April 8, 2015
I am writing this after a full day of doing things other
than driving, but April 8th is still quite fresh in my memory… We
decided to let the sun peek out before we attempted to drive back up from the
chalet. I think that was the right decision, since the drive went much better
that the previous night, though it still required a few stops, the removal of a
few key stones, and lots of patience. The main road through the park was
better, but we were really starting to worry about how much gas we had left.
Based on distance traveled, it should have been okay, but we had been driving
up and down steep hills on gravel roads for quite a long time. The gatekeeper
reassured us that we could make it to Fort Beaufort and we continued on the 345
for what felt like a very long time. For a road that made it onto the national
map, the R345 is not in very good condition. It was slow going for 27 km from
the gate, weaving around potholes and rocks and sand and small “creeks” running through the road. Our relief at
reaching Alice – with a paved road and a gas station – cannot be understated.
From there, the road was paved but winding, and we were cruising along pretty
well through farmland and small hills. The next 12 hours or so can best be
described by driving, hot sun, construction everywhere, but nonetheless pretty
landscapes – just nothing to write home about.
We got to Bethlehem as dusk fell and stopped for
fruit/groceries and some directions, and even tried buying some fast food. The
directions turned out to be not entirely correct and the food wasn’t
particularly good, either. We probably drove an extra 80 km with some wrong
turns and missed turns, but were fairly reserved when we turned onto the right
road – only to find construction, another 20 km on that road, and then another
20 km on the road into Royal Natal. The gate was closed (it is in fact open 24
hours a day for campers, but the guard had fallen asleep, apparently). We found
a seemingly empty campsite outside the park and eventually just pitched our
tent. The toilets were locked, but we had flat ground, and I think that we were
so tired that nothing could have stopped us from sleeping well.
April 9, 2015
We woke up after the sun and moseyed our way through breakfast
before driving into the park, which actually has a lovely visitor center where
we picked up some baseball caps and a hiking map. We then set up our tent and
got dressed for our first hike in the Drakensberg region. We started right from
the campsite and followed a grassy trail up toward the imposing cliff faces. We
knew from the map that the trail crossed the cliff face, but I don’t think we
were quite prepared for the way the trail went up: first it was just a normal
trail through the woods with increasing steepness and larger steps, then we
came across some ladders – chain links with wooden steps – and we were feeling
pretty tough.
The biggest challenge for me was when we came across a
single chain, fixed at both ends, where we had to pull ourselves up, “walking” up
the flat rocks at almost 90 degrees. I actually had to stop and brace myself
against the rock face to breathe a bit – even though it wasn’t very far, maybe
maximum 5 m, it was a new challenge! We made it up to the top, though, and it
was really something. The extra adrenaline from that chain probably didn’t hurt
the experience!
After the peak, the trail wound through some grass next to
the cliff edge and over the top of Gudu falls, where we stopped for lunch.
After a fairly short period on grass and small rocks, the descent steepened and
we soon found ourselves descending down the Crack. Down is generally more
difficult for me than up on these steep parts, and there was a lot of crawling
over wet, slippery rocks. There was also another chain ladder (but with rungs)
which we mastered, though it was slow going. After the Crack, we continued down
to Lookout Rock, and I learned that hiking poles can actually be quite useful
for getting some weight off of one’s knees.
The rock gives a nice view – not the “top of the world”
feeling, but more of an incredible feeling of being surrounded by mountains.
From there, we walked over to Tiger Falls, which was fun – the waterfall is
very pretty, a sheet of water falling over a flat rock, and we were able to
crawl behind it. We also visited the Cascades (a great place for dipping one’s
feet) and a rock painted by the hunter-gatherers who lived here 8000 years ago.
Today was our first encounter with baboons, and we saw
plenty of them! They weren’t very interested in us, but they still make me
nervous. Also, we got up to 2044 m, which is pretty high!
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