joined by two of my good mates: Dan Walsh and Paul Boshoff. We’re a small and nimble crew, all self-sufficient and capable of efficiently blasting across the desert and moving like the wind through the mountains. We would camp wild wherever the day drew to a close, and our goal was to keep the plan loose and allow the adventure to reveal itself with the passing landscape. We were on our own, in the middle of nowhere. Disconnected. No cell signal and nothing but open country and inspiring history ahead of us. It’s exactly the kind of escape we were looking for, and exactly where we wanted to be.
