Drakensberg

The majestic uKhahlamba( meaning the Barrier of Spears) The Drakensberg is home to the second highest waterfall in the world and also have the highest pub in Africa.

uKhlahlamba Drakensberg Park was proclaimed a World Heritage site in 2000. It is only two hours by car from Durban to the Berg and four hours from Johannesburg. All of the roads that lead to the Drakensberg resorts are suitable for two wheel drive vehicles. In the southern Drakensberg there is a ski resort called Tiffindell which is open from late May to Early September. Tiffindell gets sometimes as much as 2.5 metres of snow during good years. The most well known national park in the Drakensberg is the Royal Natal National Park where the Amphitheatre can be seen. It contains the source of the Tugela River, and includes the 947 m high Tugela Falls, the second highest waterfall on earth. But it is the Central Drakensberg that offers tourists the best access to bushman rock art Kamberg and the largest range of hiking trails.

Royal Natal National Park

Royal Natal National Park was proclaimed in 1916, and contains some of the most spectacular scenery in Africa. The main feature of Royal Natal is the Amphitheatre which is a rock wall of about 5km in length, and plus minus a 1000m in height between the Sentinel and Eastern Buttress with a number of domes rising from its relatively flat summit plateau. In 1836, the French missionaries Arbousset and Daumas named the largest of these domes Mont-aux-Sources - this is a literal description of this source of five rivers. The Royal Natal National Park is ideal for hiking, with a excellent network of graded walks catering for all levels of fitness and suppleness. And while the summit of Mont-aux-Sources can be reached by walking from the summit plateau and scaling a 100-rung chain ladder, if this seems like child's play you're always invited to join the annual Mont-aux-Sources Challenge, when men and women of iron turn the mountain into a cross-country steeple chase of epic proportions.

Tugela Falls

There are 2 prominent trails to the Tugela Falls. The most impressive trail is to the top of Mount-Aux-Sources and starts at the Sentinel car park at Witsieshoek via Phuthadjhaba from where it is a fairly short climb to the top of the Amphiteare(plus minus 5 hours return). Via two chain ladders you can get easy access to the summit. This is the only day hiking trail which will take you to the top of the Drakensberg escarpment and to the head of the Tugela Falls. Another trail to the foot of the Tugela Falls starts at Royal Natal National Park. The easy seven kilometre slope up the Tugela Gorge winds though indigenous forests. The last part of the hike to the Tugela Falls is a boulder hop. A little chain ladder takes you over the final stretch from where you have a spectacular view of the falls rushing down the Amphitheater in a series of five magnificent cascades.

Sani Top Chalet

Sani Top Chalet is in Lesotho, right on the edge of the Drakensberg escarpment. Sani Top Chalet is a small rustic establishment that boasts the highest pub in Africa at 2874m above sea level. It is located high on the Drakensberg escarpment on the border between South Africa and Lesotho. Sani Top is the highest part of the Drakensberg that can be reached with a vehicle.