I meet Sophie at the airport just before 7AM . We haven’t seen each other in well over a month, and last time we were working ourselves weary with my departure. I give her a big hug and kiss and a little stuffed leopard as soon as she makes her way through the crowd. I’m excited to show her around, though in fact the first six nights we won’t be anywhere I’ve been before myself.
She’s tired, but still bright. We leave straight from the airport and head to Drakensberg. It’s a mountainous national park in western KwaZulu-Natal, right on the border with Lesotho. It’s also bout a three and a half hour drive. We only get slightly lost once as we pass through some construction, and asking a gas station attendant quickly solves that.
Most of the drive down is golden plains dotted with little shrubby trees. We pass through a few towns, small but nice ones, and some rural areas where Sophie gets to see the traditional African huts and simple country living. Even as we are entering the park area, the mountains are not visible, just rolling hills.
One thing we note as we drive along is how scarce trees are. And there aren’t any tall or straight trees. It’s pretty obvious why the local traditional houses were largely grass and mud — that’s all there is to build with around here!
Finally as we get onto the last road that will lead us to the hotel, we see the mountains rising up before us. The road gets windy, and as we round each bend we see amazing sights. The Drakensberg range is definitely one of the most beautiful mountain ranges I’ve seen. Very different, but on par with Yosemite and the Canadian Rockies, both of which I love.
Little farming settlements dot the hillsides along the road, huts and small houses come in family clusters. Kids play, adults tend goats and cattle, and ladies carry large loads on their heads. I’ve seen the head carrying around Dundee too, but hadn’t mentioned it. I see it most days if I’m out and about. Even at the supermarket, some ladies will carry home the bag of goods on their head. It’s an amazing skill that requires continuous micro-adjustments in your neck. But they make it look effortless. I hear that once a teacher made Alan a bit nervous by carrying a Mac SE on her head for a bit, just to show him.
We note that while some of the settlements are very simple or even run down looking, many others look comfortable and some are quite attractive. With the amazing view it actually looks idyllic. We like the romantic idea of waking up in such a place each morning.
At one point Sophie gasps with distress. “What’s that?” I ask. “You didn’t see that? That lady was pushing a wheelbarrow with a dead body in it.”
I had seen a someone pushing a wheelbarrow with something in it, but I hadn’t paid attention to the contents. Apparently it was the corpse of a young man. I double check with her that maybe he wasn’t dead. She confirms that he was limp in a way that seemed to indicate death. The limbs were long and didn’t fit in the wheelbarrow, so they hung out. The sight was chilling. We note that in this environment people just have to deal with death on a much more practical level than we ever do. The knowledge of that unfortunate reality casts a pall over us for a while.
But eventually the beauty of the landscape and the joy of life help to ease it. We cross a small bridge over a river, and looking down into the gently flowing waters to see local ladies washing their families’ clothes. Children are splashing in the water.
Finally we arrive at the Cathedral Peak Hotel. We’re a bit early to check in, so we have a bit of lunch on the deck. The view of the mountains is spectacular, and I am glad that Sophie will be able to capture some of that beauty.
We check in and a bellhop walks us to our room. It is a standalone cottage, round in the style of a Zulu hut, with a grass roof and everything. It is larger, though, and the inside is a well appointed bedroom and bath. It looks to be very comfortable, and creates a wonderful mood. Looking out from the bed, the entire far wall is cut away and made of glass, revealing the most picturesque view of natural beauty since we stayed in Banff a few years back.
There’s no place to go within 30 kilometers aside from the Hotel restaurant, so dinner is included in the price of the room. After a nap and a walk of the grounds, we arrive at the restaurant and find it to be a high quality buffet. The hotel has 90 rooms, and so the restaurant is a goodly size, and nearly full when we come. The food is on par with the best Las Vegas buffets.
The contrast to my previous weeks, and moreso the contrast with the surrounding land is staggering.
After dinner we take a peek at the activity lists — the hotel offers a lot of stuff. We decide on doing a hike tomorrow, and then we go back to the room and sleep. It is early yet, but sleep comes easy and lasts a good long time.