Xalanga

Place of the vulture - towering sandstone cliffs near Barkly East.

At 43km from Barkly East, these is a turn-off east to Rhodes through the Tembu Pass. At this point the main road reaches the summit of Barkly Pass, built in 1885. The pass reveals many majestic views of crumbling sandstone cliffs. The view from the summit, especially to the west along the great wall of the Drakensberg (Mountains of the Dragon) is spectacular.

The range ends at the towering sandstone cliffs named after the Cape Vulture colonies found here - Xalanga.

Beneath these cliffs lies the small town of Indwe, named from the Xhosa word for the blue crane, the bird emblem of South Africa.

The town was founded in 1896 as a coal- mining centre, but the mine is no longer worked.