Spend a night in a Drakensberg Cave

Antbear Reservations Accommodation, Drakensberg Caves, Information January 5, 2020January 5, 2020 0 Comment

Ifidi cave, one of the more elusive and special in the Drakensberg

The rolling sandstone cliffs of the Drakensberg mountains are eternally appealing to hikers and avid nature lovers, where Mother Earth can be embraced in all her fresh and dewy glory. And what better way to shake off the shackles of urbanity than by spending a night in a natural cave, just as our ancestors did hundreds of years ago?

What makes the Drakensberg so special?

The Drakensberg mountain range falls within the greater Maloti-Drakensberg World Heritage Site, one of the largest and most commercially inaccessible conservation areas in South Africa, filled with gorges, cliffs that rise towards the heavens, beautiful valleys, and, of course, numerous sandstone caves. Wildlife in the area includes rhino, wildebeest, and various grazers, while the impressive list of plant species features many rare and endemic species.

Prep properly for a night in a cave

There are literally scores of overnight caves to choose from in the Drakensberg, and they vary in size and views. While many must be booked in advance, some operate on a first come, first served basis, but these are generally smaller and further off the beaten track. To reach any of the caves requires a hike, and don’t expect any housekeeping services. Do, however, be equipped with all the necessary camping gear you will need for your stay, as well as enough food and water.

It’s also a good idea to familiarize yourself with cave camping etiquette. Luckily, this list is not too complicated, with the bottom line being to leave nothing but your footprints behind. Campers are expected to remove all their litter, except that which is biodegradable and can be buried. Human waste should also be left well under the ground (note to pack a small shovel!) and the lighting of fires is prohibited. Besides the obvious danger of starting a bush blaze, fires smoke out caves and coat their walls with soot, making them uninhabitable for the many little creatures that live in their crevices.

There are also many caves within the Drakensberg area that house ancient San rock art. Camping is forbidden in these.

You’ve got options

One of the most popular and easiest to reach overnight caves in the Drakensberg is Sherman’s Cave. The path begins just below the Cathedral Peak Hotel leading across the river and up the steep slopes towards a peak of the same name. Pass a lovely wooded gorge with a natural pool. Within about two hours you will have reached your overnight accommodation, where you can sleep like a baby, wrapped in the arms of the Earth. The deep cave has a low overhang that easily sleeps 10 hikers, as most of the floor is level. The roof is low, so be prepared to stoop, but the views of the surrounding mountain scenery are spectacular.

Further hiking and accommodation information is available from Drakensberg Hikes, a comprehensive resource guide to all the caves in the Drakensberg.

Unexpected luxury under a rock

If you’re not the kind that can get comfy on a camping mattress, but still want to experience sleeping in a cave in luxury, then do consider Antbear Lodge, with a gorgeous accommodation unit built under a rock. Glass doors open onto a wooden deck with hammock chairs and a spectacular view of the Drakensberg mountains, while inside the cave is cozy and decadent, with a spa bath, a fireplace, and even rock art painted on its walls.

The lodge supports sustainable and responsible tourism, with meals being made from organic ingredients and cooked from scratch. The artistic and inspiring furnishings were all handmade at the lodge itself. This is the ultimate in luxury caveman living, where you can spoil yourself with a private candle-lit dining experience, on the deck of your cave under the stars.

Antbear Lodge cave interior © Antbear Lodge

Butterflies in the Drakensberg Mountains

Antbear Reservations Information January 2, 2020January 4, 2020 0 Comment

The Drakensberg and Natal Midlands are butterfly hotspots. In the Drakensberg, look out for small butterflies around midday. Because conditions are usually windy, they often fly low and find shelter in the grass. Larger, more conspicuous butterflies are found in the gardens of resorts. The best butterfly season is between November and June.

