Photos: Ronel Steyn
If you have never driven the Naud 's Nek Pass in the Southern Drakensberg, you must make a plan to check it out. It's not only incredibly high and exceedingly beautiful, but its history is equally interesting.
The Sani Pass might be a tad higher, but the story behind Naud 's Nek Pass is more beautiful to me. I crossed this pass - South Africa's second-highest - on a lovely autumn morning from the Rhodes side and eventually ended up at the Wild Coast.
At the first off-ramp at the foot of the pass just beyond Rhodes, right next to the Bell River, there's a picnic spot that was inaugurated by the Naud family on December 20, 1967. The Naud s still farm in the area today.
At the picnic spot, there's a commemorative plaque that reads as follows: "In memory of Stefanus David Naud and Gabri l Naud . In the year 1896, these two farmers rode out on horseback against the steep slopes of this mountain, and on their tracks, the stakes were driven where this winding road was built with pick, spade, and Scotch cart. The Naud lineage hereby pays tribute to them for their brave and indelible deed."
Before 1896, it was a massive detour from Rhodes to the cattle markets on the Maclear side of the mountain, and the two brothers were looking for a shortcut. They knew their horses would choose a better route than any human. They simply followed the animals' tracks, marked them out, and later returned to carve the road by hand.
The outbreak of the Anglo-Boer War in 1899 interrupted construction on the pass, but it resumed after the war ended in 1902. The current road was completed in 1910 by the road engineer George Mandy, with the assistance of the Naud brothers.
The 30 km long winding pass is indeed an "indelible deed", and the fact that you can tackle it in an ordinary sedan car for most of the year is a testament to the skills of the brothers (and their horses). If you're lucky, near the highest point of the pass (2,590 m according to my GPS), you might see bearded vultures gliding between the valleys.
In spring and summer, the world around you is emerald green, and the views towards both Rhodes and Maclear call for silent contemplation. In late autumn, the aloes begin to glow, but beware of winter... rather avoid the pass in your Citi Golf if it snows!
