On the Back of a Dragon

A jewel of the South African landscape is the Drakensberg Mountains. Declared a World Heritage Site in 2000, the mountains stretch for over 250 kilometres. Drakensberg is Afrikans for "Dragon's Mountain" because the many formations often appear like the spines on a dragon's back. The range lies principally in the province of KwaZulu-Natal. The Zulu people refer to the mountains as the "barrier of spears".
The Drakensberg is divided into the southern, central and northern ranges; each of these is a little bit different in composition. We began our visit by staying at a lovely spot called the Inkosana Lodge in the Central Drakensberg. It's owned and operated by a man named Edmund who spent part of his law career as a Supreme Court judge in Pretoria. He's a great guy who offers free pick-up and drop offs to the trail heads.
The lodge provides a series of very cozy cabins in what is known as the "Champagne Valley". It is said that when one of the early climbers was en route to one of the tallest peaks, one of his servants dropped and ruin a bottle of champagne.
We approached the mountains through Monk's Cowl Park. It provides a spectacular climb up through a gorge with many kinds of rock formations.
Although quite dry at the top, most of the ravines between the rocky slopes are carpeted in a rich green colour that makes one think of Ireland.
The peaks are often shrouded in cloud. Unfortunately, Nancy had a sick tummy (likely too much Xhosan food) and was only able to hike one of the four days that we spent in the area. Hiking alone, I was caught between really wanting to "go for it" and being a smart hiker. There were warnings about hiking above a spot called "Blind Man's Corner" without being "properly prepared" and without filling out an alpine rescue form. I ran into six members of a hiking club who said they though the route to the Sterkhorn summit wasn't too dangerous but to watch out for the mist that could quickly descend "like an assassin - it sneaks up and before you know it, you're dead." It can be so thick that an unprepared and misguided adventurer is unable to see a hand in front of their face.

I made the decision to hike as far as I felt safe - the first part of the hike up a grassy ridge seemed tame enough. Progressing bit-by-bit I got pretty close to the peak -high enough to get some great views. Since the top of the mountain was cloaked in vapour I stopped short of the top by about 50 metres. In truth, I got a little spooked when the clouds seemed to be moving lower but made it down the mountain without any real problem.
The mountains provided lots of exercise and we were able to enjoy a pretty wide variety of flora and fauna.

Naturally, there were also some beautiful waterfalls to be admired in the park. Hiking vigorously for 20 km or so a day is a very relaxing and gratifying experience. I'm tempted to add some further description but think I'll keep this posting intentionally brief. We've been packing in so much activity that you've probably noticed that we've fallen behind in our blogging...and we've been having some problems with Internet reliability.

We hope that you're all well and that spring is ready to make its colourful debut.