Tugela Falls

We had ended up at the familiar Gecko Bushpackers in Hazyview for Tuesday night, even got the same room. It served as the rest we needed before making our way to the second destination of our week's travel, Drakensberg, about 7 hours from Hazyview. Lukanyo was impressed that a single newspaper kept me occupied for the duration of that time; those who know me well won't be surprised! There were a couple of interesting articles about the end of year Matric exam for graduating students where they must pass at least five of the six subjects that they write exams for in order to matriculate (graduate and be eligible to attend a university), listing the schools with the highest and lowest pass rates, discussing the pressures associated with the exams, recommending that parents watch for signs of stress, debating Outcomes Based Education and piecemeal measurement of achievement through the year.

We arrived at the Amphitheatre Backpackers in the early evening, where the Drakensberg mountain range can be seen in the distance as a semi-circle, amphiteatre, backdrop. Lukanyo had been able to book a Safari Tent, which we found comfortable with two cots set up inside, nearby bathroom and shower facilities. In the tour around the place we had been told about two day trips they offered, one to Tugela Falls, the second highest waterfall in the world and the other to Lesotho, a nearby country within the borders of South Africa with its own borders maintained by a mountain fortress. We were booked to be there the next three nights, so had two full days to do both trips.

It took two hours to drive to the spot in the Drakensberg range where we began our hike up to the waterfalls. Our guide, Sim, kept us moving at a decent clip though if we needed to slow down we just had to say so. While in Peru earlier this year in May, hiking to some Incan ruins in Pisaq, I had a really difficult time with vertigo, feeling nearly petrified with the height at times. I knew it would be a bit the same for this hike but didn't want that to stop me from getting to see the second highest waterfall in the world. I found it wasn't quite as daunting as the ruins hike since the lush greenery around the mountain provided the illusion of a soft fall. There was a 20 minute climb at a 75-80 degree angle through which I felt if I stopped, I may stand frozen until magically transported elsewhere. I fought the fear off and kept moving, huffing at the top like everybody else, where we then stopped to eat the sandwiches we had brought along. There was a lot of mist that prevented a more clear view of the cliff's drop off where we sat with our lunch. As the mist cleared enough to see down, I stood well away from the edge to take a glance and let Lukanyo take my camera for a closer picture.

We had a reasonably level hike at that point to get to the waterfall. We were warned to take along rain gear which became quite useful as the sky opened up and let loose buckets of rain for the next 15 minutes. I hadn't thought to pack any, so one of the hostel staff offered his Vortex. He was well over 6 feet, so his coat, hanging past my knees, provided plenty of protection against the rain. We had begun to trail behind a bit; when we arrived five minutes at most behind the others at the waterfall, Sim was already ready to go. We spent a few minutes taking pictures, but again we had mist where we couldn't see the full height. Hey, they told me I was at the second highest waterfall in the world; I'll believe them. After a bit more of the level hiking, the sun bright overhead trying out our wet clothes, it was time to descend. We had seen pictures at the hostel and heard whispers about the chain ladder that had to be used to get off the side of the mountain. Initially going over the edge was intimidating, but after stepping with sure feet, hanging on to each subsequent handhold to the side of the rungs and descending the unknown second chain ladder, looking up from the bottom didn't seem so bad at all. The more difficult part of the descent ended up being the countless rocks that my ankles and knees had to endure. The two hour drive back was a welcome rest after our six hour hike.