The Hell

Gamkaskloof, also known as "the Hell", is a fascinating valley near Prince Albert and Calitzdorp, where a small, proud community lived in isolation for more than 100 years. Access was on foot and horseback and harvests of dried fruit and wild honey were carried out by pack animals.

Legend has it that Gamkaskloof was discovered when trekboers lost their cattle and followed their spoor into the fertile valley. Petrus Swanepoel was the first to farm there and the valley supported the hard-working community until 1962 when a road was carved into the valley. A gradual exodus occurred and the last farmer to leave was Piet Swanepoel in 1991.

Now one of the Gamkasklowers, Annetjie Joubert, has returned to the valley and shares tales of the old days with guests who visit her restaurant and enjoy the sort of meals her mother cooked in the old days.

The Cape Nature Conservation Department has restored many of the farm houses and created an education centre in the valley where visitors can discover more about life in "The Hell", the plants, the animals and the history of this magical place.

Access to Gamkaskloof is 15km from Prince Albert and about 25km from The Red Mountain Nature Reserve, near the summit of the Swartberg Pass. Visitors should allow almost a full day in a sturdy vehicle to travel the 57km from the turn off to the end of the valley and back.

silence, solitude, a sense of history ... Gamkaskloof

The name "The Hell" is attributed to a local stock inspector, who had to make a monthly trek into Gamkaskloof to check stock for disease. The route he followed was down the steep track known as "die leer" - the ladder. On one occasion he said it was like "going to Hell and back" - and it stuck. The Gamkasklowers DID NOT approve of the name at all. 

When a Gamkasklower received a letter from the Receiver of Revenue addressed to "The Hell" he sent it back unopened with a note scrawled across the front: "They don't pay tax in Hell."