Nature

 

History, Topography, Geology and Geomorphology

The landscape of the area is dominated by the Kouga- and Baviaanskloof Mountains, which run parallel to each other in an east  west orientation.

Vegetation

Five major vegetation types have been recognised in the BWA. These vegetation types all meet in an extremely broken topography, where several different soil types are exposed adjacent to each other and where numerous gorges, ravines and exposed areas create different micro-climates across an area with high variability in seasonality and the amount of rainfall.

Birds

The birds the visitor will see will be determined by the veld type, habitat and season. Nearly 300 species have been recorded.

Animals

The habitat diversity account for an equally diverse number of mammals in the area. Some species, however, were lost due to the agriculture and resultant loss of habitat. Today many of these species are making a comeback through the re-introduction policies.

Towns

Loerie

Nowadays known for the annual Apple Train race where athletes compete against the narrow gauge steam train from Port Elizabeth to Loerie and the Naartjie Festival in September, Loerie also has an interesting history.

Hankey

Hankey was established in 1826 and is the Gamtoos Valley's oldest town. It was named after the Rev. William Alers Hankey, an ex-banker and the secretary of the London Missionary Society (LMS).  He was born in Aberdeen, Scotland.

Patensie

In 1876 the farm "Patentie" of 3000 morgen was awarded to David Keyser jnr. In 1852 the farm was sud-divided and in 1858 Patensie was declared a town. The name Patensie has a Hottentot origin and means "lêplek van die beeste" (where the cattle lie).

Other Attractions

Kouga dam

The dam is a double curvature arch dam 82 m high with a storage capacity of 128,7 million m3 and has a catchment area of 388700 ha. The length of the dam basin is approximately 34 km an the surface area of the impoundment at full storage capacity is 555 ha.

Sarah Bartmann

On 1 May 2002 campaigners rejoiced when the remains of Sarah Bartmann finally returned to South Africa after an absence of nearly 200 years. She was buried on a hill overlooking the Gamtoosvalley near Hankey