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| << March15, 2005 - Turtle Essays edition no 125 dated 14.3.2005 |
April04, 2005 - Turtle Essays edition no 127 dated 4th April 2005 >> |
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Turtle Essays Edition no 126 dated 21st March 2005 ** Love to Travel? Find out how to make your money go further! Get your copy of ???The Travel Secrets Guide??? and start saving today! http://hop.clickbank.net/?Brerrabbit/infodawg ** In this edition: Editor's Blurb Cape Town's dams are running dry! A drive through du Toit's Kloof Pass. ** Editor's Blurb Hi there folks! Welcome to all my new and regular readers. I have had a really busy week with two outings into the countryside to take photos and see for myself the level of the water in our dams. The Theewaterskloof Dam I have never seen as empty as it is. It's really quite scary to think that the little bit of water that is left in it has to keep Cape Town in water till our winter rains start. To see the photos on my website go here: http://turtlesa.com/ezine126.html Today (Sunday) we took a drive out to Franschhoek and tried to get closer th the construction site of the new Skuifraam Dam but were turned away by security guards. Wemmershoek Dam which is close by was also closed and one had to obtain a permit in Paarl to get in to see the dam. Really annoying stuff when all you want is to take a a photo or two to help promote the official Water Week being held in Cape Town which will educate the public in ways to save water. I hope you enjoy the photos I managed to take of Theewaterskloof. Its going to be school holidays again from next week and as my family will be home I have decided to take a break for a week or two. Look out for the next issue early in April when I should be able to get my computerback from my daughter who is sure to usurp it for the entire school holidays. Enough from me! I hope you enjoy the articles. Geoff Fairman ps Sorry this edition is late. My satelite dish fell over in the wind and I was not aware that it had done so. Been struggling for a week with my ISP before discovering what the problem was. Have a happy Easter. ** Cape Town's dams are running dry! Over the past few months I have been commenting on the drought conditions Cape Town is experiencing. The main reason for our lack of water is that we had a very dry winter last year with very little snow in our mountainous areas. The Hottentots Holland range of mountains normally gets a good coating of snow from our winter storms and when this melts it makes its way into our dams which are all situated in or near the mountains. Cape Town has three main dams which supply water to the Cape Peninsula. The biggest is the Theewaterskloof Dam which is situated near Villiersdorp. Water from this dam is utilised mainly for irrigation but it is also piped to Cape Town to supplement the other dams when water becomes scarce. Theewaterskloof at present is less than thirty per cent full and if you drive along its banks you can see just how little water there is in it. The bridge that crosses the dam has a water mark about two metres below the level of the road where the dam is full. The water level is approximately eight metres lower now. To reach the water from the campsite situated on the northern bank of the dam one has to walk approximately 800 metres. The field one walks on should be at least three metres under water. The western part of the dam along the Franschhoek Pass road looks like a forest that has been bombed. The many trees that were covered by the waters when the dam was first filled are back on dry land and all that is left of them are rotten trunks pointing skywards. If this drought continues there could be a disaster brewing in the dam. Theewaterskloof is stocked with Black Bass and other fish and with the water level getting lower and lower there could shortly be a problem of the fish running out of water. If this occurs millions of fish will succumb. Fortunately summer is nearly over and we have had a few showers of rain but certainly not enough to fill the dams. We need about two months of constant rain to rectify the situation. Steenbras Dam which consists of two parts, the upper and lower dams is also close to empty. The upper dam has no water in it as its water is drained into the lower dam as it empties. Cape Town's other dams, Voelvlei and Wemmershoek are also less than fifty per cent full. Good news is that a new dam is being constructed on the Berg River. Skuifraam Dam will take a year or two to complete before full use can be made of the water in the Berg River. It appears that the Berg river is not badly effected by the drought conditions. The river was flowing quickly through Franschhoek when we visited the area today. A couple of issues have come to the fore with regards to this new dam. The Berg river is tidal in its lower reaches and there is a worry that with a restricted flow of water caused by the dam's construction the sea will push higher up the river at high tide causing increases in the salinity of the surrounding areas. Much of the west coast gets its water from the Berg River so if this happens fresh water could once again be a problem along this fast growing coastline. Farmers who pump water from the river for irrigating their vineyards might have their water supplies restricted or have to pay more for their water. Something that they will not be happy to do. Water is a very scarce commodity