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Walking in the Drakensberg

75 walks in the Maloti-Drakensberg Park

ISBN

9781852848811

Availability

Published

18 Apr 2017

Edition

Second

Pages

256

Size

17.20 x 11.60 x 1.45cm

Weight

280g

Delivery & Returns

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This guidebook presents 75 day walks of 1 to 26km in South Africa's Maloti-Drakensberg Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Located in KwaZulu Natal and easily accessible from Johannesburg, Harrismith, Pietermaritzburg and Durban, the region boasts dramatic cliffs, gorges and waterfalls, abundant wildlife and 2000 year old rock paintings.

Seasons

the walks in this book can be undertaken at any time of year. The limitations imposed by adverse weather conditions can occur in any month. However, snow is most common in June and July and there are frequent and sometimes severe thunderstorms in summer.

Centres

The key centres for the walks are the entrances to the individual areas of the Park and usually have nearby accommodation of all types. They include the Royal Natal National Park, Cathedral Peak, Monk's Cowl, Injisuthi, Giant's Castle, Highmoor, Kamberg, Lotheni, the Himeville and Underberg districts, plus Bushman's Nek.

Difficulty

These are all day walks from 1km to 20km, easy strolls to strenuous day hikes. A simple classification of difficulty is used which takes into consideration distance, height gain, expected duration and any physical issues such as scrambling, ladders and exposure.

Must See

A dramatic, exciting and unique mountainous region of South Africa nestling on the eastern side of Lesotho. Stunning scenery, towering basalt cliffs (eg the Amphitheatre), 3000m mountains (eg Cleft Peak), deep gorges (eg Thukela with the second highest waterfall in the world); abundant wildlife; 2000-year old Bushman rock paintings.

ISBN

9781852848811

Availability

Published

18 Apr 2017

Edition

Second

Pages

256

Size

17.20 x 11.60 x 1.45cm

Weight

280g

Delivery & Returns

Overview

A guidebook to 75 walks in South Africa’s Maloti-Drakensberg Park and Royal Natal National Park. Graded from easy to strenuous, the routes explore the dramatic scenery of this stunning UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Walks range from 1 to 26km (1–16 miles) and can be enjoyed in 1–10 hours. Highlights include Giants’s Castle, Cathedral Peal, Monk’s Cowl and 2000-year-old Bushman paintings.

Clear route description illustrated with 1:50,000 sketch maps
Safety advice and information on specific challenges that may be encountered, such as navigational difficulty, exposure and chain ladders
All you need to know before visiting the parks: getting there, accommodation, permits, etc
Notes on the region’s rich geology, history and wildlife

Table of Contents

CONTENTS

Map key

Overview map

INTRODUCTION

Geography

Geology

Mammals

Snakes

Birds

The habitats

Bushman paintings

The Development of the Park

About the walks

Getting there

Fuel, cash and permits

Accommodation

The climate – when to visit

Health matters

Safety

Security

Communications

Maps

Using this guide

1 Royal Natal National Park

Walk 1 The Cascades

Walk 2 Fairy Glen

Walk 3 Plowman’s Kop Loop

Walk 4 The Crack and the Mudslide

Walk 5 Gudu Bush and Gudu Falls

Walk 6 Witsieshoek via Mahai Falls

Walk 7 Thukela Gorge Walk

Walk 8 Policeman’s Helmet

Walk 9 Camel’s Hump

Walk 10 Sunday Falls

Walk 11 Surprise Ridge and Cannibal Cave

Walk 12 Top of Thukela Falls and Mont-aux-Sources (3282m)

Walk 13 The Sugar Loaf (2085m)

2 Cathedral Peak

Walk 14 Doreen Falls

Walk 15 Mushroom Rock

Walk 16 Rainbow Gorge

Walk 17 and 17B Ribbon Falls

Walk 18 Xeni Cave

Walk 19 The Tarn Hill Circuit

Walk 20 Tryme Hill and the Contour Path

Walk 21 Organ Pipes Pass and Cleft Peak

Walk 22 Baboon Rock

Walk 23 One Tree Hill

Walk 24 One Tree Hill and the Contour Path into the Mlambonja valley

Walk 25 Cathedral Peak (3004m)

3 Monk's Cowl

Walk 26 Nandi’s Falls

Walk 27 Hlathikulu Forest

Walk 28 Crystal Falls, the Sphinx and Verkykerskop

Walk 29 Blind Man’s Corner and return via Keartland’s Pass

Walk 30 Matterhorn (1995m)

Walk 31 Amphletts’ (2620m)

