Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
Our first day in Umzumbe was a chill out day. In the morning we had a lie-in, lazed around in our treehouse hammock and had a wander to the tiny local shop. At lunchtime we met a brummie couple in the kitchen and spent a few hrs chatting to them. We had a guided hike booked for the next day but during the afternoon one of the hostel staff told us we'd have to rearrange our departure time because they only had one car and needed to do some shopping! She also informed us we wouldn't be getting a guide with the hike. Naturally we weren't impressed and after we complained that an already expensive trip was just now a shuttle service at an inconvenient time, all she could say was 'well u don't have to go'! Not exactly first rate customer service! Prolonged attempts at explaining to her how unacceptable it was failed until magically the penny seemed to finally drop when I insisted in speaking to the hostel owner!
Suddenly they were able to do the shopping another day and also find us with a guide! Later on we found out the staff were all volunteers that were able to keep any money they made from the tours so it was no wonder they didn't want the owner to know they were pulling a fast one. After a makeshift dinner we watched a movie with the brummies and headed to bed.
On the morning of the hike the water supply was off so breakfast was a makeshift affair. Along with our guide Jeff, a new member of staff - Harrison - was now joining us on our walk to shoot some video footage for a hostel promo. We waited for over half an hour as he faffed around with his camera equipment before finally getting underway. After a quick stop in Port Shepstone for supplies we headed to Oribi Gorge. Arriving half an hour later in the national park we began the hike - which bizarrely Jeff was doing barefoot as he apparently hasnt worn shoes for over two years! Past streams, over rocks and though leafy jungle, the hike was fairly easy going and in a little under two hours we reached Oribi Waterfalls where we stopped for lunch. It was dry season so the falls werent hugely impressive but it meant we had the opportunity to climb to the top without getting wet. Jeff led us up using a random and at times precarious route he'd recently 'discovered' himself - part of it involved crawling along loose rocks on a narrow ridge with a sheer drop down one side. It probably wasnt the best advised climb - Jeff knew the terrain well but was in no way a real tour guide! - but it was good fun and we got down in one piece! We got back to the car around 4pm and headed to another part of the gorge to walk a suspension bridge hanging 120m high above the trees. After scaring ourselves crossing it a couple of times we jumped back in the car and returned to the hostel. We just had enough time to shower and eat before the Baz Bus arrived to take us on to Durban.
Pulling in gone 10pm our initial impression of Durban and in particular our hostel was not good - dark, dingy and lacking any kind of atmosphere. In the sunny light of day the hostel actually looked pretty decent - albeit a little empty - and after breakfast we discovered the area we were in was quite nice. Walking through the nearby Marine World we strolled along the beachfront for an hour or so before stopping for a bunny chow lunch. Bunny chow is curry served in a hollowed out half loaf of bread. It tasted great, especially where the bread had soaked up the curry, but it was so big I had to admit defeat before finishing it! After grabbing some grocerie's we took a long walk back to the hostel to sleep off lunch. Several hours later, we headed out to grab a drink before dinner at Cargo - a local restaurant where you ate dinner next to a shark tank! Sadly after a few drinks I wasn't feeling great - maybe it was the bunny chow! - so we never made it to Cargo, instead heading back to the hostel for an early night!
A seven o'clock start meant we arrived at our hostel in North Drakensberg around midday. At Amphitheatre Backpackers we then had to endure the longest check-in process known to man as the batty owner insisted on dealing with people arriving on the Baz Bus as one large group then fannied about with key deposits, forgetting names, setting tabs, before making us sit through a slideshow of photos from tours they ran. It was particularly galling to watch photos of their trip to Lesotho since that was the thing we arrived expecting to do but were told it wasn't running! When we finally got our room key we dumped our bags and went to explore the hostel. The grounds were awesome, huge open spaces for camping, indoor and outdoor kitchens, dorms constructed from converted grain silos, a swimming pool and even a jacuzzi in the bar! ...And all set in the sprawling beauty of the Drakensberg mountain range. We spent the afternoon chilling out on the grass, reading and enjoying the views before cooking dinner and heading to the bar for a few drinks. Things were pretty quiet There wasn't so we watched some TV upstairs before going to bed.
With the Lesotho trip not running we instead signed up for a 12km hike into the Drakensberg mountains to visit the highest waterfall in Africa (and the second highest in the world). A group of about 15 of us were up at 7.30am for the two hour drive to the start of the hike. The roads were so bad and riddled with potholes it was a wonder the minibus made it!
The hike was relatively easy for the first few hours until we reached a steep incline which took us up 250m through a rocky crevice. The climb was tricky to negotiate and our footing often slipped on the loose rocks but half an hour later we reached the top exhausted. The view as we ate lunch was amazing. A while later, rested and fed, we walked across the top of the mountain to the waterfall. When we got there though the falls were dry so there was nothing to see! Ploughing on we reached a set of chain ladders that took us back down part of the mountain. Even though the combined height if the ladders was probably no more than 50m, it felt a lot higher and was a pretty cool - if slightly scary way - of getting down the mountain! Ladders successfully negotiated, much of the rest of the hike involved returning using the same route we took for the first few hours of the morning. Over six hours after starting, we arrived back at the carpark and collapsed exhausted into the waiting minibus. Oddly enough the exertion seemed to have given me swollen fingers!
Back at the hostel, after a welcome shower and a home-cooked dinner, we hit the bar. It was busier than the previous night as some people from the local villages were in, but it still wasn't particularly lively. We alternated between playing cards in the bar and watching tv upstairs with the hostels half-blind, half-deaf dog before heading to bed around 1.
After checking out the next morning, we took a walk to stretch our aching limbs before chilling in the gardens. Around midday the Baz Bus arrived to take us to Johannesburg. Smoke from a roadside field-fire made the main route impassable but after a quick detour we got back on track and arrived around 5pm. Our hostel was cheap and right next to the airport but sadly it was also an absolute dump! The bedroom was grimy and the kitchen units fell apart on the slightest contact so we abandoned plans to cook dinner and headed over the road to grab drinks and dinner in a much nicer hotel! Waddling back, stuffed after another all-u-can-eat buffet dinner much, we sat up for an hour to do some much needed internetting before heading to bed.
- comments