The Bell Traverse (3 days)
Last week I had the opportunity to lead my first black group in the Drakensberg Mountains. African people haven’t traditionally practised mountain sports for pleasure, but times are changing and, with better education and economical resources, cultural barriers are gradually disappearing. So this was a really special trip and I had been looking forward to experiencing the new South Africa since the moment my clients had confirmed.
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Zulu Cave (2 days)
Christina and Bernhard from Germany had never camped in the mountains before. They just wanted to do 2 day hikes in a nice area. Didn’t they want to overnight in a beautiful cave instead, I asked them? To stay in a cave is of the unique experiences that we are fortunate to have in the Drakensberg. The Bushmen used these natural shelters, formed by erosion in the Clarens sandstone, for many thousands of years before the arrival of the white man in the mid 1850s, when they were sadly hunted for trophies until they were completely exterminated. The Bushmen are now long gone but the caves are still there. Some of them feature some of the finest rock art in the world, which is one of the reasons why the Ukhahlamba-Drakensberg Park was declared world heritage site in 2000.
