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 1966This 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.
"How often in the course of our travels through Kwazulu-Natal do we stop and gaze at the beauty of a distant range of mountains? The Drakensberg stands as a monument to one of the greatest cataclysms the Earth has experienced. As you approach the mountains, you realize why early Zulus called it "Quathlamba", meaning “Barrier of Up-pointed Spears". A cradle of rivers. 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.
Available in the Archive
(Do read it!)
1) Injasuthi to Lotheni
- Epic 6 Day Hike
2) Review: Hi-Tec
Altitude Pro RGS Hiking Boots
3) Drakensberg
Wilderness Hiking - 14 Day Hiking trip - Lotheni Reserve (Part 3)
4) Lotheni - 14 Day Hiking
Trip (Part 2)
5) Lotheni - 14 Day
Hiking Trip (Part 3)
6) The Bushmen of the
Drakensberg
7) Thunderstorms in the
Drakensberg Mountains
8) Before setting out on a hike………..
9) Cathkin Peak – Drakensberg
10) Why backpack and
multi-day hiking
11) Safety in the
Drakensberg
12) In the Shadow of
Cathedral Peak
13) Injasuthi – ‘well
fed dog’
14) Lotheni Reserve
15) Garmin eTrex 10
& 20 Specs and Review
16) Amphitheater,
Thendele – Royal Natal National Park, Mont-aux-Sources
Photos please make contact with the author, Willem Pelser.
Amphitheater, Thendele – Royal Natal National Park
Mont-aux-Sources
“HIKE THE WILDERNESS AND CLIMB
THE MOUNTAINS AND GET THEIR GOOD TIDINGS. NATURE’S PEACE WILL FLOW INTO YOU AS
SUNSHINE FLOWS INTO TREES. THE WINDS WILL BLOW THEIR FRESHNESS ON YOU, AND THE
STORMS WILL GIVE YOU THEIR ENERGY; WHILE CARES WILL DROP OFF LIKE THE AUTUMN
LEAVES.”
John Muir
Deep in the fluted vaults of the Amphitheater, the echoes of time still linger – echoes of legends and stories of the peaks and valleys, drowned by the noise of the wind and the rushing water, sheltered by the Eastern and Beacon Buttresses, which stand as bastions on either side of the Amphitheater, and guarded by the Sentinel which has kept watch from time immemorial.
As the two missionary-explorers trudged back to Lesotho all they left behind them was a name and three words of a language never heard before in the deep recesses of the crags.
New footprints appear in the valleys below as settler Adriaan Olivier looked for a place to build his home,. With infinite care he chose a position at the foot of what is now Oliviershoek Pass and called his farm Tugela Hoek. Life was not easy in those exciting times as Bushmen raids were frequent. In June 1865, Albert Allison was appointed border agent at the Pass, because of the threats of raids and also because the Orange Free State had declared war on the Moshoeshoe Tribe.
After the discovery of diamonds the traffic from Natal to the Kimberley diamond fields increased tremendously and a new pass became necessary. In 1871 Oliviershoek Pass was constructed and named after Adriaan Olivier. Thomas Baines, in his unpublished Journal 1869-1871, relates how he reached a small wayside hotel at Sandspruit not far from Bergville. Here, at the Dewdrop Inn, weary travelers were assured of a bed and a good meal. The inn-keeper, a Mr. Dodds, kept a tame baboon which gave them great amusement as it drank the beer from their glasses. At the foot of the pass into the Orange Free State was another hotel, the Tent Hotel.
The first visitors to the Tugela Valley were Fred Kelly and his wife, who arrived at the present Park area in an ox-wagon for their honeymoon in 1878 and who, during their stay, encountered a band of Bushmen – probably the last group to be seen by Europeans in the foothills of the Berg.
The boundaries between the black tribe reserves, state-owned land and farms were surveyed in 1884 and soon farms were offered for sale. Because of the remoteness of this area and the lack of access roads, the response was poor.
The Royal Natal National Park is a monument to three dedicated men, F. F. Churchill, Col. Wylie and Col. Dick, who visited the area with a view to establishing a park for the people of South Africa. Recommendations were put forward and eight years later 3300 hectares were reserved for this purpose. Col. Wylie sold his 4046 hectares to the Government on the condition that the land was used only as a national park.
On 16th September the Park was finally established. Three years later, Walter Coventry, who also played an important part in the establishment of the Park, sold his farms, Goodoo and Dooley, to the Provincial Administration. As well as several other farms, Vemvaan, Devil’s Hoek, The Pastures, Diamond, Basutu Pass and a small portion of the adjoining native trust land, the area of the park expanded to 6373 hectares. In 1950 the farms Rugged Glen and Ungiyeza were purchased, bringing the total area to 8094 hectares. Walter Coventry became the first lessee and busied himself improving the road to Bergville and also pioneered a new route to the top of the Amphitheater.
The hostel burned down and was rebuilt in 1943, and the new hotel was visited by the British Royal Family in May 1947. The name was then changed to the Royal Natal National Park.
This mountain paradise is set in some of the most beautiful mountain scenery South Africa has to offer. For those who prefer a quiet, restful holiday, the hutted camp “Thendele” is ideal. Built on a rise with uninterrupted views of the Amphitheater, it is managed by KZN Wildlife. There is a sheltered caravan/tent park where the camper can enjoy all the facilities of a delightful camp site.
