Our final week in South Africa: The Drakensbergs & JoBurg
- Ilene
- Aug 18, 2024
- 4 min read
Updated: Aug 8
We’ve spent the last week in Durban on our way to/from the Drakensberg Mountains and the final couple of days in Johannesburg. A (not so) quick share on this part of our travels.
Durban is the third most populous city in South Africa. We stayed in the upscale area of Umhlanga Rocks and had a beautiful stay at Ocean Vista Guest House along with a couple of very nice dinners in the local ‘village’; The Chef’s Table and The Oyster Box, an iconic hotel in Durban. But our stay in Durban was pretty transactional, a stopover place before and after our drive into The Drakensberg Mountains. All in all, that was probably the right move as we found the top sights listed as “must see” weren’t really our thing (a market, stadium, botanical gardens, aquarium.)
So on we went with a 4 hour drive towards the northern Drakensberg area. We made two stops on the way, first at Howick Falls and then at the Nelson Mandela Capture Site Visitor Centre. After all the falls of the Panoramic route, the Howick Falls were not that impressive. The Capture Site however was very insightful, providing a thorough view and understanding of Mr. Mandela’s life.
Before departing we mostly enjoyed a picnic, while shoo’ing away the monkeys eye-ing our food! Supplies had been picked up at Woolworth’s Food in Durban which is sorta like a Whole Foods where they have great Gluten Free options!
We arrived to Montusi Mountain Lodge about 1.5 hours after leaving the main highway! With each turn the roads became more narrow, the lane lines less visible, the potholes greater and eventually we found ourselves crossing one-lane bridges that read “do not cross if bridge is covered in water”.
We both kept asking… where was I taking us?
And then we arrived. A ‘village’ of thatch roof cottages and a main lodge. Expansive views of the Drakensberg Mountains and The Amphitheater. After settling in we enjoyed a sundowner on the lodge patio watching the first of three sunsets from Montusi.
We had two full days at Montusi and tried to make the most of it. The property offers so many activities. Each morning is a complimentary guided hike for guests. They also have a spa, horseback riding, 4x4 sunset tour of the property, hiking trails and more. We enjoyed a morning hike to Montusi Peak, huffing and puffing as we didn’t realize the Lodge sat at about 4,100 feet above sea level and we climbed an additional 1,200!
The second day we went off property to Royal Natal National Park for a hike to Gudu Falls. The geography of this area is insane. During the winter it can be cold but dry. The summer however is hot and wet, rainy season. There is a lot done to control for fires and new growth returns quickly. I tried to capture some of this in the photos.
The hike was reasonable at the start, elevation gains were mild, paths were well marked and mostly smooth. As we got further into the canyon area all that changed. Baboons watched our moves, the rainforest closed in, the path became more challenging to identify and the elevation gain was quickly increasing with each step-up we literally took.
Also, and this freaks me out a bit, there was no one around. It was not until we almost reached the falls that a young couple came up from behind and passed us slow-pokes. And then we arrived at the falls and there was a group of four young men, wearing tzitzit. We chatted with them for a bit and learned they had met each other while in Yeshiva in Baltimore, but they were all from different places - New York, Florida, Italy and Johannesburg! They had just done a Mikveh in the pools of the fall! We met our first Americans, who happened to also be Jewish, in the middle of nowhere S. Africa just when we thought no one was around. The world is small.
There are so many hikes in this area, including one to Tugela Falls (Josh, bucket list!), chain ladders, 10 hour hike, tallest waterfall in the world.
We ended the day with a sunset jeep tour of the property, a glass of wine and some snacks was the perfect way to end our visit to this amazing place.
On our drive back to Durban we stopped at the only winery in the Drakensberg, Cathedral Peak Wine Estate. We call it the "Gordon Principal" = if there's a winery, of course you stop! The wines were just OK, though we did enjoy the Rosé and after they fell in love with our accent we managed an off-menu tasting of their Merlot Reserve which was quite good. There is a popular pinot blend here in S. Africa, Pinotage, that we are coming to enjoy, especially the "(hermi)tage" part. This winery contends with very different seasonal challenges, cold yet dry winters and hot yet wet summers.
Returning to Johannesburg we had a fantastic meal at Sec in our hotel, Clico. And took a full day tour of the city. We visited Constitutional Hill and the highest Court of the country, the Soweto township (largest in Africa), Nelson Mandela’s “matchbox house”, the Apartheid Museum and drove through many of the different neighborhoods of JoBurg. The history of this country is so recent only 30 years since Apartheid ended, the poverty so real, the impact of Apartheid still very present. The museum’s sharing this history were all very well done, great information, well presented.
And from here we take off for Tanzania and Safari. Not sure what WiFi options will look like, but will try to post ons socials while there.
P.S. send us texts, emails, photos - we’ll be sharing our life on the road, please share your life with us as well - miss you already!
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