KAMBERG - THE HIDDEN PARADISE - DRAKENSBERG

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

 “FREEDOM IS SOMETHING THAT DIES UNLESS IT’S USED.” 

HS Thompson

KAMBERG

THE HIDDEN PARADISE

DRAKENSBERG

  

Hidden in the farming community of the Kamberg Region will you find the access gate to the Drakensberg Reserve of Kamberg, part of the Mhkomazi Wilderness of the Drakensberg. Long considered the domain of trout fly fisherman, it hides its spectacular beauty from all eyes. Few visitors to the reserve actually wander off into the reserve. At most, two established trails will be followed; one being the Gladstone’s Nose trail and the other the guided Game Pass Shelter Cave route. This reserve has long been the sole domain of the fisherman and has been jealously guarded as such. Kamberg Reserve catered mostly for trout fishing.

The reason why the above mentioned happened was due to the fact that a research station with trout dams and a hatchery was built here years ago. A total of 7 interlinking trout dams were established with quite an intricate interlinking system.  Opposite the research building a weir was built across the Mooi River. Today the research station is standing empty with only 2 dams being fished. The entire infrastructure built years ago has been allowed to go to waste. Apparently the 2 dams still being fished receive their stock from an outside supplier. 

In the early 1900’s a bloodhound kennel was also built at Kamberg hosting bloodhounds which was used to hunt animals with by the then reserve rangers. Wherever the so-called need for the dogs were, they would be transported there. The dogs were used under the guise of exterminating the jackal population of the Drakensberg. The jackals were regarded as vermin and one of the biggest reasons why the eland population was dwindling by the then powers to be. Logically speaking, it is highly unlikely that a 20kg jackal will be able to bring down an 800kg eland!  Jackals were not the only animals hunted. Anything else being chased by the dogs, which did not resemble an eland or antelope, was killed. Dassies became a victim too, and I would like those rangers to explain to me how a dassie becomes a predator of antelope. Baboons suffered the same fate. Fortunately the scheme eventually met its demise. The very people who called themselves rangers and who were to protect the wilderness with all of her citizens became the main destroyers of it all. For hundreds of years all the animals lived together and they all thrived. What was conveniently overlooked was the fact that it was the arrival of the white man in the wilderness with his guns and wanton destruction which caused the problem in the first place.

One day, on a hike through a number of valleys between Kamberg and Giant’s Castle I had the luck of watching a jackal trying to catch a rhebuck male. It was quite a humorous incident. Sitting on a boulder taking a break I first noticed this jackal sniffing and running around a rocky outcrop on top of a hill. It was surprising to see him running around in broad daylight in the middle of the day as they are normally nocturnal. The next moment I saw a rhebuck appearing on the opposite side of the outcrop away from the jackal. The jackal would then catch up with the smell of the rhebuck and follow him. As soon as he came close, the rhebuck would then move around the outcrop again to the other side and the jackal would follow. This carried on for about an hour, the rhebuck always keeping the outcrop between him and the jackal. Eventually the jackal gave up and ran away.

The first time I arrived at Kamberg reserve and had a look at the place, I was not impressed at all and I mentioned to Jenny at the time that I do not think that it is the place for me and my hiking. Jenny shared my thoughts on the matter. We left the same day and it would be a long time before we would be back. Make no mistake, the chalets and camp environment is nice, but walking seemed to be something that was not going to happen. How wrong I was then.

So, about 2 years later I returned to Kamberg. One day, as I was sitting at home trying to plan a 7 day hike, I had a look at the map and I was drawn to the Kamberg and Highmoor area, with the Mooi River Valley splitting the two down the middle. I started planning a hike which would take me hallway up the Mooi River valley, turning right, up the hills, through the Highmoor area, past the dams to Aasvoelkrans Cave, down to the old ruins, up to the escarpment and back down to the Mooi River valley to Kamberg camp.

So it happened that Jenny dropped me off early one morning at Kamberg camp, coming back in 7 days to pick me up again. It is quite a walk to get from the camp to where the Mooi River flows out of the bottom end of the Mooi River valley through undulating rolling grassland hills. Once I entered the valley and started walking up it, it was sheer paradise. I have found the hidden gems of Kamberg.

Since that day I have been back to Kamberg many times. Today I know every valley and river of this area by heart. I have done hundreds of kilometers exploring a vast area and I have never been let down. Kamberg is one of the most beautiful areas in the Drakensberg Wilderness area. 

There are a huge amount of valleys and rivers, each one in competition with the other for the price as most beautiful. You will find postcard picture scenes every kilometer. Nowhere else in the reserve will you see so many waterfalls. If you are an escarpment chaser, then Kamberg is not for you. If you are an explorer of a wilderness, then you cannot get better. I cannot emphasize enough what a beautiful, untouched, and unspoilt area it is. All that is needed is a bit of effort to get into the closest valley and from there you can pick and choose as to where you want to go. It is indeed paradise.

The added bonus at Kamberg is the fact that the Bushmen seemed to have like this area too. The area has a huge amount of caves with San paintings spread over a vast area. I had the time of my life discovering these caves and spend many a happy hour taking photos of their paintings. There are also a large Bearded Vulture and Cape Vulture colony calling Kamberg home. I was fortunate enough on one hike to find the nesting places of the Cape Vulture high up the cliffs in a far way valley. At the higher elevations inside the valleys eland and rhebuck are found in numbers and other types of wildlife abounds, more so than anywhere else.

