“EXPECT PANORAMIC VISTAS OF STARK, RUGGED PEAKS”
James Seymour The Mountain Rambler
DRAKENSBERG, KWAZULU-NATAL
What do you love most about the Drakensberg? I’ve always loved being outside. One of my greatest passions is to go hiking, and the Drakensberg boasts the largest concentra- tion of hiking trails in South Africa. It’s just littered with adventure pursuits, too: hot air ballooning, abseiling,
What’s an unmissable activity? A helicopter trip over the Drakensberg. It’s so hard to comprehend how rugged and vast the mountains are until you’re high up and can see the depth of the valleys and height of the peaks. It’s mind-blowing. The only other way to experience it is to hike to the top of the escarpment, but the great thing about a helicopter is that within a few minutes you’re already up there.
rock climbing,
horse-riding, mountain biking, zip-lining, paragliding, whitewater rafting, taking a helicopter trip into the ’Berg: you name it.
What’s the landscape like? You can expect panoramic vistas of stark, rugged peaks with rolling hills in the fore- ground covered by dense grassland and lush, indigenous forests; waterfalls fall- ing into turquoise pools that are ideal for swimming. There’s flora and fauna that’s endemic to the area: roughly 300 species of plant are only found in the Drakensberg. And there are high concentrations of ante- lopes, like the eland, which was revered by the San people who lived here many years ago. There are many examples of ancient
SOUTHAFRICA .NET
What adventure activities are popular for families? One of the most popular family experi- ences is zip-lining at the Drakensberg Canopy Tour, which has 12 lines criss-cross- ing a valley over indigenous forest. It’s for ages seven and up. And a guide will explain all the geological features and the flora and fauna, too, so the idea isn’t just to have a thrilling experience, but an enlightening one, too. It really is spectacular.
drakensbergexperience.com
rock art in these parts too. For these rea- sons, it’s one of only 20 places in the world that’s been recognised twice by UNESCO.
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ADVENTURE
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