North Drakensberg

North Drakensberg
Originally uploaded by BK 14

So we started our eastern sojourn by spending two nights in North Drakensberg, which is located along Lesotho's eastern border. We stayed at this beautiful little backpackers' hostel, which seemed as if it was just dropped in the middle of nowhere; there was nothing but fields and mountains all around. We spent the first day walking around in Royal Natal National Park and the second day doing a full-day hike to the top of the Drakensberg Amphitheatre. We also hiked to the top of Tugela Falls, which is apparently the second highest waterfall in the world ... but it was totally dry. Our hiking guide, when telling us our itinerary, would say "... and then we will be heading to the top of the second highest waterfall in the world, with no water."

Despite all the stunning scenery, one of the highlights for me was sitting just outside our hostel on the morning of our third day, before the bus came to take us to Durban, with a pot of rooibos tea, reading, breathing fresh air and just staring.

When Erin and I first arrived in North Drak, we were kind of in shock. After spending so long just in Jo'burg, the fresh air and expanse of the Drakensberg landscape was actually kind of jarring. Bur jarring in a beautiful, serene, peaceful kind of way.

I really wish we could've stayed longer.

You can click the photo to see more.

BK

PS - As an aside, it was hilarious to hear that the typical hostel soundtrack hasn't change since I last traveled in 2002. Five years ago, when I traveled through Scotland with my brother Dan, it seemed like every hostel had the same soundtrack: Coldplay; David Gray; Bob Marley; anonymous ambient trip-hop. But maybe it's not that it hasn't changed, but that it took a while to make it to SA. Hmm.

DISCLAIMER: Because I have a weird USB Internet connection, through which I pay by how much I download and upload, I didn't upload all of my photos. I also compressed them to about 1/10 of their digital size, so their resolution and their actual size have been compromised. Rest assured, I'll have the originals to show y'all when I get home. Oh, and my Flickr photos are kind of disorganized.