Tuesday 23 August 2016

FLOWERS OF THE DRAKENSBERG WILDERNESS



Quathlamba
“A mass of Spears. Named thus by the Zulu warriors before the white man came. Today called the Drakensberg, Mountains of the Dragon, a name given by the Voortrekkers. Evocative names, both equally applicable to South Africa’s mightiest mountain range with its spear-like peaks – reminiscent of the saw-toothed spine of a gigantic dragon.”


Panorama April 1966






This blog is all about the Drakensberg Mountains and its Wilderness area, South Africa. I have lost my heart and soul to this area and every single time I hike these mountains, I stand in awe all over again at this magnificent beauty.

“Listen to the streams as they gurgle from their cradles and you will hear the story of the mountains. You will hear fascinating tales if only you listen! Lie next to a stream and listen to the song of the mountains. The smiling faces of the flowers, dancing in the wind. Venture into the remote valleys or stand on a peak at sunrise or sunset, after snow has fallen, and you will hear a song that you will never forget - the Song of the High Mountain". (DA Dodds)

Hiking adventures, hiking gear reviews, day walks, accommodation, books, articles and photos, all related to these magnificent mountains will feature here.

Should you want to accompany me on a hike, or need some information or advice, please make contact with me. I hope you enjoy the articles.

Please visit the archive for some more interesting stories, photos and reviews.

Please note that all photos on this blog are copyright protected. If you would like to obtain
Photos please make contact with the author, Willem Pelser.







GO OUT ALONE ON THE HILLS AND LISTEN,
YOU WILL HEAR MUCH,
THE WIND AND THE STREAMS TELLS STORIES,
ALONE AMIDST NATURE,
A MAN LEARNS TO BE ONE WITH ALL AND ALL WITH ONE








FLOWERS OF THE DRAKENSBERG
WILDERNESS





   The Drakensberg and its Wilderness is a forbidding, awe-inspiring territory caught amongst the mist and clouds of basalt peaks where waterfalls turn to columns of ice in winter. Long familiar to herdsmen and mountaineers, the area is largely inaccessible and still considered terra incognita by botanists.

   The plants may differ with every fold of the mountains, with every change in altitude, aspect, drainage, from one valley or peak to the next, clinging to cracks in rock faces, taking hold in basalt gravels or floating in shallow rock pools on the summit.






   The dramatic broken landscape of the escarpment and the harsh climatic conditions on the highlands of Lesotho account for the remarkable diverse plant life with about 2200 species and almost 400 endemics (plants found only in this area and nowhere else in the world).






   The flora of these high mountains has been recognized as one of the world’s ‘hot spots’, a centre of plant diversity of global botanical importance.

   Although the interior is exposed and windswept, its marshes, mires and sponges are the watershed of southern Africa, giving rise to rivers that flow to two oceanopposite sides of the continent, the Atlantic and the Indian.






   The summit of the Drakensberg, which averages an altitude of 3000m, forms an almost inaccessible boundary between Lesotho and South Africa, with sheer cliffs falling 1200m in places. This beautiful area can be very bleak until the plants respond to rain and warm summer temperatures with a burst of colour, flowers carpeting the sheet rock and marshy ground on the summit.






The grasslands can be transformed into fields of flowers in response to fires, often started as a result of lightning (the area has the highest strike rate in southern Africa). People also use fire to bring on new grass for grazing.

   May of the Drakensberg and Lesotho plants are already well known to gardeners in the northern hemisphere. Some were introduced to horticulture in Britain and Europe by intrepid explorers and collectors as long ago as the late 1800’s. Although mostly unknown in gardens of southern Africa, many plants are popular and available to gardeners in Europe, Britain, USA and Japan, while horticultural hybrids and cultivars abound.






A note of caution to both the professional and the amateur plant collector – feast on these plants with your eyes and your senses only. Growing them can be difficult and, more importantly, they are protected by the nature conservation laws of South Africa. You may not collect plants without a permit.





   In 2000, the uKhahlamba-Drakensberg area was proclaimed a World Heritage Site for its rich diversity of plant and animal life, spectacular natural landscape and outstanding San rock paintings. Africa’s greatest concentration of rock art is to be found in the caves and overhangs of these mountains, with more than 600 recorded sites containing over 40000 images. The area is recognized as one of the world’s few sites that meets the criteria for both natural and cultural properties.

   The region was formed by massive volcanic activity in the Jurassic period resulting in basalt lavas covering most of the plateau and the upper face of the escarpment with dolerite intrusions. It overlays the softer Cave Sandstone which is exposed as cliffs and overhangs below the escarpment and in great wind-sculpted boulders in the south.






   The soils are black, very rich; thin on the summit plateau, deeper on the foothills. In summer the soils on the summit are often waterlogged. In winter they freeze every night. The freeze and thaw heaves the soil and stones making it an unstable habitat for plants. This activity also causes the crescent-shaped scars on the mountain slopes lower down.

   The friend of nature who wants to get to know and experience the region at its best, must come here high or late summer when the richly coloured splendour of flowers unfolds most abundantly, then, like the Cape Flats in spring, this stunning and melancholy land, too, resembles a lovely garden, a more beautiful one than could hardly be imagined.



The End.


Safe Hiking.



References and Acknowledgements

Photos – W Pelser

Compiled by W Pelser – Information from “Mountain Flowers – Elsa Pooley”.








Wednesday 17 August 2016

Lotheni Wilderness - Drakensberg - A Photographic Story - Three Day Winter Hike – August 2016



Quathlamba
“A mass of Spears. Named thus by the Zulu warriors before the white man came. Today called the Drakensberg, Mountains of the Dragon, a name given by the Voortrekkers. Evocative names, both equally applicable to South Africa’s mightiest mountain range with its spear-like peaks – reminiscent of the saw-toothed spine of a gigantic dragon.”

