The beach to watch the red moon and eclipse

 

Doing the Gxalingenwa hike in The Southern Drakensberg

Oh how I love the mountains. And no mountain comes more beautiful than The Drakensberg.  I absolutely loved my time here - so good for the soul.  I'm so grateful to Chrisèl for inspiring me to come here.  

Our first stop was the Southern Drakensberg where we stayed at the lovely and very tranquil Sani Pass Backpackers.  

Highlights of the two nights here included:

• Delicious home made pancakes with lots of gooey cheese.
• Homemade marzipan from the little shop.
• Making a scrumptious omelette with home made herbs from the garden and blue cheese.
• Doing the stunning Gxalingenwa Hike which started right at the backpackers.  6 hours long, it took us up onto a plateau, then further up and over a little pass and down into a river gorge where I got to leap into a freezing green mountain pool. Then a walk along the lip of the gorge back to civilisation past some of the hugest granite boulders I've ever seen.
• Seeing a Cape Vulture.
• Doing a naughty short cut over a fence to visit a waterfall on the walk back, and cutting off lots of walking along the road.
• Chilling out in the peaceful garden after the hike, watching the sun set.
• Lazing by the fire at night, reading, and snuggling up to the cats.  One of them was a renowned "psycho" but turned out to be a lovely pussy cat at heart.

The climb up the first ridge on the Gxalingenwa hike provided this beautiful view of the surrounding lake ...

... and a great baboon sighting, including a very cute youngster.

Up on the plateau, looking down onto the valley.

Here we are at the highest point of the hike.

Descending down into the river valley ...

... to a stunning pool ...

... and an exhilarating but freezing leap into the water!

Hiking along the river ...

... one of the most scenic sections of the hike ...

... with enormous granite boulders.

Overjoyed to be in such a beautiful part of the world with strong feet.

Stopping off at a beautiful waterfall on the walk back to the hostel after a cheeky short cut over a fence. 

So excited to see a Cape Vulture.  

The awesome Sani Pass Backpackers with its peaceful garden ...

... and perfect setting right in the heart of the mountains.

A gorgeous view of the moon from the hostel.

Exploring the Wild Coast at Port St Johns

I have always wanted to visit The Wild Coast (formerly known as The Transkei) so was very excited to finally get the chance.

Highlights

• Driving through the thriving towns on the way to Mtatha, all bustling with humanity. 
• Arriving in Mtatha and discovering that our shuttle to Port St Johns was an African taxi!  The real deal. We travelled with the locals, driving like a bat out of hell at times through the mountainous roads and stopping many times to pick up locals along the road.  I loved it!
• The beautiful landscape - mountainous, hilly and green with lots of traditional houses along the way.
• Stopping at one point to watch the moon rise from the hills. Sublime stuff.
• The mellow vibes of The Jungle Monkey where we stayed. Sometimes a bit too mellow maybe as the food often took ages to arrive, if it arrived at all.  The staff were all extremely friendly though.
• The three friendly dogs and the one very grouchy, old St Bernard, who didn't like attention very much at all.
• A gorgeous hike along the coast with our friendly local guide, Buntu, and the dogs. The highlight of the hike was a slightly precarious climb down a cliff to view The Gap and Blowhole.  Also the beautiful rock art that Buntu created on the beach during our break.
• Being very tempted to swim in the ocean, but remembering Atony advice not to as Port St Johns has the most shark attacks in the world!  When we arrived back at The Jungle Monkey, we discovered that a local was attacked by a great white while we were hiking!! Thank you, Mr Boting for your sage advice!
• The mellow cows on the beach.
• The Vervet Monkeys "swearing" at the dogs from the trees. Very put out, they were.
• Going for a walk in the town and exploring the markets, then stopping at a river side restaurant for a nice milk-shake.
• Going for a drive with Mike, the friendly owner of the hostel, to the old airport high on a mountain top with amazing views down onto the river.  As we were driving towards the cliff face, Mike jokingly sped up in the car and I just about had kittens!  A total phobia for me it turns out.  Mike let the dogs out and let them run and I have never seen such speed and grace as I saw from the youngest one.  She's just built to run; a beautiful sight.  
• An early morning walk to The Lighthouse that had lovely views of the coast.
• Our relief when the shuttle arrived to take us back to Mtatha. Taxi's are apparently notoriously unreliable on a Sunday.
• Lazing on the grass with a group of fellow backpackers, eating delicious bran and banana muffins at the Mtatha Petrol Port, while waiting for The Baz bus. And a lovely double thick milkshake from The Spur. Their milkshakes are definitely better than their burgers!

We did a lovely hike along the coast with Buntu, a very friendly local guide, with the dogs in tow.

How's that for a stunning coastline!

This was the hairiest part of the climb: a steep climb down to view The Gap and Blowhole. Needless to say, the dogs didn't join us.

Enjoying the view from The Gap.

The dogs loved every minute of it.

Lots of cows on the beach.  Not a bad place for a cow to live, chilling on the sand.  Definitely free range!

Buntu created some beautiful stone art at rapid speed.

Some wildlife along the way: A very curious Vervet Monkey and a Giant Kingfisher that Chrisèl had been hoping to see.

Lovely plants and flowers.

The view from the lodge where the hike ended.

The Jungle Monkey -  a very mellow hostel. 

I absolutely loved their mirror. Every bathroom should have a mirror like this!

Exploring the town of Port St Johns

Enjoying the amazing view from The Airport at dusk.

A lovely morning walk to The Lighthouse.

The beautiful hills of The Transkei from the bus window.

Lockleys Pylon to Victoria Falls via Blue Gum Forrest (Overnight Camping)

Wow, what a stupendous weekend this was.  A pristine blue gum forest, gorgeous waterfalls, breathtaking outlooks, fun camping and an amazing group of people. Doesn't get better.

Here are just some of the highlights ...

• An exhilarating drive with Graeme (what a cool name, and spelled correctly too) in his brand new Land Rover along steep mountain roads to the start of the hike while he told us the story of how he rolled his previous Land Rover !
• The beautiful spring weather and the stunning flowers.
• The breathtaking views from Lockley's Pylon across the valley.
• The sense of achievement after the end of the gruelling, steep, hot hike down into the valley.
• A refreshing swim in the beautiful river and some fun leaps with Srini.
• The indescribably amazing Bue Gum forest. Serene and sacred, especially with the sun filtering through.
• The reflections of the trees in the river - like an impressionist painting.
• The setting sun lighting up the valley sides in a rosy glow in the later afternoon.
• The moon rising over the valley in the early evening.
• The elation after reaching our cosy camp site after the long hike.
• The cute family we camped next with three lovely young kids - almost made me want one of my own!
• The easy, jovial banter around the camp fire (linear fires rule!) and pigging out on all the chocolate that got handed around.
• A cup of red wine - how civilised!  (thanks Srini)
• Trying my one man hiking tent again.  Fine as long as I don't want to spread out!
• Walking along the valley the next day in the cool of the morning, enjoying the tranquillity of the river.
• The gorgeous series of waterfall and and cascades that is Victoria Falls - and getting to enjoy another leap.
• The relief at getting to the top after a hot hike out of the valley.
• A celebratory ice cream after a 6 kilometre hike back to civilisation along a fire-track. Ice cream has rarely tasted so good!
• Delicious flat head and a refreshing drink at the pub in Leura.

All in all, a wonderful weekend.

Tired, but happy at the end of the hike ...

Related links
My previous visit to The Blue Gum forest  (Jan 2011)
My previous visit to Victoria Falls  (Jan 2012)
Meet Up link