Drakensberg Wilderness Hiking South Africa - Mountain of the Dragons - Where Adventure beckons.....: CHAPTER 17 - DIDIMA

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

“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".

DRAKENSBERG WILDERNESS PHOTOS © WILLEM PELSER

“THE WILDERNESS WITH HER BEAUTY AND SEVERE LAWS IS ONE OF THE BEST SCHOOLS OF CHARACTER”.

UNKNOWN

CHAPTER 17

DIDIMA

HOME OF CATHEDRAL PEAK

“THE BULLY”

(Unedited chapter from my book “The Drakensberg Wilderness – A Solo Journey through Paradise)

In the Northern part of the Drakensberg Wilderness will you find the Didima Reserve, the camp itself close to the town of Winterton and very close to the Cathedral Peak Hotel.

Didima is close to the Mnweni area which in itself is one of the most beautiful areas in the Drakensberg; it is a place with soaring buttresses and many high peaks, also called the ’Place of Fingers’ and for good reason. The Mnweni area can be accessed from Didima.

There are a number of walks to be done in the Didima area and part of its popularity is the access it gives to the escarpment via a number of passes relatively close to the camp.

The Didima area is very rich in history and incidents. A number of hikers and mountaineers have lost their lives or have been seriously injured over the years. Cathedral Peak Hotel saw many rescues launched from their terrain in the early years.

One of the most popular walks and hikes are up to the Didima Gorge, world famous for its number of Bushmen Caves with thousands of paintings inside the caves. It is a spectacularly beautiful gorge and not without its fair share of injuries and fatalities. It is a travesty solely due to humans that most of these incidents are the fault of the parties concerned.

My first meeting with Didima took place on my very first multi day solo hike, which I started from the Injasuthi camp and finished at Didima. And, boy oh’ boy, did I receive a welcome! I arrived at Didima, below the escarpment in heavy rain and close to zero visibility. As I descended into the valleys, a thunderstorm developed on Cathedral peak, and it was one of the worst I have ever been involved in. That day I was really bullied by the “Bully”. Cathedral Peak was so named by the local tribes due to the bad weather which develop on the peak and the subsequent tantrum which gets thrown. It is merciless and fierce. Read the account of my experience in chapter sixteen.

Months later I planned a 5 day hike from Injasuthi to Lotheni. I always wanted to do this hike and it was actually initially planned to be my first hike ever. Better late than never! Jenny wanted to spend some time at Didima so we arranged to stay there for 2 days after which she would drop me off at Injasuthi. My plan for the 2 days was to loosen up my muscles for the coming hiking trip to Lotheni. I planned to do a number of the day walks in the area.

As with most of the other popular reserve camps, the day routes are very busy and yet again the signs of human waste and graffiti are to be found all over. It is such a travesty. The day walks wanders through very beautiful areas. I do not like to walk in areas which are being utilized by a big number of walkers. They are noisy, waste a lot, most have no regard or respect for the wilderness and are in general just a pain to the serious hiker and walker who enjoys and appreciate the wilderness. Up in the one gorge for instance children were screaming as if they were getting paid to do it and they were sitting next to this beautiful pool and waterfall. They were getting hold of every rock they could pick or loosen from the earth and proceeded to throw it all down the waterfall into the pool.

I had to escape from them and I went off the trial to some caves which I noticed earlier on higher up the mountain. It was nice big caves, but already full of graffiti and toilet paper. At the one end of the cave I found a clean place to sit and I admired the view from there. I was quite high up the cliff face and the views were stupendous. Far below me the river was flowing and in the distance I could see the escarpment. My solitude was however yet again destroyed. Up from the river an elderly lady walked in my direction and I thought that she was also coming to inspect the cave. Just short of reaching the cave, she stopped, turned around, dropped her pants and did her business right there. I couldn’t believe it! I was being mooned in the wilderness. She had no idea I was there and out of respect I looked the other way. A big, white arse in the wilderness is not exactly a thing of beauty. When she was done, she wiped herself with tissues and left the whole bundle out there in the open without putting in an effort to cover it up or to at least get rid of the tissue paper.

After this episode I decided to leave the Rainbow Gorge and follow the river upstream and see where it leads me to. The moment I left the gorge I was in wild country again with no sign of humans or the noise they generate. Nature was unspoilt and magnificent. The eNdumeni River can be followed upstream all the way to the contour path. This is pure wilderness walking and there are no pathways. It is such a pity that even in the wilderness you can’t escape from people’s wasteful natures.

On the second day at Didima I decided to walk down to the Cathedral Peak Hotel from where a number of paths lead through the valleys and up to the contour path and the escarpment. It is also a very busy area, full of tourists and day walkers. I followed a route on the left hand side of the valley which eventually led me down to the river with a small forested area. It was still very early morning and the peace was not yet disturbed. I found a nice place to sit at the river and had a break. Sitting at rivers in the wilderness is always a very special time for me. With my back leaning against a young yellowwood tree and my bare feet in the ice cold water, I let my brain wander off. Sitting there quietly you can hear the song of the mountains through the water. The river tells of a time gone by, when no humans were around, and the Drakensberg was still the lair of the Dragon. When you become one with the wilderness, the brain becomes very receptive to what is happening around you, all the other senses becomes acutely sharp and responsive, shaking off the deadening effect with civilization has on us. Your soul becomes airborne and flies free and unhindered in a vast wilderness.

In today's civilized world there is no real need for the use of our senses as in the way in which they were intended to be use. Being back in the wilderness restores all of those senses back to their original state and for the use they were intended for. The eye sight becomes sharper, the nose can smell again, touch is redefined and hearing becomes very sharp. Your general awareness level improves dramatically. It is sadly not true of all people and some will never experience the feeling as they are not really interested or receptive enough. They have become too much the modern, civilized man.

After my break, later that day I reached Doreen’s Falls. Coming down the pathway looking down onto the falls, I was amazed at the beautiful sight. The falls are situated in a small forest and the fall itself cascades over a cave into a deep pool. I was very interested in the cave and skirted past the pool into the cave, which sits behind a curtain of water. Yet again I was sadly disappointed, the cave was being used as a toilet, and a huge amount of toilet paper and human waste was deposited on the cave floor and behind the rocks on the floor. It was an utter disgrace. The people that do these kind of things, do they actually finish their walk, go back and tell people what a wonderful time they had and how beautiful it is, or do they just walk without seeing, the mind in civilization and stuck in that world and what happens there? You have to be really daft if you do not understand that what you are doing is so wrong and destroying a prime wilderness.

From Doreen Falls to the right you can go up a very steep cliff and at the top you will walk into a cave with some Bushmen paintings in it.

If you leave the fall area and return back to the main path and then turn right, you will soon approach a wooden ladder on the side of a cliff which will lead you ever deeper into the beauty of Didima and her valleys. This same path way will also lead you to the Ribbon Falls, Mushroom Rock, and the Contour path and to some of the passes in the area leading to the top of the escarpment. Organ Pipes Pass is one often used, and this pass also comes with its tales of tragedy which took place over the years.

There are numerous pathways to explore in this area and for an off-trail hiker like me it is paradise. As yet I have not myself done a multiday hike in this area but rather Didima has become an arrival or starting point for my many multi-day long range hikes into the hinterlands of the wilderness.

One day soon I will explore every inch of Didima as well and I am sure that I will be pleasantly surprised at her hidden gems. Actually, there is nowhere in the Drakensberg that does not impact on the mind and soul with its beauty and diversity. It is a uniquely magical place, the liar of Dragons.

The End.

Safe Hiking.