Amphitheatre (Drakensberg) Jan 2007

Day 1 (6 January): We left Harrismith at around 05:30, driving through Phuthaditjaba to get to Sentinel car park at around 06:45. The road between the car park and Witsieshoek Mountain resort was definitely repaired and the driving was actually enjoyable. We sorted out all our gear, paid and left for the zig-zags. With only Ian, Laurel and myself in the group, I expected to make good time, and was not disappointed. We followed the viewpoint route and took a few pictures on the edge. Laurel complained about her bag being a bit heavy so I took her daypack off her pack and had Ian latch it onto mine. We reached the chain ladder in good time and it wasn’t long before we reached the top. We were at the lip of the Tugela by 10:10. Dark looking clouds were building over Lesotho and I made the call to rather go up to the cave than carry on on the escarpment. Basothos came to visit at the falls and it made me very apprehensive. We filled our water bottles and started the long slog to the cave. From far away we spotted two figures at the top of Crow’s Nest and as we came nearer we heard them play music on their own instruments. The Basothos approached along the top of Crow’s Nest and when we arrived in the cave they walked down and stood at the entrance watching us. One started playing his instrument again but we ignored them and eventually they disappeared. Having had little sleep the previous night in Harrismith due to some noisy kids, we decided to make some tea and then have a snooze. At around 5pm we got up to start dinner. Ian walked down to the river to fetch water while I started cooking. At the end of the day the weather never got worse than threatening clouds and I was slightly disappointed that we didn’t carry on to the Ifidi area. We slept reasonably well and had no Basotho trouble.

Day 2 (7 January): We woke early to a red line on the eastern horizon topped with heavy cloud. We didn’t see the sun rise but had early breakfast before setting off just after 7am. It started to rain just before we left and we were dressed in full rain gear, carrying our daypacks with lunch, water, cameras and navigation equipment. I decided it was worth the risk leaving our packs in the small wormhole next to Crow’s Nest cave. We hiked down the slope of Crow’s Nest towards the Khubedu valley. After the first hill I picked up the Khubedu shunt and we made good time despite a strong Lesotho wind. We passed the first valley that leads up to the back of Mt Amery and turned up the valley leading to Ifidi and Ifidi buttress. Crossing the Khubedu we took a short rest break, getting too cold in the wind to sit very long. We walked fast up the valley as well and eventually I spotted Ifidi buttress at the head of the valley. Getting to the top of Ifidi buttress was dead easy but we were greeted with a view worth much more effort! It was an unbelievable sight – although everything was covered in very heavy blue cloud, we could see the entire Mnweni cutback, Cathedral range and even the Cathkin range in the distance. Taking a few photos we soon got up to leave; the wind was chilling us very fast. We descended towards the escarpment edge and then climbed up to Ifidi. From here we could see the Ifidi valley, Thaba Edanyazana and Mt Amery. We descended to the top of Ifidi pass and had a very hurried lunch in the icy wind. Ian had complained that morning already about a sore hip joint and it kept bothering him during the hike. Consequently I decided to rather head straight back to the cave via the inland valley, instead of sticking to the escarpment. We set a fast pace down the valley and soon crossed the tip of the spur to get Crow’s Nest back in view. At the Bilanjil stream we quickly filled our bottles before starting the climb. Having had very little to eat for lunch I lacked the energy to get up the hill but finally managed it. We were very happy with having done about 19km before 1pm! It was chilly in the cave and we have been looking forward to a cup of tea so I immediately set about brewing two pots of tea. After tea and some snacks, we put the groundsheet down and had a bit of a snooze, resting tired muscles. A little before 5pm I went to fetch water and started cooking when I returned. Laurel and Ian helped by cutting up the veggies and bully beef. After dinner we sat drinking tea and eating Romany creams, watching the afternoon clouds billowing onto the escarpment. During the night the clouds closed in every now and again but sometimes I was still able to see stars.

Day 3 (8 January): I got up early to see the sun rise and was glad to see a blanket of cloud below the Amphitheatre. I took lots of pictures as the sun rose but eventually it was time to eat and pack up. Although I thought about climbing Mont-aux-Sources this day, none of us seemed too keen to do anymore than getting down so by 7am we were on our way. Just before descending down to the chain ladder we stopped to take some pictures – the low cloud over the northern ‘Berg made for some good shots. Past Sentinel we started descending into the cloud and it got a bit chilly, but as we approached the car park we dipped below the cloud ceiling. After signing out we were on our way back.