DRAKENSBERG (Day 10)

We met Deon, the manager, in the morning. He drew us up a map for some of the local hikes.

We tried to do the Gxa-Lingene river walk but the waters were too high and we were unable to cross a second river.

So we continued up north to Giant's Castle, part of the Natal Drakensberg Park. The Drakensberg (or "Dragon Mountains") is the highest mountain range in Southern Africa, rising to 11,424 feet.

We checked into a bungalow with a spectacular view!

After lunch (and a brief downpour), we decided to do the Bergview walk. The rain had stopped and the sun was out, so we set out on the red dirt trail among the tall grass. The scenery was spectacular! Suddenly we noticed a small band of baboons nearby... watching us. They disappeared into the tall grass and we could hear them rustling and moving quickly around us. Fortunately they soon moved off. The baboons, however, had diverted our attention from the weather. Boiling black clouds swept in overhead and the wind became quite fierce, but there was nowhere to hide in the hilly grassland. We moved as quickly as we could but the monstrous thunder, scorching lightning and eventually torrential rain overtook us. Our trail turned into a small stream. Just as suddenly as it started, it stopped. We were soaked to the bone but fortunately only had another 10 minutes or so left to walk.

Fortunately our bungalow came with a warm shower! We warmed up, dried off, then sat enjoying our amazing view. As night fell, flashes of lightning continued to illuminate the sky in the far distance. Bats zipped about, and the raspy barks and screams from the baboons could be heard from the hills.

return • continue