After the previous day’s uneventful and hectic bus transfer from Joberg to the North Drankensberg mountains (popularly known as OverBerg), we were eager to scale and hike up these lofty mountain chain.The Drakensberg Escarpment marks the point where the high veld plunges down over 1000m, before spilling out onto the Eastern low veld. It’s one of South Africa’s most scenic areas, marked by stunning views and abundance of adventure activities.
We were lucky enough to find a lodge which kept up the African lifestyle accomodation we had in Krueger: Amphitheater Backpackers is located in a lovely farm right bellow the Drakensberg, and was the perfect place to rerlax and have fun after the mountain hikes. A super cool bar with sauna and jacuzzi, delicious food, myraid of international cocktails that were also cheap and strong( try to beat a $1-2 price) and a lot of laid-back, interesting people around...
But since it`s only fun to enjoy all that after a day exploring the mountains, we headed to the Royal Natal National Park, a preservation area surounding the 'Amphitheater' mountain,which is the highest mountain in the OverBerg range and it looks like an Ampitheate. The hiking was great - well maintained trails, great views, good weather. And with such an extensive network of trails, we could explore freely without the need for hard-core planning. From almost any point in the park, we could easily return to the car and what is even nicer, by a different trail from the one we had ascended on. A terrific day, even better after the happy hour back at the lodge...with almost 'free' flowing drinks, soaking tired muscles in the warm jaccuzzi and indulging in good conversations about everything with fellow travellers from different parts of the world!
