Visit the Drakensberg

The Drakensberg moun­tain range, trans­lated from Dutch as Dragon’s Mountains, is the most extens­ive in South Africa, span­ning a dis­tance of around 1000m, and boasts the highest peak in Southern Africa, Thabana Ntlenyana, at 3482m in height. This par­tic­u­lar peak was named by the Lesotho people, and means “nice little moun­tain” in SeSotho, how­ever, there are many other fam­ous peaks within the range, includ­ing Cathedral Peak, Giant’s Castle, and other mys­ter­i­ously named and majestic peaks ...

The fam­ous Blyde River Canyon falls within the fur­thest north­ern reaches of the range with the entire moun­tain range stretches from the Limpopo Province to the Eastern Cape in the South, where the fam­ous Tiffendell, South Africa’s only ski resort, lies. In addi­tion to form­ing the bor­der between South Africa and the king­dom of Lesotho, where loc­als have dubbed the range the Maluti’s, the range also sep­ar­ates the Free State from KwaZulu Natal.

One of the factors that make the Drakensberg range so spe­cial is the fairly unique geo­lo­gical form­a­tion. The moun­tains were once a part of the African plat­eau, and are made up by a fairly sub­stan­tial layer of basalt, up to 1500m thick in places, with an under­ly­ing layer of softer sand­stone, depos­ited on the floor of a gigantic lake that once lay where mod­ern day South Africa is today.

One of the many tour­ist attrac­tions in the range is the uKhamh­lamba, which is trans­lated from the Zulu as “bar­rier of spears”. Also known as the Drakensberg National Park, the area is a World Heritage site, and inter­na­tion­ally pro­tec­ted wet­land area. Another park worth vis­it­ing is the Royal Natal National Park, home to the Tugela Falls, the second highest in the world.

In the Central Drakensberg Area, vis­it­ors can view some of the best pre­served and most access­ible examples of ancient Bushmen paint­ings, as well as enjoy some of the best hik­ing trails the range has to offer. Of course, one of the main activ­it­ies on offer in these moun­tains is rock climb­ing, and there are numer­ous options to choose from, depend­ing on skill and energy levels! But the moun­tains also offer sev­eral other options, such as 4 x 4 trails at Sani Pass or Mikes Pass, or per­haps canoe­ing at Wagendrift Dam in the Central Drakensberg region.

Black and white rhino are on dis­play at the Weenen Game Reserve, or take advant­age of the nine hole golf course at Cathedral Peak, Champagne Valley, and Hlalanathi, or the full 18 hole course at the Champagne Sports Resort in the Central region.

As with the activ­it­ies on offer, accom­mod­a­tion in the Drakensberg cov­ers the full spec­trum. From camp­ing under the stars, to lux­ury five star game lodges, there is some­thing to suit every taste and budget, although given the snow­fall in winter, the former should be attemp­ted dur­ing the warmer months only.

With so much to see and do in the Drakensberg Mountains, it would seem that any vis­it­ors to the area should plan their trip care­fully, and prob­ably make allow­ance to make a return trip, if they want to see it all ...

Useful Links:

• Drakensberg Attractions
• Things to Do in Drakensberg
• Drakensberg Hotels
• Drakensberg Accommodation