Drakensberg Tour Guide to accommodation, walking trails, hiking guides and hotels
 
Top 10 "MUST DO" Drakensberg attractions
Game Pass Shelter - Kamberg Rock Art Worlds View Hiking Trail - Giants Castle Central Drakensberg Drakensberg Boys Choir - Central Drakensberg Drakensberg Horse trails Drakensberg hot air ballooning
Game Pass Shelter - The top bushman rock art site situated in Kamberg World View Hiking Trail - An easy and awsome Drakensberg walk at Giants Castle Drakensberg Boys Choir concerts - Most wednesdays the choir inspires the public Drakensberg horse trails in a panoramic vista unsurpassed Hot air ballooning over the Drakensberg region
Sani Pass - A 4x4 experince to to roof of Africa Midlands Meander arts and Crafts Route Tugela Falls Weenen Game Reserve Drakensberg adventure activities
Sani Pass - A 4x4 experience to the roof of Africa Midlands Meander - Arts and Craft route that is the best in South Africa The Tugela Falls - The second hightest waterfall in the World Game Viewing in Weenen Game Reserve where rhino sightings are almost garenteed The Drakensberg offers exciting adventure activities including white water rafting, microlight flights, canopy tours and abseiling experiences.
Top 5 "ACCOMMODATION" recommendations for the Drakensberg
Sani Pass - A 4x4 experince to to roof of Africa Worlds View Hiking Trail - Giants Castle Central Drakensberg Drakensberg Boys Choir - Central Drakensberg Game Pass Shelter - Kamberg Rock Art White Water Rafting - The drakensberg also offers quad biking, canopy tours and nicrolighting
Antbear Guest House - Best situated to experience all the top Drakensberg attractions Ardmore Guest Farm - A beautiful location in the Champagne Valley specialses in family accommodation Drakensberg Mountain Retreat - Northen Drakensberg with the best view anywhere Drakensberg Cave Lodge - Romantic and intimate this luxury cave that includes a jacuzzi bath, fire place and deck with hammock chairs Zingela River Lodge - A paradise on the banks of the Tugela River. Lots of activities and unique accommodation

Drakensberg Nature Reserves
- Royal Natal
- Cathedral Peak
- Mnweni
- Monks Cowl
- Injasuti
- Giants Castle
- Highmoor
- Kamberg
- Lotheni
- Vergelegen
- Sani Pass
- Cobham
- Bushmans Nek

Drakensberg Attractions
- Bushman Rock Art
- Hiking Trails
- Hot air ballooning
- Horse trails
- Helicopter & Microlight flights
- Restaurants
- Arts & Crafts
- Drakensberg Boys Choir
- Canopy Tours
- Midlands Meander
- Fly Fishing
- Game Viewing
- Golf
- White Water rafting
- Birding
- Quad Biking
- 4x4 Offroad trails
- Battlefield Tours
- Wine Tasting
- Museums
- Bicycle tours
- Abseiling
- Wellness & Spas

Drakensberg Towns
- Bergville
- Ladysmith
- Winterton
- Estcourt
- Mooi River
- Weenen
- Underberg
- Himeville
- Rosetta
- Nottingham Road
- Balgowan
- Howick
- Lidgetton
- Currys Post
- Karkloof
- Lions River
- Fort Nottingham
- Hilton
- Dargle

Drakensberg Accommodation

Drakensberg Links

Drakensberg

 

 

 

 

Oliviershoek Pass - Northern Drakensberg

A scenic drive along the Alternative Route to Durban from Harrismith, will take you down the Oliviershoek Pass.

The trek-party of Piet Retief started to ascend the Drakensberg along the Oliviershoek Pass on 19 October 1837. They trekked left past the Oudeberg Spring until they reached a fountain, near the present day Retief Rock, where they stopped for a short period. Erasmus Smit named this area Kerkenberg because it reminded him of a church or a place where religious gatherings could be held. During this time Piet Retief was visiting King Dingane in order to negotiate the possibility of acquiring some land for the Voortrekkers. On his 57th birthday (12 November 1837) his daughter, Debora Retief, wrote her father's name and the date on an overhanging rock with green paint. The other names that appear on the rock are those of the Bethlehem commando that occupied the Oliviershoek Pass on 10 October 1899 with the outbreak of the Anglo-Boer War.

This rock can still be seen today. It is situated 30 km south of Harrismith, over the steep Oliviershoek Pass at Kerkenberg. The green painted writing is protected against natural elements such as the wind and rain by a glass case, which was placed over the writing much later. With the 1937-Centenary Celebrations a commemorative plaque was unveiled by Mrs. J.C. Preller and in 1986 the English version of the plaque was donated by students of the Pretoria Technicon.

The Oliviershoek Pass straddles the border between the Free State and KwaZulu-Natal just a few kilometres to the south of the starkly beautiful Sterkfontein Dam Nature Reserve. The area is a mass of deep dark pine forest that overlooks the northern reaches of the Royal Natal National Park, which boasts some of the most spectacular scenery in Africa.

This is an excellent spot for day trips into the majestic Drakensberg Mountains just a few kilometres away, being close to Mont-aux-Sources, the Inner Mnweni Needle and Cathedral Peak and the Amphitheatre. There are plenty of short hikes in the area for the not-so-experienced hiker, and plenty of climbs for the experienced rock and mountain climber. Horses may be hired for those wishing to trek in the area. At the southern end of the pass is the area known as Little Switzerland, and the surrounding area has ample accommodation.

The Border of the Free State and KwaZulu-Natal provinces is as the top of the Oliviershoek Pass here, lies the large and beautiful Sterkfontein Dam which forms part of the Tugela Vaal Water Scheme that supplies water to Johannesburg. The clear water of this large dam is suitable for watersports such as sailing, windsurfing and waterskiing. Overlooking the dam is a spot where the conservation authorities leave carcasses for the Cape Vultures - a vulture "restaurant".

From the Oliviershoek Pass the escarpment changes to Karoo sandstone in Kwazulu-Natal, to granites in Swaziland, and finally to quarzites along the Mpumalanga and Northern Province Drakensberg.