Holiday - Part Three: A Christmas to Remember

On the day before Christmas we found ourselves heading toward Giants Castle, which is the main attraction of the Central Drakensburg region.

Since we had some time before we were supposed to check into our next accommodation, we took in a little hike. Our legs were a bit sore by this time (why, I wonder?), so we wanted something mellow. The R10 map we purchased from the curio shop listed one hike called "The Meander"...no serious elevation gain, no boulder jumping, just rolling hills and 360 degree views. Perfect.

Yet again, Drakensburg delivers. This place is fantastic. A hike for everyone and every mood. After this little excursion, it was time to make our way to Halls Country House located along what the SA Tourism Association calls "The Midlands Meander" route. I think they've named the road this because it proceeds by taking a winding or indirect course around the Drakensburg midlands. Plus, it's fun to alliterate.

Halls Country House
Four-star restaurant and accommodation. Looks promising!
The view from the front yard was nice. Unfortunately, it was too foggy to see much. But when it's clear, Giants Castle provides a lovely backdrop to this picturesque scene.
Here's a little history: The main house, originally conceived as a "Natal Veranda House", was built in 1904 for the E.A. Thompson, founder and headmaster of Weenen County College. Over the years, most of the verandas have been converted into living spaces. Now the owners call it "farmhouse quirky". Neither of us is sure what exactly that means.

We got the Crested Eagle Suite. Very spacious.
So everything seemed nice. Everything on the up and up.

But, we were, in short, duped.

One example. Here is how Janette and Brain pitch their place on their website: "Our deep rural setting and spectacular views mean seclusion, tranquility, and nothing more intrusive than the sound of a tractor in the distance or an owl hooting at night." Reality: Neil is awoken at 2am to a woman yelling into her mobile phone outside our "private" entrance. She didn't stop talking until 3am. Neil didn't get back to sleep until 4am. Luckily, his constant pacing up and down the room accompanied by unintelligible (but clearly angered) mutterings didn't keep me awake. Of course, not much usually does.

There is a long, sordid story behind our stay at Halls Country House. One that includes 48 hours of constant regret over not opting for a chalet in Giants Castle when we had the chance.

Suffice it to say that if you like to:
(1) be the only guests at a B&B and receive all of the overbearing attention that is usually distributed across 10 people

(2) be welcomed at the door by massive, white, hairy, playful dogs who have been romping around soggy fields all day

(3) eat dinner for 3 hours late at night while playing the "what America needs to do is _____" game with people who admit (in detail) to hating Muslims and lying to them when they inquire about accommodation to avoid the "hassle" of cooking kosher meals

(4) have cigarette smoke blown in your face by someone who utters "this nicotine addiction is going to kill me one day" every time he leaves the room to get another smoke so he can muster up the energy to answer your seemingly innocuous question: "How far away is Kamberg?"

(5) be in the company of hosts who are tipsy by 5pm and downright stewed by 7pm

(6) have a room that shares a wall with the bar where Brian kicks up the tunes round about 4pm and keeps them coming until well into the evening...yes, even when nobody is in there to listen

(7) be surprised by a bill that itemizes each course you ate for dinner...a dinner which you thought was included in the base rate

then Halls Country House is the getaway destination of your dreams.

Christmas Day
Our dreams were in pieces by the next morning. We felt we ought to do something to salvage the day. It was Christmas, after all.

First off, we drove to Kamberg. This was a slight detour from our plans. But Brian went on and on about its "world-famous San rock art" and the "sheer euphoria" we would certainly experience as we hiked up to the secret caves where these protected, ancient, paintings quietly reside. OK, fine. Sounds good. We're in. It's not that we suddenly became super interested in rock art, but more that we didn't want to have to tell Brian that we didn't take is advice when we had dinner with him that evening. We weren't sure what his reaction would be upon hearing such astounding news. And seeing some rock art could be neat. So, we drove about 2 hours south along the Midlands Meander...and yet another long, dirt road. By this time, I could hear the car groan with every turn of the wheels. Beautiful drive, though.

