A trip with a good friend can make one of South Africa’s adventures into a trip of a lifelong memory, this can only be a hike in the Central Drakensberg. The start was the Cathedral Peak Hotel to Injisuthi over a seven-day period.
The plan was to hike high up on the escarpment of the Maloti, which forms the border between South Africa and the Kingdom of Lesotho. The plateau up to 3400m in height, the highest point 3482m known as Thabana Ntlenyana. Located in the north-east of the mountain range, the highest peak of Southern Africa.
Two friends – Adrian and Sean planned this hike. Since this was a trip I’m interested in, when I heard that Adrian was planning it, and then started to see his pictures on Facebook, I had to get hold of him and ask him to write up about it as it was going to be an adventure that many people would like to read about and hopefully plan for themselves.
Adrian Tregoning’s full account documented with photos, audio (on Soundcloud) and a video is on his blog : https://adriantregoning.wordpress.com/2016/06/01/7-day-central-drakensberg-traverse-2016/
Their hike started on the 8th May 2016 and took 7 days with the distance of 82km covered from the start at Cathedral Peak Hotel and ending at Injisuthi campsite. The cost was R720 for 2 people to spend 6 nights out hiking. R60 per person per night is pretty cheap for the most amazing adventure in the Central Drakensberg in South Africa.
Day hike summary:
Day 1 Summary: Time: 5 hours 35 minutes, Distance: 10.82 km, ascended: 778 m, Descended: 202 m.
Day 2 Summary: Time: 6 hours 57 minutes, Distance: 5.82 km, ascended: 1021 m, Descended: 112 m.
Day 3 Summary: Time: 5 hours 20 minutes, Distance: 8.29 km, ascended: 522 m, Descended: 341 m.
Day 4 Summary: Time: 8 hours 20 minutes, Distance: 11.82 km, ascended: 785 m, Descended: 1045 m.
Day 5 Summary: Time: 14 hours 27 minutes, Distance: 20.81 km, ascended: 1201 m, Descended: 945 m.
Day 6 Summary: Time: 11 hours 22 minutes, Distance: 10.15 km, ascended: 260 m, Descended: 1350 m.
Day 7 Summary: Time: 9 hours 12 minutes, Distance: 15.05 km, ascended: 434 m, Descended: 940 m
Total hike summary: 82,73 km was hiked, 5001 metres ascended and 4935 metres descended.
An experience of walking in the wild surrounded by mountain, feeling the wind, rain and snow has to top my wanna-do list. If you do want to get a first-hand documented blog of what it was like, Watch the video – Central Drakensberg Traverse 2016 and read the blog 7 day central drakensberg traverse 2016
Many thanks to Adrian Tregoning for documenting his trip so it can be shared with the rest of the world.
