Blogs from Free State, South Africa, Africa - page 8

Africa » South Africa » Free State » Kestell June 26th 2006

We awoke in Kestell to a wet and miserable day and instead of travelling further into the Nthn Drakensburg to The Ampitheatre, decided to just stay put. After 8 or 9 days of hectic travel we wanted somewhere to chill out and recharge our batteries and Karma was certainly the place for that. Apart from David, a young and very green German, and the two gorgeous staffies Solomon and Jess, we had the place to ourselves. From the moment we'd staggered in the previous night, Veran and Lutcho made us feel completely at home and we were sure they were glad for the company too. Veran and Lutcho are somewhat self sufficient, growing their own fresh produce, making delicious jams and chutneys and much to Danis delight, sharing a love of, and the know how to ... read more

Going over the top in the Drakensberg!!

Africa » South Africa » Free State » Drakensberg June 11th 2006

The Amphitheatre

John Miranda

After the low of Durban, the Dragon Mountains were a high - quite literally! It's all high round here and the primary activities are hiking up various peaks, climbing cliffs and then figuring out the best way down. Where else can you go abseiling for 65 rand? A 25 metre drop doesn't sound like a long way, but it certainly looks it when you are on the edge. Fortunately, we know a man who had another rope just to make sure it didn't end in tears. We have been reunited with the Bavaria girls, who we'd last seen in Cape Town and they were in the group on the guided hike to the top of the Amphitheatre @ 3100 metres. While it wasn't exactly mountaineering, it wasn't a walk in the park either! There was plenty ... read more

In the Mountains

Africa » South Africa » Free State » Drakensberg May 8th 2006

mountains1.html

Meg and Ry and Heather

After a 4 hour drive we finally arrived in the mountains for Marianne's wedding. We had a 3 bedroom 3 bathroom cottage it was very beuatiful and the weather very much cooperated. We played some tennis and even went on a hike to this waterfall where you could go in this cave it was very pretty. On saturday we had the wedding which was very nice and then on sunday we leave to go to durban and the beach house foe 2 days then on to Hluhluwe for a 3 day safari.... read more

Winging it

Africa » South Africa » Free State » Kestell April 30th 2006

Dani on the hitch

snozlington

After again finding our little t/a shop for more fatcakes and juice we discussed the different options available to us for todays travel. We could either go further south to yesterdays intended destination, Malealea, or we could head north to Maseru and the border. Both options had their pros and cons. Specifically, heading to Malealea would mean further backtracking to where we wanted to exit Lesotho, and heading to Maseru and the border would mean it was most likely our last day in our newly beloved Lesotho. In the end we decided to stand on the side of the road and see what happened. We only waited a minute or two before the first mini bus pulled up. It was going all the way to Maseru and even though we could have got out at the ... read more

I'm alive

Africa » South Africa » Free State » Drakensberg April 26th 2006

Camping at splashy fen

LaurenG

Well it seems Emily has thorougly bested me in the whole keeping up with the blog thing. And heck, I haven't seen 25 dead people sitting in a van, so my adventures may pale in comparison. I think I'll claim temporary blindness and loss of my fingers. Its tough. I'm having to learn to type with my toes. I'm back from the nether regions of South Africa, where I disappeared for a few weeks in search of wild adventure and unexpectedly wierd people. Seriously, this place has some characters. But before I indulge all of you in such stories, I have to say, My mailbox is sad. She has received no wonderful letters from around the world, besides Whitney's beautiful postcards, so right now only whitney is getting sweet south african gifts. ( yes that might ... read more

Mountain Adventure Day 1

Africa » South Africa » Free State » Drakensberg April 22nd 2006

Braided and Jaded

snozlington

Mole, our Israeli hitchiker announced that she was ready and that the taxi was on it's way, even though we were clearly not ready. Once in town she dumped her bag on the sidewalk, with purse open and in full view of every pickpocket, scumbag and lowlife in the southern hemisphere and instructed us to mind it whilst she retrieved her bags from the boot. It was with great enthusiasm at the end of our second taxi ride of the day, this one from the infamous KFC spot that we spent the previous day trying to find, that myself and Dani said "See ya!" when she told us she was getting off. On that taxi ride from Durban to Pietermaritzburg we met an old man with decent English who was happy to talk to the two ... read more

On Safari

Africa » South Africa » Free State » Drakensberg April 13th 2006

You guessed it, at the mall again.

secondhandbreck

This past weekend I went on Safari to Kruger National Park. This massive wildlife refuge (it's bigger than the Netherlands) was created in 1898 in response to the poaching and encroaching associated with the South African gold rush. It's hard to use words to describe my experience in this amazing preserve, so instead I will use mainly pictures. I would like to describe one experience I had on the way to the park, though, as the pictures don't really seem to do it justice. We left Pretoria at the god awful hour of 5 am so that we could make several stops along the way. One of these stops was at a zipline that stretched over a waterfall and the Blyde River Canyon. Now, I have been skydiving before so I didn't expect that a mere ... read more

Hiking in the 'bergs

Africa » South Africa » Free State » Drakensberg February 13th 2006

view from near the amphitheatre

AndrasMtl

Feb 10-13 On February the 10th, I rented a car, and left Jo'burg for the Northern Drakensberg. That was an adventure in itself: driving manual, driving on the left and driving in Johannessburg without a map. It took me more than an hour to get out of the city, and it was not because of the traffic. Anyway, I arrived safely at the Amphitheatre Backpacker, situated near the Royal Natal National Park in the Northern Drakensberg. On February the 10th, I went on an organized hike to the top of the Amphitheatre, one of the spectacular peak of the Drakensbergs. It was a good hike, unfortunately it was very foggy (or was it the clouds) but it was hard to see anything. Too bad, we should have seen one of the tallest waterfalls in the world ... read more

Brief history of South Africa

After the British seized the Cape of Good Hope area in 1806, many of the Dutch settlers (the Boers) trekked north to found their own republics. The discovery of diamonds (1867) and gold (1886) spurred wealth and immigration and intensified the subjug...more history

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