Day 11 - Drakensburg Mountains

We left Durban at about half 7 having said our final goodbyes to Jo, Phil and John. We were all sad to see them go but we have all swapped phone numbers and email addresses and have already agreed to show the guys the sights and sounds of London in the near future. 

We drove for about 2 hours before pulling into a tiny little driveway which led into some trees and a car park. When we got out we were led down some steps and along a walkway called “The Long Walk to Freedom”, we were then told that this was the capture spot of Nelson Mandela. We walked down a long brick path which led to a very clever statue of Mandela’s face which could only been seen in certain positions. We had a walk around and read a lot of information about the life of Nelson Mandela, all agreed that we needed to research him further and then got back on the bus headed for the Drakensburg Mountains. 

We arrived in The Drakensburg National Park at about lunchtime and sat outside by a lake eating our lunch whilst simultaneously chasing off the odd Baboon who got a bit too close for comfort. We then went on a 1.5 hour hike up into one of the mountain ranges to see some views and just generally get some exercise which was lovely and well needed. 

After the hike we checked into our Backpackers Lodge which has to be the best one yet. A hot tub in the bar, a swimming pool outside and some really quirky bedrooms with an en suite hot shower!! Bliss!!! 

Early night for me as tomorrow I’m up at 7 for a 2 hour drive into the mountains and then a 7 hour walk through the Drakensburg Mountains to the Ampitheatre and a close up of the 2nd tallest waterfall in the world, 3100 metres up! Wish me luck!!