Walk 32 Sterkhorn (2973m)

Walk 33 Injisuthi to Monk’s Cowl via Van Heyningen’s Pass

Walk 34 iNtunja/Gatberg (2408m)

Walk 35 Blue Grotto

Walk 36 Van Damm’s Cascades

Walk 37 uMakhulumane Stream, the Little Berg and Hlathikulu Nek – The smugglers’ path

4 Injisuthi

Walk 38 Poacher’s Stream

Walk 39 Van Heyningen’s Pass to the viewpoint

Walk 40 Grindstone Caves

Walk 41 Cataract Valley

Walk 42 Battle Cave

Walk 43 Marble Baths

5 Giant's Castle

Walk 44 Main Caves and River Walk

Walk 45 Langalibalele and Bannerman Ridges

Walk 46 Giant’s Hut: up via Giant’s Ridge and down via Oribi Ridge

Walk 47 Over Beacon Ridge to the viewpoint with an optional extension to Meander Hut

6 Highmoor

Walk 48 Foulton’s Rock

Walk 49 Aasvoëlkrans (Vulture) Cave

Walk 50 Caracal Cave

Walk 51 Giant’s Castle viewpoint

7 Kamberg

Walk 52 Game Pass Shelter

8 Lotheni

Walk 53 eMpophomeni Falls and Eagle Rock

Walk 54 Emadundwini Trail

Walk 55 Jacob’s Ladder Falls

Walk 56 Gelib Tree

Walk 57 Zwelele

9 Cobham

Walk 58 Trout Beck and return via By-pass Ridge

Walk 59 Pinnacle Rock

Walk 60 Emerald Dome

Walk 61 Ndlovini

Walk 62 Pholela River Walk to Boundary Rock

Walk 63 Allen’s Shelter and Tortoise Rocks

Walk 64 Mzimkulwana Hut, Siphongweni Stream and Rock

Walk 65 Stromness Hill, Ngenwa Pool and the Gxalingenwa River

Walk 66 Nelson’s Column and Balancing Rocks

Walk 67 Salt ‘n Pepper

Walk 68 Hodgson’s Peaks (S 3256m: N 3251m)

10 Garden Castle

Walk 69 Sleeping Beauty Cave and Engagement Cave

Walk 70 Magnificent Valley and Swiman Ridge

Walk 71 Hidden Valley

Walk 72 Three Pools and Bushman Rock

Walk 73 Pillar Cave and the Annexe

Walk 74 Rhino Peak (3056m)

11 Bushman's Nek

Walk 75 Twin Pools

Appendix A Walk summary table

Appendix B Facilities within the Park areas

Appendix C Useful contacts

Appendix D Further reading

Updates

November 2019

Walk 20

This amendment to the route description is for p102 of the 2^nd edition book.

Turn R (W) and follow the Contour Path, still gaining height slowly, as it curves into a deep re-entrant.This is where things get confusing because the KZNW map is incorrect. Keep going until you find an obvious old jeep track heading N. This isn’t marked on the map. Take this, ensuring you are indeed generally heading N. It leads you to the junction marked on the KZNW map as C27 2050m, the junction with the path from Ribbon Falls.

Now it is decision time. Either turn N and head down past Ribbon Falls (following Walk 17, the quickest route) or continue NW along the old jeep track towards Tarn Hill and Mushroom Rock (Walk 19).

October 2019

Walk 18 Xeni Cave

2nd para of route description states:

"Fork L here and follow the obvious path until, after 300m, you meet the Xeni stream. Cross over and 50m up re-cross to the E bank. Keep on a faint path on this side of the stream until it disappears and then take to the boulders along the stream itself. Flooding regularly removes paths and cairns hereabouts."

A visitor in late 2017 reports that the Xeni stream has indeed moved a lot of material in this area. Instead of the crossing and re-crossing referred to in the route description, it's a case of boulder hopping for a few hundred metres up the stream to pick up cairns further on. These will take you to the rocky wall pictured in the guidebook and a ladder stile.

On the return route, the "obvious path" mentioned above - and the point at which you leave the stream - is found about 1km from the ladder style by the rocky wall.

By Jeff Williams

After a short commission in the Army, Jeff Williams trained in paediatric medicine and worked as a consultant paediatrician in North Wales for 30 years. During that time he wrote walking and climbing guides for the Stubai, Silvretta and Ötztal Alps, as well as Cicerone's 'Walking in the Drakensberg'. Jeff also trained as a safari guide in South Africa and currently teaches new guides and lectures in North Wales on safari guiding and walking.

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