Hiking

Some visitors to the Drakensberg come simply to relax. Others strive to pit their fitness against the challenge of
peak and slope. All desire to get away from the cacophony of towns and cities. For the dedicated rambler, a superb network of walks, often including campsites with rustic mountain huts, traverse the unspoilt heights, hills and valleys of Ukhahlamba. Royal Natal National Park, Didima, Injisuthi and Kamberg all offer truly spectacular hiking, whilst gentler paths are found in the vicinity of Cobham and Lotheni. This area is home to black eagles, bearded vultures and herds of eland, and boasts a rich heritage of indigenous plants. Long quiet walks in naturally beautiful surroundings - good for the body, good for the soul.

Drakensberg Hiking Trails

The Chacma baboons of the Drakensberg mountains number in the thousands. Troops average at 22 members. At present the population is in equilibrium even though there are very few leopards to prey on them. Baboons are omnivorous. Their diet consists mostly of berries, fruit, roots and bulbs but they also eat insects and smaller vertebrate animals. They usually remain on the mountains and seldom venture into inhabited areas. Baboons are often seen when out walking or hiking and provided one keeps a distance, especially when there are babies, there should not be a problem.

Blue squill - Scilla Natalensis

Over 2 300 species of plants, 400 are endemic, have been recorded in the Ukhahlamba Drakensberg Park. Numerous birds are listed as being of global importance, such as the brilliant green cape parrot, the white winged flufftail, corncrake, lesser kestrel and yellow-breasted pipit. Mammal species include leopard, baboon, jackal, black wildebeest, eland, zebra and red hartebeest. The region also boasts the largest population of the shy and charming cape clawless otter, which can be seen singly, in pairs or in family groups of up to five animals.