The flight from PE to Johannesburg went without a hitch. Being just round the corner to the airport made the morning easy. The airport in Johannesburg is a marvel with the car rental agencies accessible from the terminal backing onto the car park. Within a short while from landing, we were in our car and on our way to the Drakensberg.
Including a lunch stop it took four hours to get there. The Cavern Resort is a delight and very relaxing set in fantastic scenery. We are pleased with our choice.
After settling into our room we decided to stretch our legs with a short walk from our room. We visited some nearby falls followed by a natural pool where some kids were swimming.
In the evening we made ourselves a little more presentable and ate dinner. The service exceeded the food which although fine, the dishes didn’t seem as fresh as they could be and perhaps had been cooked earlier. Not to worry.
On wednesday we went on a hike in the nearby national park along the Tugela Gorge. This was a guided hike and we were joined by two of the other hotel guests as well as our guide, Stanley. The hike was 7km each way and not overly steep. There were some ups and downs which made the hike more strenuous than walking along a simple path. At the far end of the hike we took off our shoes and waded up along ‘The Tunnel’ which was a portion of the river which had cut so deeply into the rocks it almost closed overhead. We couldn’t go too far before the water became too deep. It was freezing our feet off and we had no inclination to swim so we turned back. We ate our lunch there before climbing up a metal ladder and then some iron spikes up a crack in the rock to a viewpoint overlooking the tunnel. On the way back our leg muscles began to cramp and we realized just how much we’ve got out of shape. We had to double time it too as the rain came in and soaked us, despite having rain gear which didn’t turn out so waterproof.
Today the weather has been fantastic. Helen and I decided to double down and visit not just one of the harder to get to locations behind the hotel (Echo Cave) but to work our way across the escarpment behind the hotel and climb up again to Cannibal Cave. It was exhausting but well worth the effort. The views here are wonderful. We got a little sidetracked at Echo Cave going way too far in the wrong direction. It was worth it though as we caught sight of the sunlight highlighting one of the small waterfalls pouring off the vast overhang that provided an enormous ceiling to the ‘cave’. Although the ‘cave’ had a roof, it was more a scoured out indentation into the cliff a few hundred meters high and nearly a hundred meters deep. Inside grew trees and we almost didn’t realize we’d walked behind a waterfall when we did.
Cannibal Cave was equally interesting. It was named after folks who had been hounded off their lands and had set up residence there with not a lot to eat bar their neighbours. Even the walk back down was superb but we were really tired and our legs aching by the time we made it back down. We’ll probably take it a little easier tomorrow but as of yet we have no plans.
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