Leopards Lair Lodge near to Giants Castle offers butterfly tours. Like the beautiful and serene butterfly, our butterfly tour seeks to introduce visitors to the lush and peaceful Midlands countryside and Drakensberg foothills. Their butterfly tours are led by a local guide who is keen to share his extensive knowledge about local rarities like the Midlands Widow, Estcourt Blue, The King Blue and the Mooi River Opal which are endemic and only found within a few km radius. We also talk about our local communities, its people, and traditions. Visitors will have the opportunity to encounter and experience farm life at a comfortable pace, away from the usual tourist hotspots.

A common butterfly at the Drakensberg is the Garden Acraea. It is small, mostly dull orange with a few black spots, and with conspicuously transparent fore-wings. It flutters weakly around its favourite plant, Kiggelaria africana (Wild Peach tree). This is where it lays its eggs, so the caterpillars have the right food. Nearly every plant-eating insect specialises on the single species that it can digest (all plants produce defensive chemicals to keep the ravening hordes at bay). Acraea caterpillars are small, black and hairy, and are the main food of cuckoos. The caterpillars hatch in such numbers that they can eat every leaf on the tree. With no food left they must pupate. Now the tree grows a new set of leaves, recovering completely.

Tugela Falls via the Chain Ladders

Although this is by far one of the easiest routes to take to get on top of the escarpment, you should still be well prepared for severe mountain weather. It is known that storms can arrive without warning at any time of the year and it is not unknown to get snow in winter. Be well prepared with a warm jacket and rain wear even if it’s just a day outing.

This walk is a popular overnight trip as well and a tent will be needed if you choose to sleep over. Sleeping over will allow you to experience most probably one of the best sunrises in South Africa.

The path starts at the Witsieshoek Car Park and follows the contour path towards the Witches and then swings towards the zigzags, the path has been upgraded with paving stones to help curb erosion, so stay on the path and don’t take short cuts as this leads to erosion. The path will lead up to the base of the Sentinel and veering to the right it gently climbs on a contour path following the base of the basalt cliffs towering over you. Soon you will reach the chain ladders which is actually 4 ladders in total, that will lead you to the top of the escarpment. The first ladders were commissioned in 1930 by Otto Zunckel and later a second set was installed next to the old one to help speed up the process of going up and down. For those with a fear of heights there is a path up the Sentinel Gully that will bypass the ladders and take you to the top without adding too much extra on to your walk. The path will lead you to the top of the falls where you can find a number of vantage points to view the water tumbling down 614m into the basalt abyss below. Take care on a windy day as the wind can be very strong on this exposed plateau.

Dragons Peak Helicopter flips

Based at Cathedral Peak and Dragons Peak , take a one hour or a fifteen minute helicopter flight, sip a glass of champagne on top of the peaks, or enjoy a high altitude picnic lunch.

Fly to the battlefields in Northern Natal and get met by a guide who will tell the story or get flown to a number of golf courses in the area.

Let your imagination fly and we’ll take care of the rest.

Blogging about the Drakensberg

Antbear Reservations Information December 27, 2019December 28, 2019 0 Comment

That silly idea I’ve always had about one blog per country unless I live there is becoming untenable. Finally the Drakensberg has done it. After three trips to South Africa I finally made it to the Drakensberg Mountains and if I would have known how stunning it is I would have been here sooner.Our favourite type of exploring involves mountains so in South Africa that had to involve the Drakensberg. The dilemma was whether to go on a couple of multiday hikes or numerous single day hikes. Multiday hikes would take us well off the beaten path but would mean taking camping and cooking equipment so lugging large bags – not just on the hikes but also for the rest of our time in the country.

We decided on choosing a few bases to do day hikes from, which also meant hiring a car would be more cost effective and we wouldn’t have problems of parking it in one place then somehow getting back to it after a multiday A to B trek.

