THE MAJESTIC DRAKENSBERG MOUNTAINS

Approximately 180 million years old, and stretching some 600 miles across South Africa, the Drakensberg Mountains are a place of tranquility and introspection, good clean air, and flipping hard hiking!  Our hotel of choice was The Cavern Drakensberg Resort and Spa, and this immediately became the favourite of all the places we have stayed in the Berg so far.  A family run hotel, this year it is celebrating its 75th birthday and its formula for success is clean, comfortable accommodation with breathtaking views, good home cooked food three times a day (even all the hiking didn't stop the weight gain), exemplary service from cheerful, friendly, well trained staff, and plenty of contingency plans for things to do should the weather prove inclement (which it was on our first day).

An easy four hour drive from Johannesburg, the R74 over the Oliviershoek pass has recently been retarred and reopened.  When we were driving over the Pass a dense fog meant that visibility was about 5 metres) and breaths were held for a good 30 minutes.   That afternoon after arriving at the hotel we were pleased that we had followed the packing advice on the Cavern's website to "pack clothing for all types of weather" -  thick jerseys and thermal jackets the order of the day.  The next morning was a bit gloomy but the rain held off so we did a walk along the road from the hotel to the Adventure centre 7 kilometres away, where we were met with tea and scones and a welcome ride back in the hotel combo.

The rather gloomy weather on the first day.  The countryside is still spectacular

Every morning there is a guided walk from the Cavern to various points in the mountains and the guide carries a backpack with refreshments, including the delicious Cavern crunchies which I imagine are made in very large batches every day as they appear everywhere and are eagerly consumed by grateful guests.  So we were thrilled to wake the next morning to a colorful sunrise and clear blue skies and met on the front lawn after breakfast, eager to commence the hike which was to a small waterway called Bishops Inkaba.  It was a fairly tough climb in places and we were all rather proud of ourselves to make it, although we were cutting it fine to get back in time for the all important lunch.

The Mountain Bottle Brush Tree

Eland

Spring is a wonderful time anywhere and in the Berg the mountain flowers were beginning to bloom.  The mountain bottlebrush is stunning with its bright red flowers and the aptly names "protea forest" is about to burst forth with thousands of blooms of our national flower.  We were also lucky enough to see wild Eland on the mountainside.

The next morning's hike was to "Camels Hump". Well, if we thought yesterday was tough, it was nothing compared to this one.  The last half a kilometre or so was virtually a vertical climb over rock and shale, but the views from the top were worth it.  And of course we were refreshed with tea and crunchies as our reward.  Coming down was a case of sitting on the bum and sliding with as much control as possible.  Apart from the small part of the Otter Trail that we did earlier this year, this was one of the toughest things I have ever done.

Four days was not enough, despite the strain on the old knees!