Buffelspoort is the westernmost of five defiles that cut through the Swartberg Mountain range, situated in the

Western Cape The Western Cape is a province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , and the third most populous, with an estimated 7 million inhabitants in 202 ...

province of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring coun ...

. The others are the Seweweekspoort, Die Poort, where the Gamka River transects Die Hel, Meiringspoort, and Snykloof at its eastern extremity. The deep gorge and river valley is located some 10 km from the western limit of the Swartberg range, in the section known as the Klein Swartberge. After exiting Floriskraal Dam, the Buffels River enters the Swartberg's foothills or Wit Nekke, before it enters Buffelspoort from the north. The 9 km long gorge connects the northern foothills of the Swartberg with the

Little Karoo The Karoo ( ; from the Afrikaans borrowing of the South Khoekhoe !Orakobab or Khoemana word ''ǃ’Aukarob'' "Hardveld") is a semi-desert natural region of South Africa. No exact definition of what constitutes the Karoo is available, so its e ...

in the south, where the Buffels River exits the defile. Downstream from this point the Buffels is known as the Groot River. The vegetation of this remote and untouched gorge is predominantly the arid, succulent-rich ''Gamka Thicket'' vegetation, and includes many endemics, such as '' Astroloba cremnophila''.E. van Jaarsveld: ''Astroloba cremnophila'' a new cliff dwelling succulent from the Klein Karoo (Western Cape, South Africa). ''Bradleya'' 33/2015, January 2015. The defile is not to be confused with the Buffelspoort Dam, an unrelated land-form situated far to the north in

North West Province North West is a province of South Africa. Its capital is Mahikeng. The province is located to the west of the major population centre of Gauteng and south of Botswana. History North West was incorporated after the end of Apartheid in 1994, an ...

, South Africa.

References

{{coord, 33, 25, 35, S, 20, 57, 45, E, type:landmark_region:ZA, display=title Landforms of the Western Cape Valleys of South Africa