Let it be known that on Christmas Day the Kamberg Rock Art Center is closed. Tell your friends. We've already told Brian. He was stunned. (Frankly, I was stunned that he was stunned.)

No matter. On the drive back from Kamberg we found a lovely little Anglican church and listened to the Christmas Day service.
We arrived a bit late and it was crowded. So, we huddled in the doorway with a group of local latecomers. The service was nice. The choir was hip. Each singer decked out in brightly colored shirts and sunglasses. I think it was the first time we've attended a church service in our hiking clothes. Oddly enough, we fit just fine. It was over too soon. Back to the road.

By this time, we were hungry. And we had left early enough from Halls that we'd skipped breakfast. The only plus side of which was not having to digest nicotine-laced eggs. But trying to find a place to eat on Christmas morning in the KwaZulu-Natal midlands is difficult. Then we remembered there is an Ultra City about 1.5 hours north on the N3, one of the few highways in SA. (For those of you not hip to SA jive, an Ultra City is a massive gas station with other little shops connected to it in strip-mall fashion. It is entirely self sufficient. Once you enter, you never have to leave. It has everything...petrol, donuts, hamburgers, bumper cars, toilets, and free parking. If we could somehow manage to dismantle it, transport it to the moon, reassemble it inside something akin to Biosphere2, people could definitely live lunarly for a long, long time...) After scouting out the refreshment situation we decided to take our chances with the mangos we'd had in our cooler since St. Lucia.

Cathedral Peak
By this point, we had decided to re-visit our original plan to see Cathedral Peak, another popular spot in the northern part of Central Drakensburg. The drive was wonderful. We passed hundreds of homes (on lots that could sell for millions of dollars in the U.S) set admit vast, breathtaking landscapes.


Once at Cathedral Peak, our luck started to change. We (OK, I) managed to sweet-talk the guard at the gate who let us in the park despite it's being closed to day visitors like us. I don't know what I said. I don't know what he said either. Let's just chalk it up to a delightful result of a conversation being lost in translation...not an uncommon occurrence around here.

So, here is what Cathedral Peak looks like from the top of Tryme Hill:


The little brownish bumps behind Neil in the background is a place called Didima Camp. You can book chalets there...incidentally, another option we could have secured instead of Halls Country House.

Now, despite looking at every guesthouse, B&B, and self-catering chalet we passed with the kind of envy you experience when somebody orders a better-looking dish than you at a restaurant you've never patronized before, we had a good day. Seriously, it was fun.

See. Plus, we still had a soothing second-hand cigarette high to look forward to that evening.

Holiday - Part Two: Mountains of Glee

After our little stint at St. Lucia and Cape Vidal on the eastern coast, we headed inland toward the Drakensburg mountains.

We began in the Northern Drakensburg which is the most popular region of the park. We based ourselves in a woodsy chalet at the Bergville B&B, Bingelela.
Cozy. However, we were slightly surprised to find out that our "fully equipped, self-catering" unit came with only a miniature fridge. No oven or stove. Not even a hotplate. No matter. We got a local tip about a dynamite pizza place just down the road. Wood-fired pizza with delectable toppings...artichoke hearts, butternut squash, peppadews. Yum! And only about $4.50 per pizza. Double yum! Tom Douglas eat your heart out.

After our pizza excursion, we headed back to our temporary, cupcake-looking home. We had to get lots of rest. Hiking was on tomorrow's agenda.

Tugela Gorge
Our first hike was through Tugela Gorge. The path follows the Tugela River through the gorge to a huge, solid wall of rock called The Amphitheatre where you can see Tugela Falls. Beautiful hike. Everything alive and lush and smelling of earth after rain.

This particular hike seemed like it had a little bit of everything...

