Itinerary

Day 1  Arrive in Drakensberg

We meet you in Durban and transfer you to your hotel at Champagne Castle (2.5hr) in time for dinner .

Day 2   Battle Cave  14km/9mi/5hr

A riverside path lined with pink everlastings leads us beneath the shattered basalt peak of Monk’s Cowl to Battle Cave. Over lunch David interprets the vivid rock paintings, some up to 1000 years old. We return to the hotel for a refreshing swim with a view of the “Dragon’s Back” mountaintops.

Day 3   Blind Man’s Corner  12km/7mi/5hr

On a steady ascent past lesser honeyguides in scarlet bottlebrush trees, we picnic at Blind Man’s Corner beneath the giant red rock cliffs of Kathkin Peak. After lunch, look out for reedbuck and duiker as we descend via a dramatic fern lined defile to be back in time for a pre-dinner sundowner.

Day 4   Cathedral Peak   18km/11mi/6hr

We drive north to Cathedral Peak today – our ascent reveals a panorama of red leonotis and protea splashed across high grassland. After a picnic on a ridge of fairy bell flowers with views of Rainbow Gorge, we descend to drive north again to Royal Natal National Park and our next hotel.

The Cavern Resort  ***
Bergville, Days 4+5+6+7

The Cavern Resort is a very popular hotel with South Africans taking holiday breaks in the northern Drakensberg. It is located very close to the spectacular Amphitheatre and Royal Natal National Park. It doesn’t look like a regular hotel, nestled deep in a low valley, sheltered from the winds of the higher berg by high rocky cliffs, with the actual buildings of the hotel built on a steep slope and surrounded by mature trees and landscaped lawns. All the hotel buildings are thatched, each with a private terrace or balcony. Rooms are spacious and simply decorated – all rooms have showers though not all have baths.

Further details on the hotel website.

Day 5   The Amphitheatre  14km/9mi/5hr

Bluebilled firefinch and orangebreasted rockjumper flit between boulders as we negotiate Thukela Gorge to the very foot of the Amphitheatre – a sheer vertical rock face over 1000m high, atop which lies Lesotho!

Day 6   Royal Natal National Park  12km/7mi/5hr

Limestone cliffs splashed with wild hibiscus frame crystal waterfalls tumbling down from the high berg this morning – great for cooling your feet during our picnic. We pass Lookout Rock enjoying views of the entire valley, before returning to the hotel for another delicious four-course dinner .

Day 7   Cavern Valley Walk  12km/7mi/5hr

A path from the hotel leads through red pear and Cape quince trees to Surprise Ridge for fabulous views of the Amphitheatre. We picnic by bushman paintings at Lone Rock. After lunch we return via Echo Cave, descending through ancient yellowwood trees for a chilled drink on the hotel terrace.

Day 8   Spion Kop and Ladysmith

We head east today to walk in the footsteps of Winston Churchill on a guided tour of Spion Kop – a British defeat in the Boer War . After lunch in a local lodge, we visit the Siege Museum in Ladysmith, before arriving at one of the finest lodge hotels in South Africa at haunting Isandlwana Battlefield.

Day 9   Isandlwana and Rorke’s Drift  15km/9mi/5hr

Passing Zulu villages, we walk from Isandlwana Hill – site of a British defeat in 1879 by the Zulu army - to the famed Rorke’s Drift today, taking the same daisy strewn ox cart track used by the British in 1879.

Isandlwana Lodge  ****
Isandlwana, Days 8+9

This hotel has an air of genuine luxury, with stone flag floors, 20ft floor to ceiling windows giving you panoramic views over the valley, and the finest cuisine and furnishings. The roof is a rolling thatch making it blend in with the rock formation it is located on – incidentally, near where the Zulu general stood to direct his troops during the battle. It is built on 2 levels, with open plan public rooms upstairs and 12 rooms located downstairs. Each is spacious and light with stone floors, lovely fabrics and wooden furnishings, and your private terrace overlooking the entire valley, so you have front row seats for the spectacular lightning storms that rumble along the horizon at sunset. Bedrooms are all doubles with massive stone showers rather than baths, and home made biscuits on the tea and coffee trays.

Further details on the hotel website.

Day 10   Isandlwana to Hluhluwe

We drive through smoky blue hills down to the pineapple and sugar cane plantations of the Elephant Coast today. This is big game country, and we arrive for a late lunch on our private game reserve. Swim and relax this afternoon on your veranda as kudu and zebra graze on the hotel lawns.

Day 11  Game Walk and Hluhluwe Safari

A very early start sees us walking from the hotel with a ranger tracking giraffe, zebra and red duiker . After lunch, we drive to Hluhluwe Game Park for a game drive safari.

Falaza Game Park ****
Hhuhluwe, Days 10+11+12

Falaza Game Park is a private game reserve full of an incredible variety of birds, trees and animals. It is not far from the village of Hluhluwe (roughly pronounced shashlewee), though it feels as if it is miles away. Monkey orange trees, fever trees and sweat thorn acacia are home to duiker, giraffe and most amazingly, the docile white rhino, who can be seen wandering around the grounds. Accommodation here is in permanent luxury tents – these have their own veranda, gorgeous furnishings with wooden floors and lovely artwork, and stone built en-suite bathrooms with baths and showers and fluffy robes and towels.

Further details on the hotel website.

Day 12   St Lucia Wetlands  8km/5mi/4hr

We spot hippo, kingfishers and purple crested turaco in mangroves and sand forest as we climb giant sand dunes for a picnic. We descend to the crashing turquoise Indian Ocean to finish on a perfect white sand beach. Back at the hotel enjoy a delicious final dinner under the stars.

Days 13    Depart South Africa

David drives you down to Durban for your flight home, or your onward flight to the Kruger National Park if you have booked extra nights.

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