My kinda place...

A few months ago I received a list from my friend Erin. The list contained must-dos while in Durban. It was compiled not by Erin, but by her mom. Her mom is South African and the perfect person to tell me the best things to see and do. And I have to say thank you so much to her for this weekend. Although I probably would have had the Drakensbergs on my list of to-sees anyways, being told the best parts of the World Heritage site from somebody who really knew was wonderful and it did not disappoint. The Drakensberg range is the highest in South Africa. It means dragon mountains in Afrikaans. The 'bergs stretch from the Free State down through KZN. The northern and western side of the range makes up the border with Lesotho. We were heading to Royal Natal National Park (which is actually a provincial park, but says something about the way KZN approaches things). The highlights of the park are the 5km long, 1200m high amphitheatre rock wall and the 947m, 2nd or 4th (depending on who you believe) tallest waterfall in the world, Tugela Falls. So Saturday morning was early. We had a long way to go in a car that didn't really have the pick up to make a quick trip (oh the joys of cheap rental cars). Our hike would actually start on the northern side of the park, making the drive quite long. After some very interesting, what would be 4x4ing had we had a car other than a Hyundai Atos, we made it to the start of the hike. I kept thinking - I really wish I was driving Stella. While I was putting to use my Mario-kart skills, we were also driving through amazingly spectacular scenery. We arrived at the car park and to our amusement, the vehicles were clearly split between foreigners (with cars of similar proportions to ours) and locals (with SUVs). We registered and started the hike.

We were doing a hike to the top of Tugela Falls. You start by driving a good way up the back of the mountains and then it is a steady climb to the base of a rock wall. Then comes the fun part...So the hike starts on a concrete path (I know, my hopes for a great hike faded when I saw this). However, I think it is just one of those oh so African solutions - we are trying to stop erosion, therefore we will use our surplus of labour and have these unfortunate guys carry concrete up the mountain and stop the erosion. Anyways, part way up the zig-zags (or in my parlance, switch-backs), the concrete ended and we were onto a proper hiking trail. I must say,we probably could have used the concrete at the end of the switch-backs as the trail got a little muddled. But that gave us the opportunity for some photos...After finding the trail again, we made our way across the base of a giant rock face. At the end of the rock face, we knew what was coming. I was excited. Ellie was a little hesitant, but did her best to stay positive and we decided we would make a decision of whether to continue on or turn back once we arrived at that point. What was coming was chain ladders. Big ones. There is an alternate way to the top, but it involves a slog and a half up this not so nice looking gully. I was convinced that my enemy species would be there and was praying that Ellie would agree to do the ladders. We met up with group of five ladies in front of us, one clearly quite concerned with the impending ladders. I figured worst case scenario, Ellie could join her and go up the gully, I preferred the ladder approach (I know, terrible friend). Anyways, when we reached the base of the first ladder, there was a long line to get going. We sat down for a little snack. A group of backpackers started the assent and I must say hats off to them, climbing ladders with big packs on, not the easiest thing in the world. Anyways, during our break, the lady from the other group was having a moment. I decided that we needed to get going ahead of that group, so promptly rushed Ellie into committing to climb. She started first and I made my way up following. I quite enjoyed the ladders. There are actually two sets of ladders. First set of ladders is about 40m and second is about 20m. There are two ladders (one older and more swingy and the other newer with much better hand holds) fairly close to each other for each pitch. While I was on my way up, I had a lovely chat with the gentleman climbing beside me. At the top of the first pitch Ellie was feeling much more confident. So onto the second pitch. I made my way up the older ladder and it was definitely more swingy and made me a little more nervous, but I was able to get up ahead of Ellie and get some pictures. In this one you can see the people at the break point between the first and second pitch. You can also see the very bottom of the valley. The animals came along for the adventure. Deiter was lazy and decided to stay in my pack rather than fly. Or maybe he was just being considerate and didn't want to make Johan feel bad about having wings and not being able to fly. I should also introduce you to Giraffe, Ellie's travel buddy. Deiter, Giraffe and Johan all get along quite well. Giraffe can't fly either, so he took the backpack route as well. Either way, they made it to the top of the ladders. At the top of the ladders, you are on top of the Amphitheatre. It is a huge, kinda marshy plateau and marks the source of seven rivers that flow down towards the Indian ocean. This is the Tugela "river". We made it to the end of the route, which is the start of the Tugela falls. As you can see, not much water. This area has suffered from a significant drought this year, but either way, I have a hard time imagining this as the huge waterfall it is billed to be. But I guess the water does fall a long way down to the valley below, making it 'big'. We had a little lunch break here and then turned around. This meant that we had to face the ladders again. And this time there was quite the wind. But it was ok. Ellie went first, so there are pictures of me. See that's me, up there. And feeling a little more comfortable, there was a little fun on the ladders this time. Beautiful place, no?Basically this is the view of the Amphitheatre. Where we ate lunch was up and to the right. Quite lovely. A great day and a great hike. I will update you on our Sunday adventures tomorrow which include waterfalls, rock paintings and learning to drive standard.