South Africa
DRAKENSBERG
Drakensberg is a mountain range in the middle of South Africa offering wonderfull and awe-inspiring landscapes. With its colors going from ocher to brown or green in a flutter of eyelashes, the numerous view points offered by Drakensberg will take your breah away. The majestic succession of rocky peaks, valleys, waterfalls, river, caves and escarpment have made Drakensberg the number one destination for hiking in South Africa.
/ Drakensberg
Cobham Nature Reserve is located in the Southern Drakensberg near the small town of Underberg. This part of the Drakensberg is famous for its grasslands and its beautiful scenary. This 52,000 hectare Nature Reserve is more isolated than the other parks and therefor is the least visited part of the mountain range...
Giant's Castle is a rugged and remote landmark known for its dramatic rock massif landscape. It gets its name from the shape of the peaks and escarpment which gives the illusion of a sleeping giant. In 1903, it was proclaimed a reserve mainly for the protection of the dwindling eland population of the Drakensberg...
Covering 32,000 hectares, Cathedral Peak is a nature reserve renowned for its escarpment of peaks spreading from Royal Natal National Park to Giant's Castle. Located in the Central Berg, not far from the town of Winterton, the nature reserve counts numerous free standing peaks, such as Cathedral Peak (3,004 m)...
Monks Cowl refers to the peak located between Champagne Castle and Cathkin Peak in the Central Drakensberg. Monks Cowl is well known for its hiking trails snaking through the valleys and forest. With its grassland, its impressive cliffs and its waterfalls cascading for hundreds of metres, Monks Cowl...
Renowned for having some of the most spectacular scenery in South Africa, Royal Natal National Park is probably the most visited part of the Drakensberg. The Park is easily accessible comparing to other remoted reserves of the mountain range. Royal Natal National Park is crowned by the famous Amphitheater...
OUR EXPERIENCE IN DRAKENSBERG
To get to the small town of Underberg, our first base to discover the Southern Berg, it took us around 6 hours (500 km) from Saint Lucia. Then we drove to Giant's Castle and it took us 3 hours (240 km). We didn't know this place was so remoted and that it will take us so much time to get there (small roads going through the hills). It is actually a pretty big detour if you are heading next to Winterton, our second based to explore the Central and Northern Berg. From Giant's Castle to Winterton it took us around 1 hour (40 km). If you don't stop in Giant"s Castle, the drive from Underberg to Winterton takes 2h30 (230 km).
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In total we spent 6 days and 5 nights in Drakensberg :
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DAY 1 : Cobham | DAY 2 : Giant's Castle
DAY 3 : Cathedral Peak | DAY 4 : Monk's Cowl
DAY 5 : Cathedral Peak | DAY 6 : Royal Natal
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We felt like we rushed our visit in Royal Natal. If we would know there were so many spectacular hiking trails in this park, we will spend more time there to experience a long excursion.
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Giant's Castle is definitly a real beauty of Drakensberg, However, if you don't have many time to spend in the area, we think it is more interesting to skip this landmark and to focus on Cathedral Peak and Royal Natal National Park.
UNDERBERG (Southern Berg)
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To visit the Southern Berg, we took an accomodation in the small city of Underberg : a backpackers guesthouse named "The Shed". We slept in a dormatory and payed 300 ZAR (20€) for a night. Comparing to the accomodations you can get for this price in South Africa, it was a bit expensive. In the common area (which is outdoor), there is a kitchen, a fire place and some activities such as a pool table. We visited Underberg in july, which is winter in South Africa, and the night are really really really cold. Therefor cooking and staying outside was a bit rough. However, if you are travelling in summer, this place can be a really nice shelter for backpackers. About the location, we didn't see anything to do in Underberg except going shopping for provisions.
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The Shed
7 Scotston Road, 3257 Underberg | See on booking.com
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WINTERTON (Central & Northern Berg)
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Winterton is a perfect base if you want to spend time in the north part of the Central Berg. Only one hour drive from Royal Natal National Park, it"s also easy to explore the Northern Berg from this little town. We rented a really nice room in a sweet backpackers guesthouse, "Berg Backpackers'. Like in The Shed, the common area are outside (but it's much nicer and better equiped). We payed 300 ZAR (20 €) for a room with bathroom (but unfortunatly the water heater didn't really worked. Hopefully there was heating in the room, because, like in Underberg, the nights and early mornings in july are really cold !
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Berg Backpacker
Drakensberg Bush Lodge, 3340 Zunckels | See on booking.com
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