There are a lot of potential hiking destinations in the Drakensberg and we chose three based on things like Google Images searches, an ancient Lonely Planet and reviews of places to stay. The accommodation inside the national parks can be really expensive whereas some of the other places to stay advertised as being in the Drakensberg are actually quite far away. The original plan was for one destination in the South African Drakensberg and the rest of the time in Lesotho but that had to change when we found out at the last minute that we needed a visa.Royal Natal National Park

Rather than stay down in the national park, we stayed up on the ridge at Witsieshoek. This was definitely a good idea. The views were great in all directions and especially across to the Amphitheatre. There are lots of hikes that could be done directly from the lodge without having to drive. However, we mostly chose it for its proximity to the Sentinel car park which was about 20-minutes away up a sometimes terrible dirt road (though we managed it in a little hire car). The Sentinel car park is the start of the lovely then scary then lovely hike up onto the top of the Amphitheatre and is reputed to be the easiest way up onto the High Berg plateau. The scary bit I’m talking about is the infamous chain ladders. I’d read about these and was looking forward to a bit of a via-ferrata style climb to add some excitement. However, they were higher, longer and wobblier than I expected. It never crossed our minds to not climb them, especially seeing as a very large group of teenagers with big rucksacks had recently passed us who must have come down them and because we had read they get easier as you get higher, but I occasionally had a bit of a shake going on in my hands and knees. Up on the top was a different world from the lush green gorges and high cliffs that we’d been walking among and looking down on. Above the ladders, it is a fairly flat rocky plateau with little vegetation. There should have been a great view off the Amphitheatre escarpment, including of Tugela Falls, the second highest in the world at 948 m, however, we could see precisely nowt. The clouds were blowing up the valley and sitting just off the escarpment, occasionally blowing over the top reducing visibility to just metres. Our plan was to hike up to Mont-aux-Sources and when the clouds came in we followed a compass bearing, when they cleared we realised we had done a pretty big loop and gone up the mountain the long way round. Although, our route was much prettier than the shorter and direct route down. Going back down the chain ladders was again a little leg wobbly especially as there was a bit of a queue including several hysterical people who wouldn’t get onto the ladders. They may well be still up there… This ended up being the only hike we did in the Drakensberg when we actually saw any people. The following day we set off in thick fog towards Surprise Ridge and Cannibal Cave. When the fog eventually cleared, it was beautiful and we only saw three shepherds all day who tried to sell us some unidentifiable meat! I will point out that our map and route descriptions talked about paths down into the Royal Natal National Park valley from the ridge we hiked along somewhere near Cannibal Cave but we couldn’t find them. Every time we looked over the edge where the path should be there were just vertical drops so bear that in mind if you are out that way.

Monk’s Cowl National Park

Unexpectedly the photos from Monk’s Cowl have turned out to be the most dramatic and, although it’s not that we didn’t appreciate

it at the time, there were parts of this hike that were a bit boring but looking back it appears to have been entirely spectacular. Monk’s Cowl has lots of short loops that are well marked and last a few hours each that could be pieced together into a lovely day. We decided to get up above the marked routes onto the lesser frequented paths. Unfortunately, these turned out to be much less frequented paths so, while easy to follow, they were a bit overgrown and scratchy on the legs. We saw a couple of people at the very beginning and a couple at the very end, otherwise nobody all day.

Injisuthi

It might look close to Monk’s Cowl, it is close to Monk’s Cowl, but the road in is a shocker. If I would have known it was that bad I wouldn’t have taken the little hire car in. But we made it, albeit going extremely slowly for the final 10 or so km weaving around boulders and stubborn cows. The setting is stunning and the hike up to Battle Cave was a nice change from our previous days’ hikes. There were no serious climbs, just little ups and downs along a river valley with a few stream-crossings thrown in though along a surprisingly overgrown path.

The clouds mark the edge of the Amphitheatre

We’d been in a few caves while in the Drakensberg to look for the San rock art and Battle Cave was by far the best we saw. The San Bushman are the earliest still-in-existence inhabitants of Africa, who used to inhabit these parts before being pushed out to continue their hunter-gatherer lifestyle now mostly in the Kalahari Desert. Their cave paintings are anything from a few hundred to a few thousand years old. Battle Cave is so called as, in addition to the cattle, rhinos, giraffes, and other animals as depicted elsewhere, there are a lot of people with bows and arrows seemingly having a big fight – though some reckon this is symbolism for something rather than representing an actual battle. Saw 5 people all day.

