It was strange going from tiny Lesotho back into SA, which at first appearances, is like any other western country. We drove around the border of Lesotho before passing back into SA (one of, or possibly the, easiest least bureaucratic border crossings we’ve done), through the Golden Gate National Park and into the Royal Natal National Park. If anyone is into climbing or hiking, either would be a brilliant place to come by the sounds. Our driver, Pat, a keen climber), was saying that the rock climbing in parts of Africa would equal some of the climbing he’d done in the States, like Yosemite or Yellowstone.
The entrance to the Golden Gate NP was impressive but I was too slow with the camera but managed to grab a sneaky picture of some rock further up the road which smaller, less like a gate but similar in shape and colour.
We climbed upwards into the mountain pass, past herds of zebra (they may have been mountain zebra but we weren’t sure), before dropping into the opening between the ranges
We didn’t arrive at the campsite in the Drakensburg Mountains until late and it was dark so we didn’t know that we were in the middle of some very impressive scenery. Again, it was quite cool to wake up and find you’re nestled in among these massive rock faces. The day was made even better by blue sky and no wind. The campsite was really well equipped and maintains, and was located on a vast grassy patch that was almost like a lawn it was that well kept
and is located in the middle of the pine trees in the picture below.
There is some serious hiking to do here and while we could only do a very small portion of what was available, we decided to do a short three-hour (it turned into five) hike to what was known as the ‘Policemans Helmet’.
The amphitheatre is the backdrop to many of the hikes in the area and is a stunning sight
and completely dominates the skyline
The policemans helmet is in the middle of this photo and you can see the scale of the amphitheatre. There is a race that is run every year, 50km from the camp, up one end of the amphitheatre, along the top then back down. Serious running over serious ground and the winner this year did it in about five and a half hours from memory.
The hiking tracks were quite rough and overgrown and there were some great shortcut opportunities if you weren’t worried about snakes (its possible), falling down holes (also very possible) or getting dirty (a given).
The hike turned into five hours as the estimated start time was from a different camp to the one we were staying at. What we didn’t know was that the path gets very overgrown in the low season and the turnoff to the ‘Policemans Helmet’ is easily missed and you carry on heading up the valley and that’s exactly what we did. At the far end of the valley, we realised that there was no loop-back to the helmet so turned back looking for the turnoff but didn’t find it. I really dislike heading out to achieve something specific and not accomplishing it so I was grumbling and carrying on all the way back down and consoled myself by persuading Euan to take a vaguely hairy shortcut that saw us jump ahead of the others who were motoring on ahead. The bank down was steeper than it looked and the long grass hid a small earth slide. Leaping over most of the holes and the slide, I was going great guns, shouting back at Euan to hurry up before going for a six down the bank. He didn’t see which was lucky as I was up again quick smart and belted it over the stream at the bottom and up the other side. Felt a bit better after that we diversion but not sure Euan was that convinced it had been worth it.
There are bearded vultures in the park and they are immense birds. From the ground they look like small gliders and apparently their wingspan ranges from 2.6-3.8m – just huge.
This is our second to last night in Africa. We hit Jo’burg tomorrow then its off to Japan. A world of difference I expect and I think we’re in for a bit of a shock.
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The entrance to the Golden Gate NP was impressive but I was too slow with the camera but managed to grab a sneaky picture of some rock further up the road which smaller, less like a gate but similar in shape and colour.
We climbed upwards into the mountain pass, past herds of zebra (they may have been mountain zebra but we weren’t sure), before dropping into the opening between the ranges
We didn’t arrive at the campsite in the Drakensburg Mountains until late and it was dark so we didn’t know that we were in the middle of some very impressive scenery. Again, it was quite cool to wake up and find you’re nestled in among these massive rock faces. The day was made even better by blue sky and no wind. The campsite was really well equipped and maintains, and was located on a vast grassy patch that was almost like a lawn it was that well kept
and is located in the middle of the pine trees in the picture below.
There is some serious hiking to do here and while we could only do a very small portion of what was available, we decided to do a short three-hour (it turned into five) hike to what was known as the ‘Policemans Helmet’.
The amphitheatre is the backdrop to many of the hikes in the area and is a stunning sight
and completely dominates the skyline
The policemans helmet is in the middle of this photo and you can see the scale of the amphitheatre. There is a race that is run every year, 50km from the camp, up one end of the amphitheatre, along the top then back down. Serious running over serious ground and the winner this year did it in about five and a half hours from memory.
The hiking tracks were quite rough and overgrown and there were some great shortcut opportunities if you weren’t worried about snakes (its possible), falling down holes (also very possible) or getting dirty (a given).
The hike turned into five hours as the estimated start time was from a different camp to the one we were staying at. What we didn’t know was that the path gets very overgrown in the low season and the turnoff to the ‘Policemans Helmet’ is easily missed and you carry on heading up the valley and that’s exactly what we did. At the far end of the valley, we realised that there was no loop-back to the helmet so turned back looking for the turnoff but didn’t find it. I really dislike heading out to achieve something specific and not accomplishing it so I was grumbling and carrying on all the way back down and consoled myself by persuading Euan to take a vaguely hairy shortcut that saw us jump ahead of the others who were motoring on ahead. The bank down was steeper than it looked and the long grass hid a small earth slide. Leaping over most of the holes and the slide, I was going great guns, shouting back at Euan to hurry up before going for a six down the bank. He didn’t see which was lucky as I was up again quick smart and belted it over the stream at the bottom and up the other side. Felt a bit better after that we diversion but not sure Euan was that convinced it had been worth it.
There are bearded vultures in the park and they are immense birds. From the ground they look like small gliders and apparently their wingspan ranges from 2.6-3.8m – just huge.
This is our second to last night in Africa. We hit Jo’burg tomorrow then its off to Japan. A world of difference I expect and I think we’re in for a bit of a shock.
View Larger Map
1 comment:
Awesome.
That Amphitheatre looks HUUUUUUGE.
These scenaries just make you feel really small and humble, well..... that's what I felt in Norway.
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