The majestic Drakensburg rises to over 3
000 meters. Known to the Zulu people as Ukhahlamba, or 'Barrier of
Spears', the Mountains of the Dragon provide a magnificent semi-circular
border between KwaZulu-Natal and the inland mountain kingdom of Lesotho.
The watershed of the basalt peaks divide the rains and snows, some
flowing westwards over the alpine plateau of Lesotho towards the
Atlantic Ocean, and some down the frequently vertical slopes into
KwaZulu-Natal, towards the warm Indian Ocean. The Northern Drakensburg
is the source of the Tugela River, the largest river in the Province,
and it plunges some 950 meters over the edge of the Mont-aux-Sources
Plateau in a spectacular waterfall. This waterfall, the Tugela Falls, is
the second highest waterfall in the world.
The Amphitheatre is possibly the most
photographed feature of the Drakensburg.
The Drakensburg escarpment is frequently
covered in snow in the winter months, transforming the area into a
picture-postcard winter wonderland. Popular with hikers, rock climbers,
trout fishermen, and other holidaymakers, the area offers a wide range
of hotels, country lodges, and bed and breakfast accommodation venues,
as well as camping sites and caravan parks.
For the more adventurous there are also
many trails which use caves up in the mountains as overnight stops. A
weekend of hiking and climbing, interspersed with dips in the icy pools
and rivers, goes a long way to restoring those weary of city life. Most
of the Northern Drakensberg makes up the Natal Drakensberg Park, a
wilderness area with an abundance of wildlife. Hikers are frequently
surprised by bushbuck, oribi, mountain reedbuck, tiny duiker, and the
largest of South Africa’s antelope species, the eland, as well as many
others.
Enormous lammergeier, or bearded
vultures, fly overhead and baboons bark from the cliffs. The spring is
heralded by carpets of wild flowers and the pink and orange watsonia,
like miniature gladioli, bloom thickly on the hillsides. In autumn the
fields and lower reaches of the Drakensburg are often a waist-high sea
of confetti-like pink, white and deep velvet red cosmos blossoms. In the
higher reaches on the slopes of the Little Berg, varieties of protea
trees show their prehistoric flowers, and ancient tree ferns and the odd
cycad dot the gullies.
Hikers should note that there are 24
species of snakes in these mountains, and not all of them are willing to
give way to humans!