Sani Pass

Our final Drakensberg hike was up the pass from Sani Top so over the border in Lesotho. See the next blog for a tale of climbing Thabana Ntlenyana; Lesotho and Southern Africa’s highest mountain. Saw one person all day.

An enchanting weekend away in the Drakensberg

Antbear Reservations Uncategorized December 26, 2019December 26, 2019 0 Comment

My friend and I were invited to a wedding in the Drakensberg but as we were hailing from Cape Town, we decided to fly to Durban and drive the rest of the way. After a two-hour flight, we collected our rental car and embarked on the long 3.5hr drive to Cathedral Peak Hotel. KwaZulu-Natal is an extremely lush province with an extensive coastline that provides breathtaking views of the ocean on some of these roads.

The last portion of the journey winding into the Drakensberg takes a little longer than expected because the roads are rural but are in the process of being restored. We passed through little villages where cows and horses cross the roads and school children skip together through the fields on their way home. Finally, we arrived in a misty paradise, hidden in the mountains.

The room we stayed in was a Standard Room that is all-inclusive of meals and activities. It comes equipped with an en-suite bathroom, hairdryer, mini-fridge and coffee-making facilities. A helpful little guide is placed inside where all the services are listed along with wildlife that calls the region home.

Upon returning to the room on the first night after some exploration, we were pleasantly surprised to find that the hotel has a complimentary turn-down service complete with small chocolates and a different bedtime story printed on a leaflet that changes every evening.

The hotel is known for its spectacular buffet spreads. Guests are assigned a table in the dining room that remains theirs for the duration of their stay. Breakfast, dinner and tea with cookies were included in our stay and we ordered lunch from the room-service menu or opted to sit on the terrace.

The spreads have everything including salads, DIY stir-fry, fresh trout, a carving table, pastas, vegetables, soups, freshly-baked bread and a massive array of desserts. There is also Albert’s Bar which serves drinks at your own cost.

Hiking trail start points are well marked at different spots at the main hotel building but you can also obtain a map from the reception that details the routes. Walks in the Drakensberg are must because of the heritage that is hidden in these mountains – including paintings in the caves! We chose to do the Blue Pools trail which runs for around 5km and is a rather easy walk, ending up at a stream with colourful rocks visible under the water.

There are many trails that reach waterfalls, including a very easy trail to the nearby Doreen Falls. We went at the end of winter which made for a wet visit with dew on all the foliage and a strong flow throughout the river systems.

The day of the wedding arrived and we were the first at the chapel that sits at the bottom of the property. The hotel makes special arrangements for couples with a stay in the Honeymoon Suite and many extras such as decor and a reception venue that is separate from the main dining area.

Drinks and snacks were provided for wedding guests outside the reception and we absorbed the streams of sunlight coming down while drinking a glass of sparkling wine. The food and wine at the reception were of the same quality as the general dining area and vegetarian options were made available to cater for everyone.

Activities on Offer

The above picture is of the climbing wall on the property that overlooks the entire valley. There is also a mini-golf course, a jungle-gym for children, fishing, horse-riding, cycling, bowls, quad-biking and a games room where guests can play things like ping-pong or pool.

The Drakensberg is abundant with wonderful creatures that roam right through the hotel’s grounds. We witnessed a congress of baboons running across the hills in the distance – but they are fairly skittish and generally won’t approach guests. However, one did take advantage of our room’s sliding door being open and almost got through the door before we closed it. Sweeter animals include little buck, plenty of birds and some squirrels in the trees. There are also butterflies that flit through the air every now and again.

