Quathlamba
“A
mass of Spears. Named thus by the Zulu warriors before the white man came.
Today called the Drakensberg, Mountains of the Dragon. 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.”
“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
“THUNDER ROLLS AND ECHOES
AMONG PEAKS THAT WERE BORN IN FIRE”
DRAKENSBERG RIVERS OF
FIRE
In the centre of Southern
Africa, like a dark island in a sea of grass-covered plains, there lies a
gaunt, steep-sided mass of basalt, the country’s principle watershed, and its
rainy roof.
The coming of this basalt was in comparatively recent geological times,
about 150 million years ago. It was as though nature suddenly became a little
bored, after taking so many long millions of years to lay down the sedimentary
rocks of the Karoo Systems. A change was indicated – something really spectacular
to mark the ending of the age of monstrous reptiles, swamps and interminable
rains.
The change took the form of a prodigious fireworks display. Volcanic
fissure after fissure erupted, pouring out lava until at least a large area of
Southern Africa was covered to a thickness of about 1500 meters. This mass of
basalt, known as the Drakensberg Volcanics, flowed from the ruptures in the
earth’s mantle like rivers of fire. One flow cooled, and was followed by
another, producing distinct layers varying in thickness from 1 meter to over 50
meters and of considerable difference in hardness and character.
These
basalts are interesting rocks to examine. In the molten state they were
full of bubbles of gas. As the basalt cooled, the gas bubbles filled with minerals
which crystallised into the cavities. A lump of basalt resembles a dark-colored
fruit cake. Imprisoned in the rock are agates, rose-pink amethysts; calcite;
chalcedony; quartz; zeolites of lovely green shades; a great variety of agate
pebbles formed in steam holes in the upper levels; and pencil-like pipe
amygdales which formed in the lower levels, in escape tunnels made by the gas
rising from below.
The
basalt is soft and crumbly. To provide it with some backbone, nature
thoughtfully squeezed up from the depths a succession on intrusive flows of
hard dolerite. This rock worked its way between the basalt layers to form
horizontal sills, or up the original feeder channels of the basalt flows,
solidifying in them to form supporting skeletons of dolerite dykes.
This whole mass of basalt was then left by nature to the weather. Clouds
blown in from the warm Mozambique Current in the east brought rain to this high
roof. The run-off water was a cutting tool that carved a masterpiece. Deep
valleys, ravines and gorges were cut, full of rapids, cascades, waterfalls,
caves and pools. The face of the rock island was worn back, leaving spectacular
pinnacles, buttresses, and precipices. Landslides littered the approaches with
giant boulders; wild valleys were deeply eroded into the roof of the basalt
island.
As it remains today, this mass of basalt covers practically the whole of
Lesotho, an area of 30 344 square kilometer. On all sides, its aspect is of a
range of gaunt mountains, known as Ukhahlamba (the barrier), Maluti (the
heights) or as Drakensberg (mountains of the dragon), from an old legend of the
sighting there of monstrous flying lizards, breathing fire.
The
whole summit of the basalt island is a jumble of spongy, water-soaked
bogs, complex, zigzagging valleys, springs, waterfalls, streams, rivers, mist,
snow and clouds, all inextricably mixed into a gigantic scenic symphony.
The most spectacular length of the Drakensberg looks down on KZN,
Griqualand East and the north-eastern portion of the Cape. For 350 kilometers
the Drakensberg presents a high wall of basalt precipices. There are no easy
ways over this mass of rock. The few passes are steep, zigzag routes following
water-courses. Bridle paths, wilderness trails, and tracks follow the contours
along the lower slopes, but it takes a mountaineer to find a way to the summit
of most of the peaks. In some areas mountain hotels and resorts have been
established. Other areas remain completely wild and difficult of access, and
demand no little endurance from those with the energy to explore them.
Snow can fall along the Drakensberg in any month of the year, but winter
usually sees the heaviest falls. The summer months are marked by some of the
noisiest and most spectacular thunderstorms occurring anywhere on earth. From
November to May these violent storms break in two days out of three.
Clouds start to close in for the brawl at about 11 a.m. Preliminaries commence
at about 1 p.m. with a few bangs and buffets. By 2 p.m. there is a general
uproar. To a hiker or climber caught in such a storm is something like trying
to shelter in a box of fireworks after somebody else has thrown in a match.
Tremendous flashes of lightning seem to tear the sky to pieces. Thunder
rumbles, explodes, and echoes in an incessant uproar. Rain streaks down at over
50 km an hour, usually turning into hail at some stage, with lumps of ice the
size of pigeons’ eggs.
Even more abruptly than they
started, these mountain thunderstorms end. The clouds suddenly lift, there is a
real flaming sunset, and by evening all the stars are out, quite dazzling in
the well-washed, pollution-free sky. Storms of longer duration, accompanied by
days of clammy mist, also set in at times and bring an average rainfall of 2000
mm, the water soaking into the basalt and the oozing out to feed the rivers.
It is now somehow less difficult to believe the Bushmen’s tales that
dragons once lurked here. The tales give the Drakensberg its name.
What a magical, beautiful, wild
place.
The End.
Safe Hiking.
References and Acknowledgements
From the book – Land
of Beauty and Splendour – Readers Digest
Photos: ©Willem Pelser
Compiled by Willem
Pelser