in the Western Cape and with the levels of the dams still dropping authorities have decided to have a ???Water Week ??? to bring to the attention of all the population methods of saving water. Many people are ignorant to the fact that water can be saved if it is used differently. Educating the public could go a long way to saving water especially in some of our poorer areas. Hopefully ???Water Week??? will drive home the need to protect our scarce water resource. We can only wait and see what effect it will have. ** A drive through du Toit's Kloof Pass. When visiting Cape Town one cannot fail to be amazed at the beauty surrounding you. In the west you have the Table Mountain range of mountains that form the backbone of the Cape Peninsula. To the east you have the Hottentots Holland Mountain range which extends all the way from False Bay in the south to Ceres and beyond in the north, This mountain range consists of some of the most beautiful valleys, rivers and mountain peaks you could imagine. The Hottentots Holland mountain range is crossed in various places by mountain passes. Today we will visit the du Toit's Kloof Pass which is the alternative road to Worcestor and used to be part of the N1 highway to the north, The N1 has been rerouted through the Huguenot Tunnel and cuts off about 18 kilometres of travel for those in a hurry. This week the drive over the pass took a little longer than normal as unbeknown to me there were roadworks being undertaken in the pass. Over the years not much maintenance has been done on the roads and in certain areas the road is badly in need of repair. Authorities have been very shortsighted in not maintaining this lovely road and this was brought to their attention in no uncertain terms last week when an accident and fire occurred in the tunnel blocking it for several hours. The condition of the road with its many one lane deviations caused further delays as all traffic wanting to use the pass had to contend with the stop and go traffic controls on the road. Du Toit's Kloof Pass winds its way up the side of the mountain overlooking the Paarl valley and on the day I was able to see far more of the beautiful valley than normal due to the stop go traffic controls. What is interesting is that all the hills and valleys to the west of the pass run north to south for as far as the eye can see. It is obvious that when the land was forming it was crushed against another land mass which caused it to ripple leaving us with the beautiful scenery we have today. The first ripple we can see when looking down from the pass is Paarl Rock which forms the western boundary of the Paarl valley. The valley in between is beautifully green and has the Berg River flowing through it. On either side of the river is the town of Paarl with its beautiful oak trees and vineyards. The pass is made even more spectacular by its high mountain peaks and sheer cliff faces that hang over you as you climb to the top of the pass. The mountainside is covered with fynbos and although we have drought conditions in the Cape at the moment everything is lovely and green. Once we reach the top of the pass the road winds its way down the Worcestor side of the mountain through some beautiful valleys with some spectacular views. Not many people realise that there are two tunnels in this section of the mountain. The first is the Huguenot tunnel and the other is the du Toit's Kloof tunnel which one drives through shortly before meeting up with the N1 highway again. It was built in the early 1900's and is about 300 metres long . Once back on the N1 highway we enter the most spectacular part of the drive to Worcestor. The highway winds its way along a narrow valley with high peaks and cliff faces on either side of it while next to the road runs the Molenaars river. In the winter months there are hundreds of little waterfalls to be seen dropping down the mountainside into the river. It is in this spectacular valley that a trout estate has been built. For those who love trout fishing there are a number of ways you can do it. The easy way is of course to bait up and fish in the trout dams which can be seen from the N1. In them your success is guaranteed as the dams are teeming with fish. Then there are the Molenaars, Elandsjacht and Smalblaar rivers which make for better action as you have to go after wild trout which are more cunning than those in the dams. The rivers are reported to have plenty of fish in them and your chances of catching them are quite good. After passing through this beautiful mountainous valley the land opens up into the Breede River valley which is flat and surrounded by mountains on all sides. In the centre of this wide open plain is the inland town of Worcestor which has become well known for its wines. This part of the Cape is exceptionally beautiful and interesting. I recommend that next time you visit it you stop and explore some of the places I have mentioned. You'll be glad you did. See you all soon. Turtle Travels new blog is online now. http://turtleessays.blogspot.com * Like to have your own rose garden. Find out how to do it from an expert. Here is his link: http://hop.clickbank.net/?brerrabbit/mcplants ** For my personal details, contact address, and warnings regarding products advertised in this ezine please read the disclaimers which can be found at: http://www.turtlesa.com/Disclaimer.html See you all soon Geoff Fairman |
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