Rare and exotic to a South African, snow sightings feature on many people’s bucket lists and cause a frenzy of local travel whenever the weather guy reports a rare sprinkling of snowflakes over South Africa.
While many South Africans rush off to the Drakensberg mountains or the Cedarberg, the towering mountain ranges of the Cape Winelands Region are also a great area for snow sightings.
From Franschhoek the best location to experience snow is at the Mont Rochelle Nature Reserve, which is less than 2km drive from Maison Chablis Guest House.
From Huguenot Road, Franschhoek’s bustling main road, take the R45 which winds through the town and up the mountain slopes towards the picturesque Fraschhoek Pass. About half way up the mountain you’ll see signboards for the Mont Rochelle Nature Reserve on your left hand side. Find parking and don a warm jacket, gloves and a hat before setting out to the reserve’s entrance on foot.
Mont Rochelle charges around R50 for a day permit while children under 12 years old are free of charge. A short hike up the mountain will soon reward you with magnificent vistas of the Franschhoek valley carpeted in snow. The higher you climb, the thicker and fluffier the snow on the side of the pathways, offering increasingly better opportunities for snowman building and the inevitable snowball fights.
To stay up to date with snow reports in the Winelands follow Mont Rochelle Nature Reserve’s Facebook handle or visit their website for more information. It should be noted that the reserve is open year-round and is a fantastic area for hiking even when it isn’t snowing.