The Eastern Buttress, previously called the Outer Tower, is at the south-eastern end of the Amphitheater, a free-standing peak which hides the Devil’s Tooth, Toothpick and the Inner Tower with its three summits. The Amphitheater has been eroded into a series of towers, pillars and buttresses separated by deep gullies and clefts giving the appearance of a massive fluted wall.
Climbing the wall was first attempted in July 1922, but icy conditions forced the climbers to abandon the climb. After a few attempts, Doyle Liebenberg, Mark Frank, Mary Lear and Aimee Netter made the first ascent of the wall. Dr. Park-Ross was certain that another route was possible and on 19th January 1939, he, together with Walter Zunckel and Mungo Park-Ross, reached the top of the wall by a variation of the Liebenberg route.
The top of the Amphitheater is not a ridge as some had thought it was, but a huge plateau, forming part of the Lesotho plateau and of great importance to South Africa.
Close to the source of the Tugela, The Elands River arises and flows towards the edge near the chain ladder and there it flows over the edge as the Elands Waterfall and the runs down towards Witzieshoek. The Elands and the Wilge Rivers converge and eventually run into the Vaal Dam, so vital to the people on the Highveld.
Seeping from a sponge, and from the western
slopes of the Mont-aux-Sources Peak, the Western Khubedu arises. This, together
with the eastern Khubedu, forms the upper source of the Orange River, which
eventually joins the main or true source, the Sinqu, which rises behind the
Rockeries in the Mnweni area and runs through Lesotho across South Africa to
end in the Atlantic Ocean.
It seems incredible that water seeping from the same
peak, Mont-aux-Sources, can end up running as two different rivers, one flowing
east and the other west, finding their way into different oceans, 1500
kilometers apart.
In the large depression which lies
behind the center of the Amphitheater, there is a large sponge. Waters drain
from the eastern slopes of Mont-aux-Sources peak as well as the higher areas to
the east. This is the source of the Eastern Khubedu.
Here an important river capture has taken
place. Over a period of millions of years the escarpment, which is retreating
at a rate of 30,5 cm in 200 years, has captured a part of the source and now
some of its waters flow over the edge of the escarpment as the Bilanjil Falls,
which drop into the depths hidden by the fluted columns and eventually join the
Tugela. Not far from the eastern end of the Amphitheater another waterfall, the
Ribbon Falls, flows down into the Inner Tower Gully and also joins the Tugela.
The
western bastion of the Amphitheater, Beacon Buttress, dominates the summit
plateau, and a long climb to the eastern point of this buttress is worthwhile
because from this point one has a fine view of the Eastern Buttress, Devil’s
Tooth, Toothpick, and the Inner Tower.
The Devil’s
Tooth, so well-known to South Africans, was originally called Cleopatra’s
Needle. Early climbers gazed spellbound at this pinnacle, although well
experienced climbers who had opened routes up many of the peaks in the area,
gave the Tooth a wide berth, and as late as 1947 most crags-men felt that it was
unclimbable. By 1950 most of the major peaks had been climbed, but the Devil’s
Tooth defied at least five attempts.
The new generation of climbers arrived
at the base of the Tooth on the 6th August 1950. How did they feel
when they looked up towards the unclimbed summit? In their own words: “Outlined
above us against the deep blue sky, and glowing in the rays of the setting sun
it seemed god-like in its appalling sheerness and utter impossibility”.
Undaunted they started, and after 8 pitches involving some of the most
difficult E, F and G pitches, the party stood on the summit. The Tooth had been
crowned.
The finest walk in the Park is to the
gorge where some of the most glorious valley and mountain scenery is to be
seen. Following the Tugela the path passes through indigenous forests and
contours grassy slopes covered with wild flowers and proteas. It is common to
see buck as well as other forms of wildlife on this walk.
The
well-known Policeman’s Helmet, carved by the elements from sandstone is another
attraction.
On
reaching the Gorge one is conscious of the lofty Amphitheater with its
battlements and turrets looming high above, and the infant streams racing down
the gullies to join Mother Tugela.
Many other delightful walks can be undertaken in the park
where one can recognize landmarks and peaks named after people who have climbed,
lived and worked in the mountains.
Little is
known about a dear old man who lived for a considerable time in the
Mont-aux-Sources area, collecting and identifying indigenous flowers and
studying the fauna and avifauna. His name was F. S. Pardoe. He displayed his
specimens in a small museum in the park. There he lived in a caravan, where he
was visited daily by his friends, the red-wing starlings, and guinea fowl which
flew in to be fed by him. It was clear that this man knew no other life that the
life in the mountains, nor wanted one.
Dramatic
rescues have been carried out by local men, sometimes under dreadfully adverse
conditions.
To the
west of the Park is the homeland of the Basotho ba Borwa, the Batlokwa tribe.
The capital is Witzieshoek, from which a road winds to the base of the
Sentinel. Not far from the end of the road is a rest camp 2100 meters above
sea-level where accommodation is available and beautiful views of the
Amphitheater and the Quathlamba stretching south can be obtained for those who
are not able to climb. The mountain road has made the trip to the top of the
Amphitheater and back an easy day’s walk.
Go there, explore, preserve and enjoy!
The
End
Acknowledgements
Extract from the book:
“A Cradle of Rivers, The Natal Drakensberg,” DA
Dodds.
Photos: All
photos by Willem Pelser
