Hidden treasures

When a friend from further up north in the country recently paid us a visit, he told us about this beautiful place that he discovered not far from where we usually go on our Sunday breakfast runs. I was a bit disappointed that someone from up country could come down here and tell me of beautiful places that I have not discovered myself, but this is another way of discovering new places I guess. So yesterday morning I took my bike and went looking for this "awesome place" that he described as "a scene from Switzerland."

Somewhere not far from Franschoek is a dam called the Wemmershoek Dam. I searched the Internet to find some information on the dam, but was not really very succesful. All I know is that it was built in 1957 in the Wemmershoek River which is a tributary of the Great Berg River. Finding it on my map was also difficult, but I guess a better map might have worked. I headed towards Franshoek and eventualy drove past the road leading up to the dam and the waterworks. I made a U-turn at the Drakenstein Prison and was glad that I had the freedom to turn around and try again. I was warned by my friend that a permit was needed to get in, but he was allowed in to have a look and I was hoping I could do the same. At the gate a friendly gentleman was telling me exactly that. The problem with obtaining the permit of R9-00 is that it can only be obtained during office hours at the Paarl Municipality. This means that you have to plan your trip to the dam a day or two in advance, not wake up Saturday morning and decide to spend a nice day at the dam. The friendly gentleman at the gate told me that I was welcome to drive in and have a look. On my way to the dam wall I past a sign saying "Picnic Area", but I did not see anyone around. I stopped at the dam wall and took a few pictures. It did give some sort of impression of Switzerland, but I was not totally convinced. The dam was completely deserted, not a soul in sight. I drove down to the picnic area which was also deserted. If it takes so much effort to get the permit in Paarl, then I guess it is clear why there weren't any visitors. The picnic area was not very well developed and it looked more like a stop-over point on your way through Africa. Something else that worried me was that the picnic area was downstream from the wall. I am not paranoid, but trying to relax with your back to a 20-storey high wall with millions of tons of water pushing against it does not give me that reasurance that I could sit down and braai without having to worry. But I guess it could be a very nice secluded spot if you want to have a "private" braai there, and it has it advantages, but I cannot even remember seeing ablusion facilities.

I have never seen the dam on a "busy" day, so I cannot really say what it is like and what it has to offer. I read that there are bass in the dam and that it is popular for fishing. What I did like was the fact that it was not well known, that you might still find a spot to go braai in a safe area with not having your neighbour eating his meat from your plate or his child screaming in your ears. But going through the effort of getting a permit in Paarl is just not worth the effort for me.