The valleys at Kamberg are really very remote and because of that reason there is no human interference or impact, leaving a pristine, wild wilderness. I just love to disappear into that wilderness for 7 days at a time, it is magical. Just me and a vast wilderness area, what more could you ask for?

Today Kamberg is one of my favorite places in the Drakensberg Wilderness to explore; and settled deep in my heart. The best way to see it and experience the magic and indescribable beauty is to put a backpack on your back, boots on your feet and to disappear into her valleys. And then always, leave only your footprints.

The End.

Safe Hiking.

References and Acknowledgements

From the book – Drakensberg Wilderness – A Solo Journey through       Paradise – Willem Pelser

Photos:  ©Willem Pelser

Compiled by:  Willem Pelser

DRAKENSBERG MOUNTAINS - FIRES

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

“THE ABSOLUTE SIMPLICITY, THAT’S WHAT I LOVE. WHEN YOU’RE HIKING THE WILDERNESS YOUR MIND IS CLEAR AND FREE FROM ALL CONFUSIONS. YOU HAVE FOCUS. AND SUDDENLY THE LIGHT BECOMES SHARPER, THE SOUNDS ARE RICHER AND YOU’RE FILLED WITH THE DEEP, POWERFUL PRESENCE OF LIFE.”

UNKNOWN

DRAKENSBERG MOUNTAINS FIRES

Plant life in the Drakensberg is affected not only by altitude, vegetation regions, and climate, but also by fire. Grass fires are common in the Drakensberg, especially in the winter and early spring months and they have a profound effect on the vegetation.

   It must be remembered, first of all, that although grass fires are much more common today than in the early days, they are not entirely man-made, and have undoubtedly been known in the Drakensberg for thousands, if not millions, of years. Fires are often started by lightning and by sparks from rocks rolling down the mountain side. The vegetation has had to learn to adapt itself to these periodic fires.

At the same time it must be admitted that with the advent of man fires are much more frequent today than they were in the olden days. Undoubtedly some of our mountain species are threatened by these raging fires which sweep down, year after year, from the heights.

On a sloping piece of ground there was not a single Erica to be seen. It would seem that the plant literally disappears with frequent burning. When not burned for a number of years, the slope will be covered with masses of Erica woodii flowers, a great sheet of magenta-pink.

Erica cerinthoides provides another interesting example. It is found sparsely throughout the Drakensberg, but the plants never reach a height of more than 0,25 metres. In the Wild Flower Garden in the Giant’s Castle Reserve, however, where the plants are protected from fires, there are two bushes of this Erica which flower profusely every year, and which have reached a height of over a metre. But you will notice one interesting phenomenon. Those plants in the wild, which are subject to periodic burning, bear larger flowers, and of a brighter red, than those which are never burned.

Proteas, too, are adversely affected by fires. Protea roupelliae grows in grasslands on the slopes of the Little Berg, but it also grows in rocky outcrops and on the cave sandstone plateau. Its thick bark protects it to some extent from the damage caused by fires, but you will find that those trees growing in rocky outcrops, where the grass cover is thin, are far finer specimens than those growing in the grasslands, where the heat from the fire is so much more intense. Magnificent stands of Protea roupelliae can be found growing on massive outcrops of cave sandstone, where few fires could ever reach them.

Protea multibracteata, with its thick, corky bark, is able to withstand the effect of fires, but if the fire comes late in the season, when the sap is flowing freely, the trees often have burst stems, due to the fact that the sap vaporizes and, being confined, bursts the stem.

This is not the full story, however. Occasional fires do act as a regenerating factor, and you will notice that in those areas of the Drakensberg which are subject to occasional fires, the flush of early spring flowers is far finer than on unburnt areas, where the grasses have grown coarser and the veld flowers are smothered. The brave show of new flowers in the blackened veld of early spring, after a fire, is a well-known sight in the Drakensberg.

Unquestionably, too, the germination of some seeds is stimulated by fire. The silver wattle is a well-known example of this. Protea subvestita is another. The two other Protea tree-species, Protea roupelliae and  Protea multibracteata, protect themselves partly against fire by means of their thick bark. Protea subvestita lacks this, and the trees protect themselves partly by growing much more thickly together than in the case of the other two species. But the tree also ensures its survival in much the same way that the wattle does. You will often see a lone Protea subvestita blackened and killed by the fire, but around it are literally hundreds of young plants growing from seed stimulated by the very fire which killed the parent plant. The heat of the fire causes the hard epidermis of the seed to crack, in this way allowing moisture to reach the embryo and so start germination.

In the Drakensberg plants have adopted many methods which enable them to survive fires. That is why you will so often find Ericas growing in south-facing rock gullies, where the fires rage less fiercely than on north-facing slopes. Bulbous plants are more easily able to survive a fire than plants equipped with roots, especially shallow roots. This is undoubtedly one reason why the Drakensberg is so rich in flowers from the Liliaceae, Iridaceae, and Amaryllidaceae families, most of which have bulbs or corms.

We may conclude then, that many plant species in the Drakensberg are gravely endangered by mountain fires, that many have adapted themselves to withstand the effects of fires, but that occasional fires are beneficial, acting as a regenerating factor, clearing out the thickly-matted old grasses and dead undergrowth, and stimulating seed germination.

Never, but never, start a fire anywhere in the Drakensberg Wilderness when on a hiking trip!

The End.

Safe Hiking.

References and Acknowledgements

From the book – Mountain Splendour – RO Pearce

Photos:  ©Willem Pelser

Compiled by:  Willem Pelser