Journal of This Southern Africa Adventure
February, 2001
A visit to the Drakensberg Mountains was one of several treats for the month. We went back to the Royal Natal National Park where we had hiked over year ago. This time, instead of hiking through the Tugela River Gorge we decided to climb to the top of the Mountains to find the source of the Tugela Falls. These falls are composed of five different drops totaling about 500 meters.
We followed the mountain road through an enormous overhang and reached the Witseishoek Mountain Resort in Qwa-Qwa on the northeast border of the park. This resort is the highest resort, over 7,000 feet, in Southern Africa and with magnificent view of the Amphitheater guarded by Devil's Tool & Eastern Buttress on the left and Western Buttress & Sentinel on the right. Since it was only early afternoon after we checked in to the resort , we decided to do the easy Mahai (Sesuto word for 'rocky krantz') Falls walk from Basuto Gate. It was a pleasant short stroll along the ridge or boundary of Free State with stunning views of the Maluti Mountains and surrounding Mahai valley.
Next morning, we set out to find the source of Tugela Falls. From the resort there is a 7 km drive uphill on a gravel road to the Sentinel Car parking lot
which is over 8,000 ft above sea level. The day started with very bright blue sky. From the parking lot there is a 2 1/2 hour zigzag hike, partial climb and short scramble to transverse around the Sentinel and the Western Buttress and on to the base of Chain Ladder. Along the way, the clouds (fog) came and went.
On the way we saw a couple of gray reebucks and many baboons. We stopped to watch a family of baboons which were above and below us on the side of the steep mountain.
Just as we began to resume our hike, several rocks (about 8 inches in diameter) came tumbling down the mountain across our path. When we looked up, we saw several baboons. We are not sure if the baboons accidentally kicked the rocks down or whether they had intent to maim us.
There are two pairs (one old and one new) of two chain ladders totaling about 30 meters high that have to be negotiated to gain access to the top. After waiting for others, the climb up the chain ladders is simple and quick. From the cairn there are 2 paths- one path leads to Crow's nest cave then to the summit of Mont-aux-Sources.
Another path follows the flat escarpment (mountain top) to the Tugela River Falls. We took the easy second path. At this time, the entire top of the mountain was engulfed in fog which kept coming and going within seconds. After about 5 minutes the fog was swept completely away from the top of the mountain. As we approached the Tugela Falls we were once again walking above the clouds, severely limiting our views. However, within minutes that also cleared out. We spent about an hour exploring before heading back down. Next time, we will spent two weeks here and hike all the way from Chain Ladder to Sani Pass!
More pictures of this trip can be found at our Drakensberg in February Page.
That evening we went out to a ridge to watch the sunset. However, within seconds a dark monstrous cloud rose from below us, and engulfed the top of the ridge. It then proceeded to roll over the ridge and swirl into the valley on the other side, quickly filling every nook and cranny with a dense fog. The weather is unpredictable and can change in an instant in the Drakensberg, and it sure was awesome to experience it first hand.
The next day we traveled a couple hours in hard rain to the Ardmore Guest Farm and Art Studio.
We stayed the night and met several of the local artisans before proceeding back to Pretoria.
Our second event of the month was the First Annual Sowetan Awards. This was a particularly strange event. First of all, it was not held in Soweto (it was a squatter camp for blacks), now a 1 1/2 million population township near Santon which is the plushest suburb of Jo'berg. Secondly, all throughout the awards I noticed the many references to the United States. A short video of President Clinton, references such as "Hollywood, here I come," and several award recipients who lived and worked in the US. The award recipients included Nelson Mandella, Felicia (a top talk show host in South Africa who formerly worked for a TV station in Houston), Winnie Mandella (Nelson's ex), an ex-soccer player who pled for the Atlanta Chiefs, and several people from Soweto who made it big. One of our party's members was interviewed during the event. The interviewer was especially please when she found out that we were American. Apart from several production glitches and the typical overrun of the event, it wasn't too bad.
Our third event was a simple little afternoon drive to the the Krugersdorp Nature Reserve. Here we saw a family of Black Sable, a big herd of Eland (the largest antelope in Africa), a couple of Gemsbok (also known a Oryx), Springbok, Impala, Giraffe, Blesbok, Lions, and other games.
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