KwaZulu Natal
Our first stop was the Drakensberg Mountains for 4 nights. This has to be one of the most beautiful mountain ranges in the world - made even more unique with all the picturesque rural villages nestled in the valleys and foothills, and the friendly locals waving as you drive by. We stayed at the Drakensberg Sun Resort, a peaceful hotel tucked away in the Champagne Valley with the dramatic Cathkin Peak area as a backdrop. We spent our time there exploring the grounds, eating their delicious breakfasts, and of course going on several hikes.
We also lucked out with being able to see the Drakensberg Boys Choir for one of their performances. They are a famous choir school that performs around the world, and host concerts at the boarding school during their term. We were blown away with how talented these boys were - some only 9 years old! They even impressed us with some gumboot dancing :) See the video below for our experience, but you can also check out a video of their proper performances here: Drakensberg Boys Choir Performance
MONKS COWL HIKE
For our first hike in The Berg, we headed to the Monks Cowl area. We hiked the Nandi Falls trail and then to Sterkspruit Falls via the Hlatikulu Forest Trail - a beautilful 8km loop hike filled with a variety of waterfalls, forest, open veld, and thousands of wildflowers on the mountainside with dramatic peaks towering above us. It was a perfect first hike, and we even had our first Baboon sighting and a beautiful African sunset to round it off.
CATHEDRAL PEAK HIKE
We spent the day after Monks Cowl relaxing, and then on Thursday made the journey up to the beautiful Cathedral Peak area to hike Mushroom rock and Doreen falls for our last day in the Berg. The drive out there was incredible and felt so remote and rural. We started our hike from the Cathedral Peak hotel, and were happy to end up there afterwards to relax and enjoy the view with some drinks after a hot and steep hike.
THE MIDLANDS
After a perfect few days in the mountains, we headed to my hometown of Hilton for a night to show Reid where I grew up. We spent a relaxing day making our way down via the Midlands Meander, a well-known tourist route in South Africa. It includes a huge variety of artist studios, restaurants, farms, local craft shops, and cafes. We could have easily spent another few days exploring the beautiful countryside. One of the highlights included Swissland Cheese Farm - a working dairy farm that specializes in the most delicious goat cheese. This was one of my favorite places to go when I was young (especially to feed the goats), and it was incredible to see it is still just as I remember it. The farm is perched on a hilltop overlooking the rolling hills of the midlands, and we made sure to take full advantage by spending the afternoon on the beautiful property enjoying a delicious picnic of all kinds of goat cheese and other snacks and local beers.
We also checked out some of the craft shops, the woolen mill, artisan chocolate, and a great café at The Piggly Wiggly Center for a pick me up while we waited for a passing storm. The center had some great shops, beautiful grounds, and even a bonus car garden and some cool wood storage :)
We rounded off the day by heading to the Mandela Capture Site just in time for a beautiful sunset to burst through the storm clouds. It was at this site that Nelson Mandela was arrested, leading to his famous 27 years in Prison. The site comprises of a museum still under construction, and a long brick pathway that leads you to the sculpture. The pathway is symbolic of his 'Long Walk to Freedom' and includes 27 corten markers with important dates and events in his life (27 to represent the 27 years of imprisonment). We stayed in a great Airbnb in Hilton for the night that had the most incredible view overlooking Pietermaritzburg city, and had a delicious meal at Crossways Pub. The pub used to be a favorite weekend night spot for my family when we lived here, and it was great to see it is still a popular hangout for the Hilton crowd!
Our beautiful cottage for the night in Hilton - so happy to be back here!
One of our highlights of this trip came the next morning when I was reunited with Mpume and her family. Mpume was our housekeeper, my babysitter, friend, and basically a second mother to me for the 7 years we lived in Hilton. It had been 17 years since I last saw her and even longer since I saw her son Nka, who was just a boy at the time and now is grown with a child of his own! We drove to the community of Sweetwaters, a township nestled in the valley just outside of Hilton early on Saturday morning to visit them in her home. She was proud to show us her house, which she and Nka are building with their own hands. Seeing her happy and healthy and in her own house was something I had hoped to see for over a decade, and it was so wonderful to be reunited and introduce her to Reid.
ROYAL NATAL NATIONAL PARK
After our reunion with Mpume, and a delicious breakfast at The Farmers Daughter with my cousin Bronwyn, we hit the road again - North to the Royal Natal National Park to conquer the Amphitheatre trail! This National Park is home to one of South Africa's highest peaks (Mont-aux-sources), the world's second highest waterfall (Tugela Falls), and the famed Amphitheatre - a giant basalt rock wall that dominates the landscape. Naturally it was on our list of top places to visit while we are in South Africa. We spent two nights at Witsieshoek Mountain Lodge, and once again the drive there was breathtaking. After we left the highway and drove through the relatively large town of Phuthaditjaba (try saying that three times fast), it was an additional hours crawl up a mountain pass to the end of the road and the lodge. The chalets were perched on a ridgeline looking directly at the back wall of The Amphitheatre. Due to the remoteness, we weren't planning on leaving for any meals or exploration outside of the national park, so luckily the lodge and our rooms were beautiful and comfortable, the restaurant had delicious food and a cozy bar to hang out in, and incredible trails left right from our doorstep. What more could you want?
Exploring the grounds of Witsieshoek Lodge with relaxing afternoon walks
THE AMPHITHEATRE TRAIL
Anyone who knows us knows we cannot seem to get enough hiking in, so here we were again, rolling out of bed far too early in the morning, to catch our shuttle ride to the Sentinel Car Park and the start of the Amphitheatre Trail. While the car park is a mere 7km from the lodge, it took almost an hour in a 4x4 bakkie to get there...I wouldn't recommend this road for the faint-hearted...or smart cars. Breathing a sigh of relief once we scrambled out at the top, the rough road was soon forgotten as we set eyes upon the incredible views before us. Through the rolling clouds, we caught glimpses of a trail winding its way up the mountain side, painted with every color from golden grasses to mossy-faced cliffs. Probably the most scenic trail head we have ever seen!
After filling in the mountain register, we followed a well established path that wound its way up a series of switchbacks to the base of the Sentinel Massif. From here, we hiked below dramatic cliff faces with views out towards the Witsieshoek Plateau and the Malutis range beyond. Distracted by the constant onslaught of incredible views, we soon found ourselves at the base of the chain ladders - a series of two wobbly metal ladders (40m and 20m respectively) that provide a 'shortcut' up to the top of The Amphitheater and the source of Tugela Falls. The chain ladders were a bit intimidating as they disappeared into the clouds above us, and climbing them proved to be quite an experience. Definitely not your average ladder. Reaching the top meant disappearing into the clouds ourselves, and brought on a completely different and ethereal landscape. As tempting as it was to continue wandering through the clouds towards Tugela Falls, incoming weather forced us to turn around rather quickly and make our way back down to the trailhead. Incase things weren't exciting enough, the mountains provided us with one more surprise to wrap things up: a rather intimidating looking group of baboons blocking the end of the trail for us. We debated a faceoff for a few moments before accepting defeat and retreating down the mountainside around them instead. All in all, a perfectly adventurous day!
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to view our Amphitheatre Trail photos