Panorama April 1966


This blog is all about the Drakensberg Mountains and its Wilderness area, South Africa. I have lost my heart and soul to this area and every single time I hike these mountains, I stand in awe all over again at this magnificent beauty.

“Listen to the streams as they gurgle from their cradles and you will hear the story of the mountains. You will hear fascinating tales if only you listen! Lie next to a stream and listen to the song of the mountains. The smiling faces of the flowers, dancing in the wind. Venture into the remote valleys or stand on a peak at sunrise or sunset, after snow has fallen, and you will hear a song that you will never forget - the Song of the High Mountain". (DA Dodds)

Hiking adventures, hiking gear reviews, day walks, accommodation, books, articles and photos, all related to these magnificent mountains will feature here.

Should you want to accompany me on a hike, or need some information or advice, please make contact with me. I hope you enjoy the articles.

Please visit the archive for some more interesting stories, photos and reviews.

Please note that all photos on this blog are copyright protected. If you would like to obtain
Photos please make contact with the author, Willem Pelser.







“WHERE THE RIVERS,
SILVER ARTERIES OF THE MOUNTAINS,
POUNDS THROUGH ITS BLACK HEART”






Lotheni Wilderness
Drakensberg
A Photographic Story
Three Day Winter Hike – August 2016


   The Lotheni Wilderness in the KZN Drakensberg is an absolute hiker’s Paradise. As a hiker you can get lost in this magnificent, vast Wilderness for days on end. Lotheni consist of some magnificent scenery consisting of forests, valleys, hundreds of rivers and wildlife. The escarpment is also accessible via a number of passes in the area. Most of the Wilderness areas in Lotheni is untouched and do not see humans at all.

   So, if you are looking for some spectacular multi-day hiking, pack your backpack and go visit Lotheni. You will never be sorry.




DAY ONE – LAZY RIVER RAMBLE




















DAY TWO – UP TO THE ESCARPMENT – BUTTRESS PASS AND THE SNOW



















DAY THREE – TO JACOBS LADDER FALLS, UP THE MOUNTAIN, FOLLOWING JACOBS RIVER VALLEY TO THE SOURCE OF JACOBS RIVER



















The End.


Safe Hiking




References and Acknowledgements

    1)   Photos – Willem Pelser

    2)   Compiled by Willem Pelser









Wednesday 10 August 2016

Drakensberg Wilderness – A Photographic Journey – 7 Day Hike April 2016



Quathlamba
“A mass of Spears. Named thus by the Zulu warriors before the white man came. Today called the Drakensberg, Mountains of the Dragon, a name given by the Voortrekkers. Evocative names, both equally applicable to South Africa’s mightiest mountain range with its spear-like peaks – reminiscent of the saw-toothed spine of a gigantic dragon.”

Panorama April 1966






This blog is all about the Drakensberg Mountains and its Wilderness area, South Africa. I have lost my heart and soul to this area and every single time I hike these mountains, I stand in awe all over again at this magnificent beauty.

“Listen to the streams as they gurgle from their cradles and you will hear the story of the mountains. You will hear fascinating tales if only you listen! Lie next to a stream and listen to the song of the mountains. The smiling faces of the flowers, dancing in the wind. Venture into the remote valleys or stand on a peak at sunrise or sunset, after snow has fallen, and you will hear a song that you will never forget - the Song of the High Mountain". (DA Dodds)

Hiking adventures, hiking gear reviews, day walks, accommodation, books, articles and photos, all related to these magnificent mountains will feature here.

Should you want to accompany me on a hike, or need some information or advice, please make contact with me. I hope you enjoy the articles.

Please visit the archive for some more interesting stories, photos and reviews.

Please note that all photos on this blog are copyright protected. If you would like to obtain
Photos please make contact with the author, Willem Pelser.









“SOLO HIKING THE DRAKENSBERG WILDERNESS DOES NOT HOLD ANY FEAR, ONLY AN ACCEPTANCE OF MOTHER NATURE AND BEING IN A PLACE I BELONG, WHERE SOLITUDE AND MAGNIFICANCE IS ALL MINE”
Willem Pelser




Drakensberg Wilderness – A Photographic Journey – 7 Day Hike April 2016






Day One – 24 April2016
From Kamberg, up the Mooi River Valley to where the Imfula Wasenkomedi River meets the Mooi River.











Day Two – 25 April 2016
Further up the Mooi River to the source of the Mooi River, then halfway up to eChibini dam, sleep at The Sisters.











Day Three – 26 April 2016
From the Source of the Mooi River to eChibini dam, from the source of the eZbovana river, to halfway down Baboon Valley.
















Day Four – 27 April 2016
From where two rivers join, down Baboon Valley to Roman Baths.











Day Five – 28 April 2016
From Roman Baths, up the Mountain to Bird Valley, follow the Valley River down to where it meets the Mooi River.













Day Six – 29 April 2016
Meander down the Mooi River towards Kamberg. Lazy exploration of the Mooi River.














Day Seven – 30 April 2016
Last stretch down to Kamberg Camp, the day the Snow arrived as a parting gift.













The memory of the suffering always fades, while the fulfillment grows brighter. For all the richness of “normal” everyday life, it is good sometimes to trespass in the Wilderness and live life with uncommon intensity, experiencing something that gets close to the sublime. I will soon return to the mountains and the wilderness, but I know that I had more than my fair share of those sublime moments. I have touched and seen some of the most magical places on Earth – places whose beauty is inherently dangerous and where man was never meant to go – and I will be back soon!




The End.


Safe Hiking.























References and Acknowledgements

Photos –Willem Pelser


Compiled by W Pelser