Amphitheatre (Drakensberg) May 2006

This was to be the first Drakensberg hike I guided for Wild Cave Adventures. After getting all I need, I picked Elizabeth up and drove to Kensington, Jo'burg, via the R21 and R24. There we met Josh and Caroline and repacked their vehicle. We left Jo'burg at around 4pm, drove to Harrismith and camped at the municipal campsite. I slept outside but my Ferrino tent was used for the three clients.

Day 1 (13 May): We got up at 05:30, took the tent down and dumped everything in the car. The drive up to Sentinel went without problems but Josh had to drive extremely slow up the terrible dirt track that’s still as bad as two weeks previously. Upon arrival I started boiling water for breakfast. We had breakfast, dried the tent, signed in and left on the trail at around 09:15. We walked well initially but when the gradient started getting steeper, we slowed down considerably. I was carrying very heavy with all the food and the climbing rope. I decided to walk to the Viewpoint as the day was beautiful and we still had lots of time. At the Viewpoint we stopped to take some photos and then moved on. We finally got onto the contour path and I thought we can finally start moving faster. However, our speed did not pick up and we slowly made our way past Sentinel. I was hoping to have lunch at the Tugela falls lip but this idea started to disappear. It was already 12:00 when we stopped for a break just short of the gully. The walk to the chain ladder was slow enough to be torture and when we got there, I still had to belay Elizabeth and Caroline up the ladder as well as carry packs up. Luckily they were prepared to climb the 2nd ladder on their own but both Josh and I still had to ferry packs up and down. I already made up my mind that we are not going to the Tugela falls lip but rather straight to the cave. We haven’t had lunch yet and from the top of the ladders we walked to the first corssing of the Tugela where we sat for a decent lunch of cheese, tomato, mussels, crackers and Clifton. I then asked Josh to carry the rope, Elizabeth Josh’s share of the tent, while I added ten liters of water to my pack. We slowly made our way up to the cave. I got there first and returned to help Caroline with her pack. Finally in the cave, we spread out the groundsheets and I started brewing some tea. Not long after the tea was finished did I start with the dinner. Elizabeth and Josh helped to dice the onion and pepper and I heated up the pots. After cooking the onion and bacon I did the spaghetti and later I added the pepper and sauce to the onion and bacon. After a really nice meal I washed up and boiled water for the cake and custard pudding. Despite the full moon we were able to see some of the stars and I sat outside for a while before crawling into bed. Elizabeth got cold the previous night in Harrismith, so I gave her the tent to use as a blanket as well.

Day 2 (14 May): I woke everyone at 6am to get some pictures of the sunrise. It was a beautiful day but the wind was chilly. After breakfast we packed up and started walking down to the Tugela falls. At the falls the wind was very cold and I quickly got on some warm gear. There were beautiful ice structures close to the falls and we spent some time taking pictures before leaving for the chain ladder. The walk back to the top of the ladders was quick but I had to set up a belay again for Elizabeth and Caroline. The improvised sit harness I made the previous day kept on sliding off their narrow hips so this time I added an improvised chest harness that worked a lot better. We walked fairly fast around the main wall but when we crossed below Sentinel we slowed down a little again. Just before breakfast rock we sat down for a quick snack before tackling the zig-zags and the last little bit home. We finally made it to the hut just after 12:00, washed hands and faces and left for Nando’s in Harrismith.