The Drakensberg — the "Dragon Mountains", or Ukhahlamba, "the barrier of spears", in Zulu — is the great basalt wall that runs for more than 1,000 km along South Africa's eastern edge, forming the border with Lesotho. Peaks rise to over 3,000 metres, cliffs drop vertically for hundreds, and the rivers that tumble off the escarpment include the Tugela, which plunges nearly a kilometre down the face of the Amphitheatre in the world's second-highest waterfall.
This is South Africa's best hiking country. The range is usually split into three: the Northern Drakensberg, with the Royal Natal National Park and the Amphitheatre; the Central Drakensberg, the busiest section, with Cathedral Peak, Champagne Castle and Monk's Cowl; and the Southern Drakensberg, quieter and higher, climbing over the Sani Pass into Lesotho. The whole area is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, listed for both its landscape and the extraordinary collection of San rock art hidden in its caves — more than 35,000 paintings across some 600 shelters, the densest concentration in Africa.
Come for long walks, trout streams, and empty valleys. Base yourself at a mountain lodge, walk up to the caves, get rained on, watch the lammergeiers. In winter the higher slopes are dusted with snow; in spring the grasslands turn pink and orange with watsonia and proteas. There is no mass tourism here — at Giant's Castle you can easily spend a day seeing no one except the game guard at the gate.