Thick forests (with glowing men),
sweeping valleys,
dwarfing cliffs,

rock-laden rivers,
massive rock formations,
even modern rock art.
Just when we thought we'd reached the end of the trail and things couldn't get any better, we happened upon a chain ladder that ran from the river up the side of a cliff. Excellent! Because we were feeling adventurous, we decided to see where it led. Up, up, up...
to a steep, narrow junction between two massive cliffs. Thanks to a few well-placed steel rods nailed into the rock and hanging vines from trees, we were able to pull ourselves up this little crevasse. Why we thought this would be fun is as unclear to me now as it was then. But up we went...again. After all this, you end up at the top of a cliff. (No surprise there, I suppose.) From here, you can look down into the gorge and see part of the Tugela River. If we had waited an hour or so, we would have seen half a dozen people swimming down there. A refreshing reward after a hearty hike. On our way down we made sure to enjoy the view of Tugela Falls. It is the second highest cascade of waterfalls in the world. The total drop is about 950 meters (roughly 3,100 feet)!
While being awestruck, we managed to pick up some very valuable information from other hikers about the "must-do" hikes in the area. Everyone (yes, every single person) we spoke to raved about the hike to the top of Tugela Falls where you can look down over the Falls, the Gorge, and even walk across the Amphitheatre. It even involves another chain ladder. Well, that sealed the deal. The next morning we headed off to Sentinel Peak and Mount aux Sources, the highest point in the Drakensburg.

Sentinel Peak/Mount aux Sources
First of all, just the drive up to the trailhead was incredible...up a seemingly endless road composed of hand-laid brick. It feels as though you're driving right into the sky. Then you get onto a dirt road that follows the side of the mountains for several more kilometers.
This road may not look it, but it was quite rocky. Our little front-wheel drive car had a bit of trouble making it all the way. This is mostly because the frame of the car is a grand total of 6 inches from the ground. Oh, yeah, plus it has no shocks. The former is thanks to Volkswagon. The latter is thanks to daily travels to and from work on a road not much better than this one. Somehow, she rallied. Mostly likely because Neil got out and tossed the biggest obstacles out of the way. It was like watching He-Man at work...only with slightly more clothing and sans Battle Cat.

When you finally reach the trailhead, you get a glimpse of what you're about to climb...this time on foot. Exhilarating.
Yikes! What were we doing? No idea. But we kept going.

Here's a closer look at a portion of the Amphitheatre wall a few kilometers up the trail. Tremendous.


And here is a taste of what you get to enjoy if you turn around and look out over the South African province of Free State from the Amphitheatre wall.
We often stopped just to pinch ourselves...and enjoy feeling very small.
But we couldn't stop for too long because a heavy mist was moving in fast.
As the clouds thickened, we lost the trail a few times. No worries. It's an adventure, right? Eventually we managed to find our way to the chain ladders that take you up the cliff and onto the top of the Amphitheatre. The first one is about twelve meters. The second one is about six.

Yeah, I know. We were just happy that they weren't any longer. Since the weather was getting worse (now the wind had picked up) we were hesitant to venture much further. Ah, but we were so close! And when three confident, 20-year-old males passed us without even batting an eye and bounded up the second chain ladder like Bantustan mountain goats, our self-respect was at stake. That's it! Let's go!

Success! Ugh, it's tough to pose for a picture when you're just glad to be alive.
Once on top, the mist was too thick to see anything. We could hear the Tugela Falls, though. Loud and clear. We thought we'd try to ride out the weather and see if the skies would clear. Would be nice to see what we're standing on top of. But 20 minutes later it was getting worse. Now the rain was starting. So, down we went. No worries. There is always next time.


AntBear Guesthouse
By the time we got back, we were tired. Very tired. But we had to drive down to Central Drakensburg to our next stop over in the so-called Midlands of Drankensburg.