We were disappointed to leave so soon but once the wedding celebrations were over, we had to make our way back on the long road to Durban. If you’re considering a wedding with a similar feel, have a look at some of these Drakensberg wedding ideas

Hot Air Ballooning SA

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We have been flying these venues safely for more than 14 years. Our balloons, professional experience and hospitality will assure you of an exceptional experience.

The top 7 reasons to visit the Northern Drakensberg

Antbear Reservations Accommodation, Bushman Paintings December 26, 2019December 26, 2019 0 Comment

1. The Amphitheater

One of the most impressive cliff faces on earth, this towering line of precipitous cliffs runs over 5km, at more 1 000 metres (3200 ft) high. This makes it 10 times the size of El Capitan’s most famous face in Yosemite in the USA. Just to see it is awe-inspiring.

The Amphitheater is within the Royal Natal Park, which is well run and easy to get to. Mont-Aux-Sources, South Africa’s highest peak at just over 3 254 metres (11 000 ft), is part of the same complex. In summer it’s verdantly green with spectacular thunderclouds gathering late in the afternoon, while in winter it’s often under snow, and the grasses make the landscape yellow under clear blue skies. It’s worth checking out in both seasons.

2. Hike to see the world’s 2nd highest waterfall

Many rate this as the best hike in KwaZulu Natal – a trek through The Royal Natal Park to the Tugela Falls, which plunges over 948 metres (3,100 ft) from the Amphitheatre’s clifftops. The hike is 3 hours up to the point where you look up at the falls and 2 then hours down, along pathways lined with ferns and wild flowers, passing through patches of yellowwood forest. It’s really not too strenuous, but take plenty of water as much of the way you’re hiking above the river.

You can pick up a map when you sign in at the park. There are lots of other hikes within the park, and the staff there can give you all the details.

3. Bushman paintings

Bushman or San people have left behind delicate galleries of their art in caves all over the ‘Berg. A short guided tour to a cave in the Royal Natal Park can be booked – call ahead to confirm the time. You’ll get a spectacular view of the Amphitheater from the path.

4. Cascades

Pack lunch & take an easy stroll from the car park in the Royal Natal Park to this series of cascading falls, with trees around for shade and comfy rock formations to lounge around on in the sun. The water’s perfect for drinking and there are several pools for swimming.

5. Adventure activities

All Out Adventures has an amazing collection of equipment in a clearing in a forest near Montusi Mountain Lodge and The Cavern Resort & Spa, offering cable tours, paintball, quad biking, bungee bounce, zip line, king swing and flying trapeze – if you’re into this mad stuff, you’ll be entertained for hours. If not, they do good very good cake and coffee, so it’s still worth checking out.

6. Running & MTB trails

The area has a 100km network of mapped and marked trails for running or riding, at different levels of difficulty. If you’re lucky enough to be staying at Montusi Mountain Lodge, they can arrange mountain bike rental as well as show you all the trails. And they have fabulous stand-alone suites in beautiful grounds, with sweeping views to the mountains – perfect to recover afterwards. And book an extra night – you body will appreciate it.

7. It’s super-easy to get to

From Joburg, take the N3 highway for 2.5 hours to Harrismith and turn right – and the scenery begins, with a beautiful drive past the Sterkfontein Dam (the R74 is now in great condition) and down the Oliviershoek Pass. From Durban it’s an even easier drive, via Bergville.

If you would like any suggestions on where to stay, what to do and what special offers are on please contact our DrakensbergExperience.co.za booking office today and we will help with pleasure

Solo Travelling in the Drakensberg

Antbear Reservations Information December 25, 2019December 26, 2019 0 Comment

Most parts of South Africa are well suited to solo travel. Locals are very friendly, and will often go out of their way to make single travelers feel at home. The Drakensberg in particular is suited to those who relish hiking trails, spectacular views, raw wilderness and the great out doors. Private accommodation options are better suited to single travelers than the national parks and larger hotels, since they tend to offer a more hands-on personalised service.

