Walking in the Berg

Hubby and I arrived in the rain at The Cavern, Northern Drakensberg, from the Midlands.  It rained most of the night and by morning, even though cloudy, the rain had stopped.  We had had visions of spending most of the day reading in one of the cosy lounges but we decided to take a chance on the weather and go for a walk .. not a hectic trail with steep ups and downs, slippery rocks and muddy streams.  We started at The Cavern’s main entrance and walked down the road before veering left towards Sungubala Mountain Camp ..

My thoughts were with my Mum so much that day as my brother Ian had phoned the previous evening to say she had suddenly ‘gone down’ and it wouldn’t be long before she goes.   She was with me every step … crossing the tumbling stream, walking amongst the grasses, flowers and trees, looking across the vastness of this beautiful land and the majestic mountains reaching to the heavens ..

Sungubala Mountain Camp …

We turned back at the camp’s gate …

I didn’t want to carry extra lenses in case we got caught in the rain .. my wide-angled lens was in our room.   Breathtaking view from the gate.   The hills and grasses were actually greener than this.  I can’t adjust the photos to the correct green, but you get the idea – it was green!

Three people are only just visible on the road at bottom of pic about quarter of the way into the picture.  We stopped for chat as our paths crossed.  They were an elderly couple with a guide, who had taken the easy trail up to the Camp while the rest of the guided walkers had gone along the Fern Trail.   Hubby and I went on a guided trail the last time we were at The Cavern, which is very interesting as plants, mountains etc are pointed out and named, some with a story behind them.  Your reward at the destination is tea and the famous Cavern’s crunchies!!!

We decided to take the Fern Trail back to the hotel.  The path went up quite steeply before levelling out …

Sungubala at the end of the road …

Blue sky!!   our path leads round to the left and over the other side ..

Crossing paths with the guided walkers and extra guides.  Not sure why they were all there (maybe part of a training exercise?)  … and the hotel’s doggies 🙂

 

Clouds were lifting ..

Beautiful large Pom Pom tree (Dais cotinifolia) amongst otherr indigenous trees ..

The path follows the contour of the mountain opposite some of the rooms, ours included (middle of pic, situated on left) A river flows in the valley between where we were standing and the rooms …

Forest Spa – reception on left with three secluded treatment rooms to the right  ..

Buddleia (looks like a buddleia to me 😉 )  .. there were many of these indigenous bushes, as were the protea …

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Our room was at the end of the path ..  (last one in the block of four rooms)

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