Of course, to get there we had to take yet another dirt road. What is it with South African roads? Our poor car can't take this kind of stress. Neither can we, for that matter.
Despite the questionable road quality, we were excited. This was the place we were most looking forward to seeing: The AntBear Guesthouse. The online reviews we scrutinized said this was "the place to be" if your going to visit Central Drakenburg. (Interestingly enough, we found out later that the man who owns AntBear, Andrew, is in charge of maintaining many of these websites.) Regardless, this place was impressive.
Andrew and his wife, Connie, were extremely welcoming. And their cook prepared a tasty dinner, which we devoured. (I wonder if our hunger manifested itself in our table manners. I think I even at pork, but can't be certain.) Since this is a guesthouse, we ate dinner "family-style" with our hosts and the other four guests around a big table. This, as you might imagine, was quite interesting. We met a couple of UK ex-pats who currently live in Spain. They were somewhat less than chipper...constantly lamenting the fact that all of their luggage was lost on their way to Joburg. Bummer. (Note: DO NOT FLY IBERIA!) The other couple, Sonia and Vernon, live in Limpopo (our home province), and are originally from Cape Town. Jackpot! After growing tired of listening to ex-Brits bash "ignorant Spaniards", we found solace in swapping stories with S&N about our two countries. Turns out "W" is reviled worldwide, the Drakensburg rivals any mountain range in North America, and Obama is watched closely with bated breath. I admit, we preferred these conversations to hearing about how difficult it was for them to maneuver the bathtub together earlier that afternoon. Seriously, they were a hoot. We could hardly wait until breakfast.

After dinner we dragged ourselves toward our beautiful room. (Did I mention we were tired?) Within 3 minutes I was asleep. Just enough time to brush and floss. I found out the next morning that Neil made it only about 20 minutes more as the calm precision of David Suchet's Hercule Poirot lulled him to sleep.
All in all, I think the (possibly doctored) reviews were correct. This IS the place to be. All of the woodwork is done by the Andrew's father. Gives the whole place a kind of funky/comfy/outdoorsy feel. Even the bathroom had a cool vibe. And it was super clean. That alone is worth at least three stars in my book.
The next morning the skies were clear and the air was soft. So, we walked around the farm a bit. Relaxing. Rejuvenating.
Unfortunately, we couldn't lollygag forever. Off again...and onto the next adventure...

Holiday - Part One: Let the Fun Begin

For us, this past holiday season was like five holidays rolled into one. (Well, we had to do something to make up for being workaholics in our other life.)

Our thought: "You know, nothing beats a road trip!" So, a road trip it was.

The plan: Drive southeast through Kwa-zulu Natal out to the coast, back west to the Drakensburg mountains, down and up...up...up to Lesotho, and finally drop southeast again to take in part of the Eastern Cape. Basically, it goes: coast, mountains, coast...then all the way back home again. About 3,500 kilometers in all. Whew! (Don't worry, in between bouts of driving we managed to squeeze in some sights.)

First Stop: St. Lucia.

St. Lucia is a town on the northeast coast of South Africa very near the Mozambican border. It's small. Six streets in all. It's also very clean and extremely inviting after a long day on the road. Since everyone in St. Lucia is either a tourist or in the tourism business, it's pretty safe to walk around...even at night. I must admit, we relished being able to walk around the town past buildings that were open for business past 6pm. Plus our B&B was incredible...clean sheets, supportive mattresses, en suite bathroom, ultra-powerful air conditioner and a private deck!



Is this heaven?

I mean, we were thrilled just to be able to walk on sidewalks again. But, air conditioning! Wow! I think we could have ended the vacation after that first night and been completely content.

Little did we know that the best was yet to come...

The next morning we found our way to the ocean. The Indian Ocean!


Our introduction to one of our new favorite oceans was via a wonderful, hidden, little place called Mission Rocks. This is a beach littered with huge rock formations from which people fish, sunbath, and simply soak in the stunning surroundings (alliteration, I love ya!).




However, if you turn north and walk for about 300 meters, you'll find a beach that looks like something out of the "Pristine and Untouched" section of National Geographic (no, that's not an actual section in the magazine, but it should be...and this place should be featured).


Ahhh, just breath it in. To be completely honest, we were surprised how much we had missed the ocean. OK, it's not the same ocean, but it managed to rejuvenate our souls just the same. I can still remember the smell. (Wait. No, that's our community pool. Oh, well.)

We spent most of the morning catching warm waves,

or running from them,

exploring the rocks,




losing our feet in the sand,


and trying never to forget this place.



Yes, this is heaven (minus the sunburns).