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Published: June 28th 2006
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Self Time Function...3 2 1
After a few attempts witht the self timer, we finally got one right. For the second time in as many days we began our day with the intentions of heading to The Ampitheatre in the Northern Drakensburg, however upon hearing advice and recommendations from Lutcho and Veran at Karma BP, decided instead to head to The Champagne Valley in The Central Drak'. The name alone was enough to convince Dani to go, but Veran and Lutcho sold us when they told us of a backpackers paradise - large, immaculately manicured and unspoilt grounds for camping, great self catering and common area facilities, fabulous home cooked meals, free shuttles to the nearby Cathedral and Monks Cowl National Parks and above all else, an extremely friendly and knowledgeable host who was not only a personal friend of theirs, but who had been running his lodge for over 20 years. Again for the second time in as many days I reluctantly accepted a lift with our friend David who had also changed his plans for the day and now insisted on driving us wherever we were going. I hadn't yet had the chance to tell Dani of my previous days life threatening experiences in the front seat of Davids VW, so I kindly offered m'lady shotgun and
Champagne Resort G.C.
We could only view the course from the peasants area. for the next three hours sat in the back seat with my head between my knees, my tray table stowed and the fasten seat belt sign well and truly illuminated! We eventually landed at Inkosani Lodge and after setting up camp and making our own delicious Italian style Bunny Chows, spent the afternoon basking in the mountain sunshine and taking in the majestic 360 degree views. Seeing as though it had been a few days since we'd done any hiking of decent significance we decided not to head straight into the mountains and spent the next day wandering between the lodge and "town" which consisted of a few shops, and of significant interest to me, the Champagne Sports Resort and its 18 hole Championship Golf Course. The Sports Club was a bit too hoity toity for these two dirty, stinky backpackers to enter so we walked the perimeter of it's grounds, on the wrong side of the big, get lost barbed wire and electric fence mind you, and took in it's beauty and the various types of antelope and birdlife that called the course home. We stumbled across a place called Falcon Ridge where we were just in time to
Cathedral Peak
Well, somewhere behind the clouds anyway. see a Raptor demonstration. A young saffa by the name of Mark brought out a handful of different raptors including falcons, hence the name, but also hawks, eagles, owls and some very squawky and mischievous vultures. He was very confident and skillful in handling the birds and put on an entertaining and very interesting show. By the time we left Falcon Ridge one of the juvenile male eagles hadn't returned from his daily flight. Apparently he was still finding his wings and would stay out for hours at a time, quite often returning with a duck, lamb or small animal that Mark would have to reimburse to an angry local farmer who would inevitably come knocking on his door. We returned to Inkosana to warm, clean, fragrant and folded clothes. If there was ever a time for Champagne! Before we set out for our final days hiking in The Drakensburg we asked a handful of other backpackers about hikes they'd done, routes, difficulty and times etc but as per usual for Africa we got conflicting responses. Our host Ed, who was every bit as friendly and knowledgeable as we'd been told not only drove us to the Monks Cowl NP,
Bunny Chow Roma
Left over pasta, toasted buns, cheese grilled on toptop. Bom apetito! showed us on the map some popular routes and then leant us money when we discovered we'd (I'd) left our money in the tent. Armed with our standard picnic lunch of sambos, fruit, water and some unbelievably tasty coconut rusks that one of Ed's staff bakes, we set out. For the next five hours we hiked and talked about our future dream of one day having our own small cafe and lodge. The previous weeks of hiking at altitude in Lesotho and mostly with our packs made this days hiking feel like a walk in the park, exuse the pun. We effortlessly came to within 100m of The Sterkhorn summit at 2970m only deciding to stop when the strong winds and poor visibility made the the final narrow pass too dicey for our liking. Apart from that particular part of the hike, Central Drak' wasn't nearly as spectacular as Sani Pass and Black Mountain Range of The Southern Drak' and Lesotho, however it was yet another enjoyable experience, and one which we decided was made easier thanks again to our boot camp training. Ed picked us up on call and after utilising the fantastic self catering facilities and enjoying our
Coming to get you
Whilst taking pics of the owl, Dani couldn't see the young male eagle inching closer. Thankfully when he leaped at her his chain went taught! final, but definately most spectacular mtn night sky, put on all our fresh clean clothes in preparation for the last freezing night that we'd have to endure in our tent for hopefully quite some time.
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