The Drakensberg (Part II) – Royal Natal Park & Lesotho

(Originally published October 2010)

Friday had been written off by torrential rain and snow at higher altitudes, despite the lodge owner positively asserting, once he’d checked the weather, that it would clear late morning (maybe he’s the local Michael Fish!?). Met Erin and Brent at dinner, an american couple who have just spent a year teaching in Zambia and we managed to get through a couple of bottles of wine through the course of the evening.

Despite not getting to walk in the Champagne Valley of the central Berg, I stuck to my plan and headed to the Royal Natal Park in the northern Berg the next day. Mostly cloudy and some rain but otherwise perfect walking conditions and a lovely fresh air that follows a rain storm. The clouds even lifted in the middle of the day to provide me views of the Thukela falls as i reached the end of the path up the gorge (it’s another day of walking through the bush to get to the falls). On the way back down I also caught a glimpse of the whole Amphitheatre with clouds hovering above the plateau summit like a suspended fog. Stunning!

The central Berg was still shrouded in clouds when I left the next day. I was heading to the southern Berg and had a 300km drive so had a couple of coffees to get my caffeine fix! The drive through Howick, Berwin and Underberg was very scenic. The area is called the Midlands and it resembles the rolling countryside of its English namesake. You are however reminded that this is Africa by the redness of the soil beneath. Throughout the day the formidable barrier of the Drakensberg mountains to the West provided a magnificent backdrop. No wonder the Zulus referred to it as ‘uKhahlamba’ which means barrier of spears (spears as the mountain people of Lesotho would attack them from the top if they tried to invade).

I arrived at the lodge late afternoon and spent the evening with Erin and Brent (who were following a similar route) and a group of 4 from Belgium (first time I’ve met people from Belgium on travels!) by a log fire with some vino and a few beers.

Early start on Monday (and not a cloud in the sky!) and headed up Sani pass (2785m) into Lesotho in 4×4 and then hiked up Hodson’s peak (3257m) for some stunning 360 views into the mountain kingdom of Lesotho to the West and KwaZulu Natal to the east. Fantastic day topped off with a beer at the highest pub in Africa.

I headed straight off in the late afternoon and arrived in Durban in the evening.