The road less travelled (and better for it)
Most travellers heading east from Cape Town take the N2 highway. The ones in the know take Route 62 — the inland road through the Klein Karoo that's been called the world's longest wine route, stretching hundreds of kilometres through vineyards, orchards, semi-desert and one glorious mountain pass after another.
This is old-school road-tripping: farm stalls selling dried fruit and homemade jam, dorpies (little towns) with Victorian main streets, padstals and pubs with stories, and long open stretches where yours is the only car on the road. Watch a piece of it roll by:
Timelapse: the open R62 through the Klein Karoo — blue skies, empty road, mountains for company.
Ronnie's Sex Shop (yes, really)
Somewhere on the R62 outside Barrydale stands a small white farm building with the most photographed wall in the Klein Karoo. The story goes that Ronnie painted "RONNIE'S SHOP" on the wall to open a farm stall — and his mates, as a prank, added one extra word overnight. Instead of painting over it, Ronnie leaned in. Today Ronnie's Sex Shop is one of South Africa's most famous roadside pubs, its ceiling strung with signed banknotes, business cards and (ahem) donated undergarments from travellers across the world.
It sells beer, burgers and legend — nothing else. Stopping here is simply what you do on Route 62.
The most photographed wall on the R62 — Ronnie's, outside Barrydale.
Barrydale and the roadside time machine
Just up the road, Barrydale is the Klein Karoo at its most charming — a village of art studios, padstal coffee, and retro roadside stops where vintage cars rust gracefully next to old Shell petrol pumps (that's one of them in the header photo). It sits at the end of the Tradouw Pass, and the whole town feels like a film set from another era. Come hungry: the milkshakes and farm lunches here are the stuff of road-trip folklore.
Mountain passes and hidden rock pools
Route 62 earns its scenery the honest way — over the mountains, not around them. The road threads through a series of spectacular passes, including Cogmanskloof at Montagu, where the road punches straight through a rock wall under an old fort. And if you know where to stop (Cheryl does), there are kloofs and rock pools along the way where you can swim in amber mountain water surrounded by cliffs.
A Klein Karoo rock pool — the kind of stop you only find with a local behind the wheel.
Safari and stars: the Aquila combination
Cheryl's most popular Route 62 itinerary pairs the road trip with Aquila Private Game Reserve — a Big Five reserve in the Karoo about two hours from Cape Town. Game drives deliver elephant, lion, rhino, buffalo and hippo against that huge Karoo backdrop; stay for the evening and you get the reserve's other headline act, one no city dweller is ready for:
The Karoo night sky — far from the city lights, the Milky Way comes out to play.
The Karoo has some of the darkest, clearest skies in the southern hemisphere. On a moonless night the Milky Way stretches horizon to horizon, and shooting stars are a matter of when, not if. It's the kind of sight that ends up being the thing guests talk about most.
How to do Route 62
You can taste Route 62 in a single day from Cape Town — the safari-and-stars Aquila trip, or a loop through Montagu and Barrydale — or make it the scenic backbone of a multi-day journey towards Oudtshoorn and the Garden Route, returning along the coast. Cheryl has driven every kilometre of it since 2003; she knows which padstal has the best roosterkoek, which pass deserves a photo stop, and how to time the day so you're never rushed.
All you have to do is watch the Klein Karoo roll past the window.
