The Rig:
Upon leaving Pretoria, we headed for the Golden Gate National Park (NP) for our first two nights of camping. Beautiful park and very nice campgrounds. We did a couple of short day hikes in the surrounding hills and sort of got used to a new independence that we haven't had for a while. We also discovered, even after advice from several folks, that it is quite cold at night, but the days are warm and perfect for hiking.
Camping at Golden Gate.
After stocking up in the small town of Bergville, we headed to a backpackers place bordering the Natal NP. We watched Italy beat France in the finals of the World Cup. It was a great game, tied 1 to 1 after overtime and Italy won it with penalty kicks. After a tough sell job by the owner of the backpackers to try and get us to stay there for more nights, we headed to the actual park for better camping. We hiked up the to the base of the Ampitheater, one of the highlights of the Drakensburg area.
Ampitheater.
Then we headed for the Cathredral Peak area of the Northern Drakensburg NP. Cathredral Peak can be summitted in a day, although it is listed as a very strenuous, long hike, with several non-technical scrambling sections. It is listed correctly. It took us the full nine hours to summit and return to camp, but it was well worth the effort. The views are dramatic and breath-taking. Em and I started early and ended up in front of a larger, guided group. When we passed the group on the way down from the summit scramble section, the guide was very surprised we made it. He thought we must be locals who knew the route. Of his group of 9, only 4 made it to the actual summit, and Em was the only female!
View of Cathredral Peak:
Summit Scramble
Summit!
The Drakensburg is a mountain range running north-south and we had one more stop to make before heading to the coast. We chose the Injinsuti area for its great day-hikes and San cave paintings. We also saw the Eland, the largest of the antelopes. We must have seen about a dozen in total.
Eland just above camp:
Em and I are enjoying this part of our trip very much. It's a combination of having our own Rig (THANKS JOHN!), and camping and hiking in great parks, with great facilities. We are cooking our own food, driving where we want, when we want. Next, we head to the Wild Coast!
Sunrise and Moonset above the Drakensberg:
2 comments:
Good job of passing for tough locals on the mountain. From the pictures you both do look rather African safari types,Em in front of the Jeep/Tank/camper Land Rover and also the climbing pictures, Keith pointing to a not-very-near summit and Em crossing rock that looks challenging and high. Really different-looking country and interesting. Kind of ancient and worn. CJ
Its taken a year but I finally learned how to leave comments :-)
Sweet rig! Great pictures and commentary of the entire trip. When can I expect the book to come out?
Those suits you bought were really sharp. You got a good deal. Hopefully you were able to ship them home.
All in all you guys are Caaarrraaazzzyyy and Amazing all at the same time. Look forward to the next episode, but more forward to the last episode :-) Miss you guys, take care!
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