Photos from the Drakensberg area
May. 23rd, 2007 04:30 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dryfterI'm back from Cape Town, as of yesterday.
However, here are some photos from the trip prior, to the Drakensberg mountains, including the KwaZuluNatal national park.
(click through to view the set)
The Drakensberg area was quiet, hardly any other tourists around. I suppose it is out of season, though. Loads and LOADS of very pretty mountain scenes. Hiked a bit around Cathedral Peak, but the signposting was wrong and ended up in Rainbow Gorge, instead of at Dorian/Doreen Falls. (The signs disagreed on the spelling). Was rather nice anyway though.
Also went to the KwaZuluNatal national park, although didn't have enough time to hike up to the myriad of waterfalls around there. Saw the Cascades though. If you go to the KZN national park, I'd recommend camping there and allowing at least a couple of full days to explore it - it was large, and you have to hike everywhere - no driving. The campground looked good. Note: you really should take a map, as the big one at the entrance was completely useless, and didn't even point north, nor did it have elevation lines, which given you're dealing with mountains and canyons and cliffs, would really have helped a lot!
I also saw a lot of small regional villages - traditional (I presume) thatched huts, built from fired mud/clay bricks. People seemed quite happy, and waved at us as we went past. People were doing their laundry in rivers, or just swimming for fun. Annoyingly, young kids would swamp you, cupping their hands to beg, unless you kept driving, in these areas. Not cool that they've learned that response to rich white people. Older kids would happily wave at you as you drove past, though.
All these people looked healthy and well-fed, and pretty happy and well-off, in their own way. Quality clothing, shoes, etc, so they can't be doing too badly, and living off the land. Lots of schools, universally sponsered by Clover, a brand of milk.
Things I learned: I can't seem to take clear photos out of a moving vehicle, even at fast (1/500 or 1/1000 sec) shutter speeds.
However, here are some photos from the trip prior, to the Drakensberg mountains, including the KwaZuluNatal national park.
(click through to view the set)
The Drakensberg area was quiet, hardly any other tourists around. I suppose it is out of season, though. Loads and LOADS of very pretty mountain scenes. Hiked a bit around Cathedral Peak, but the signposting was wrong and ended up in Rainbow Gorge, instead of at Dorian/Doreen Falls. (The signs disagreed on the spelling). Was rather nice anyway though.
Also went to the KwaZuluNatal national park, although didn't have enough time to hike up to the myriad of waterfalls around there. Saw the Cascades though. If you go to the KZN national park, I'd recommend camping there and allowing at least a couple of full days to explore it - it was large, and you have to hike everywhere - no driving. The campground looked good. Note: you really should take a map, as the big one at the entrance was completely useless, and didn't even point north, nor did it have elevation lines, which given you're dealing with mountains and canyons and cliffs, would really have helped a lot!
I also saw a lot of small regional villages - traditional (I presume) thatched huts, built from fired mud/clay bricks. People seemed quite happy, and waved at us as we went past. People were doing their laundry in rivers, or just swimming for fun. Annoyingly, young kids would swamp you, cupping their hands to beg, unless you kept driving, in these areas. Not cool that they've learned that response to rich white people. Older kids would happily wave at you as you drove past, though.
All these people looked healthy and well-fed, and pretty happy and well-off, in their own way. Quality clothing, shoes, etc, so they can't be doing too badly, and living off the land. Lots of schools, universally sponsered by Clover, a brand of milk.
Things I learned: I can't seem to take clear photos out of a moving vehicle, even at fast (1/500 or 1/1000 sec) shutter speeds.