Crag features

Tonquani is by far the largest and most impressive of the kloofs (gorges) cutting through the Magaliesberg ridge. It forms the main artery for Cedarberg Kloof and Boulder Kloof. The entire area is owned by the Mountain Club of South Africa and access is controlled by strict permit system. The area itself is situated about an hour and a half from Johannesburg and an hour due West of Pretoria.

The name derives from the African Chief Tenquaan who hid in the kloof away from Mzilikazi, one of Chaka's commanders who eventually broke away from the Zulus as well to form the Matabele Tribe.  This period around the 1820s was known as the "Difiqani or "Time of Blood" when small tribes were slaughtered or assimilated by both Chaka's and Mzilikazi's forces.

Humans have lived in the area for many millenia. In Kitchen Gully leading into Upper Tonquani, 20,000 year old arrow heads have been discovered. The remnants of British Blockhouses from the Boer Wars can be seen in the vicinity.

The climbing, atmosphere, smells and sounds of nature will burn a deep impression and one not-to-miss activity is to camp here at new moon where the Milky Way can be seen in all its splendour. Throughout the gorge the rock is of excellent quality, although a bit friable in a few places towards the top edges of some of the gorges. The hard quartzite gives an abundance of edgy climbs up to 100m in height. The bottoms of the gorges are well wooded and water is always available. There are a few great pools for cooling of duing the hot summer months.

Summer temperatures can be well into the 30s and in summer thunderstorms are common, especially in the afternoon. Watch out for lightening strike or accasional flooding during afternoon deluges.

The rock is a bit polished on really popular routes, so a chalkbag is a must. In winter the night time temperatures can easily drop to below zero, however days can still be really nice for climbing.

Watch out for Vervet Monkeys, and make sure that you use the monkey boxes/cages provided at both the campsite and meet spot.

Good topo here.