My roommates and I were all looking forward to leaving the city behind when we rented a car last weekend.  We headed towards the Cederberg Mountains, known for - you guessed it - cedars.  As with all grand road trips, we had no set destination and no set time on arriving.  We left as early as we could and made the most of having a car for the day.Our first destination was Paarl, third oldest town in the area, settled in 1687.  After getting a little lost (thanks to an outdated map) we found ourselves in the Breede River valley.  The scenery was straight out of a painting, with stunning mountains and farms everywhere in-between them. The Bain’s Kloof mountain pass was jaw-dropping beautiful, and the way the locals sped around the hairpin turns left us equally impressed.  The sun was strong and the heat intense.  The peaks were rocky, steep, and covered in fynbos (bush plants, wild flowers, etc.)

As we turned one of the corners along the pass, we came upon a group of baboons happily feasting on a vineyard’s grapes.  Moments later, we found another group of baboons admiring the view.Then, watched our road slowly disappear into a thick cloud of smoke… click to continue to Part 2.