The Drakensberg is a must for solo travelers, and a lodge like Antbear Lodge it is a good base for exploring the gorgeous mountains . Some solo travellers prefer not to self-drive, which makes it difficult to explore areas that are off the beaten track unless you join an organised tour. Amphitheater Backpackers caters for this niche very well. Private game reserves such as Zulu Waters and Nambiti are particularly well-suited to solo travelers.

An excellent way for single travellers to explore South Africa and the Drakensberg is by using the combination of the Baz Bus and the many backpacker hostels that are scattered around its cities and other main sites of interest. The Baz Bus is an affordable hop-on, hop-off bus service that connects Johannesburg, Durban, Cape Town and several other popular places of interest, and its clientele is dominated by single travellers who are receptive to making new friends and meeting like-minded travel companions on the road. Likewise, most backpacker hostels have lively communal areas where it is easy to meet other travellers, and they usually also offer affordable group tours to local sites of interest, as well as overnight tours further afield.

At a more luxurious level, most private reserves operate group game drives and many also encourage guests to dine together, which makes it easy for solo travelers to mingle.

In the middle range, solo travelers seeking personalised attention should consider booking into small B&Bs and other owner-managed lodges rather than larger and more institutional hotels.

There are no risks specific to solo travel in South Africa, but apply the usual common sense precautions.

Drakensberg Rock Art

The Drakensberg Range has between 35,000 and 40,000 works of Bushman rock art. These rock art sites constitute the largest collection of such rock art in the world. There are some 20,000 individual rock paintings that have been recorded at 500 different caves and over-hanging cliff sites between the Drakensberg Royal Natal National Park and Bushman’s Nek. Due to the materials used in their production, these paintings are difficult to date but there is now anthropological evidence, including many hunting implements, that suggest the San people existed in the Drakensberg at least 40,000 years ago, and possibly even as much as 100,000. The most easily accessible rock art site with some of the best preserved examples of bushman rock art is at Game Pass Shelter in the Central Drakensberg at Kamberg. Giants castle offers main caves which is just a short walk and there is a guide at the rock art site with tours every hour on the hour.

Tugela Falls – 2nd highest waterfall in the world

Tugela Falls, in South Africa, is located in the Northern Drakensberg within the Royal Natal National Park. The combined total drop of its five distinct free-leaping falls is 948 m and it is accepted as the world’s second-tallest waterfall.

The Royal Natal National Park is in the KwaZulu Natal province of South Africa and forms part of the uKhahlamba Drakensberg Park World Heritage Site. The main features of the park are the Drakensberg Amphitheatre, a rock wall 5 kilometres long by up to 1,200 metres high, Mont-Aux-Sources peak where the Orange and Tugela rivers have their origins and the 948-metre Tugela Falls.

The Tugela River is known to vary greatly in volume and as a result may not flow consistently year round or may dry out completely during certain periods. At the right time of year, however, the Tugela Falls is easily visible from the main road into the park, especially after a heavy rain. Tugela is a phonetic spelling of the word “Thukela” (Zulu) , meaning “sudden” or “startling”.

There are two trails to the Tugela Falls (from within the park). The second trail’s means of access follows the Tugela River upstream through the Tugela Gorge. This trail is 7km in length and the gradient is not so steep as the first trail. The trailhead is roughly 1585m above sea level.

The Sentinel Peak Chain Ladder hike in the Drakensberg to the top of the Tugela Falls is probably one of the most renowned and popular walks, but the words chain and ladder completely freak many tourists out. The hike is not technically difficult. The last section across the plateau is easy, giving the body some respite from the ladder excitement, before reaching the climax of this hike. The Amphitheatre, an indomitable wall of basalt that stood the test time of 140 million years, with the Tugela gorge nearly 1,000 m below it – quite literally breathtakingly beautiful views.

Before venturing on your trip, please check the weather. And remember a comprehensive hiking guide is available for purchase at the Visitor Centre at the main entrance gate. The guide shows a map of the park and the network of hiking paths which visit every part of the park.

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