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Published: June 17th 2017
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01 Pink Bum
The baboon's pink bum is very visible as it walks away from us. Geo: -28.6938, 28.9277
After breakfast Paul, Brett and I prepared ourselves to go for another hike. We drove out of the campsite at about half past nine. During the drive we stopped to watch a troop of baboons. These baboons were quite large ones and I hoped I wouldn't come across them at our campsite as I found them a bit intimidating.
It was a very short drive to the car park near Thendele Lodge. We were walking through the Tugela Gorge, which would take us to Tugela Falls (one of the tallest waterfalls in the world) and then returning via the same path. Tugela Falls plunges over the 5km long Amphitheatre's cliff tops. The walk is 14km long and apparently should take us about five and a half hours. To me this hike sounded way too adventurous and long. Although today was another great day for a hike, as it was cloudy with cool weather. We registered our hike in the book and then at a bit after 10 we were off.
The first six and a half kilometres of the walk was on a path that wound along and above the Tugela River. It wasn't a difficult walk, as there
02 Baboons
The baboons walking through the soccer field. were only slight inclines. Just like yesterday, Paul and Brett were on the lookout for new varieties of birds.
Every now and then the cloudy mist would slightly clear and give us some visibility of the Amphitheatre. At the beginning of the walk, the Tugela River was quite small and thin. So far it was a nice and easy walk along the path that leads through indigenous forests.
Along the way we stopped to look at various flowers, trees, birds and for me to have a little rest. Each time we rounded a corner I was hoping to see the gorge, but we were not there yet. I really enjoyed the view of the valley as we slowly hiked.
We then came across a small waterfall. Paul and Brett decided to have a little shower. The water was very cold and I was more than happy to sit on a rock and rest.
It was at about half past one when we arrived at the gorge. As we walked through the gorge, I admired amazing colours of the rocks. From here the walk continued to Tugela Falls, but the rest of the walk was a bit of a challenge, as
03 Scenery
A scenic view of the national park. it involved boulder hopping and a couple of river crossings. I decided to wait as Paul and Brett continued on for a little while. While they were gone, I enjoyed the peaceful surroundings. I managed to catch a glimpse of part of the Amphitheatre as the clouds slightly lifted.
About half an hour later they returned, then we turned around and walked back along the same path. The walk to the car was so much quicker than this morning. When we arrived in the car we drove back to the campsite.
We were exhausted and more than happy to sit around in our camping chairs. A little while later our friends Neil and Claudine arrived. We started the fire, sat around it, ate snacks as we had a few drinks and chatted.
Then, just as we were about to start cooking our dinner, the storm began. We all quickly retreated to our tents. It was a torrential downpour that was not stopping. We ended up going to bed early and a little bit hungry. This was typical weather of the Drakensberg.
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