South Africa: Days 8 & 9 (Durbin & Drakensberg)

We woke up the morning of Day 8 (those of us who went to the Bush Tavern) a little hungover, but piled into the truck to go to Durbin and Ushaka Marine World. It is a combination water-park, aquarium, and dolphin/seal show (similar to Six Flags Marine World/Discovery Kingdom - minus the roller coaster rides). It was the first time I'd seen very large sharks in a tank that would swim right up to the glass - ragged tooth sharks. They would come VERY slowly and you could see all their teeth - it was really cool and got me more psyched about the shark diving I was planning for Cape Town. You could even dive there at the park.

After lunch we drove for the rest of the day to arrive in Drakensberg, which is situated in a valley surrounded by beautiful mountains. When we arrived we had to switch cars to a smaller truck because the road to the inn was very small and very bumpy and we had to drive VERY slowly. We noticed that all the grass seemed to have been burned recently around the road and the innkeeper told us that the night before someone had lit a wildfire. They don't have firefighters in the area so local farmers and the innkeeper had to fight it themselves. It was still smoldering in some places, but it had burned around the inn already so we weren't in any immediate danger - thankfully we got there when we did. The inn was amazing - it was very remote and quiet on the hillside, with the high mountains right behind us. We got settled in and relaxed in the common room before dinner, and as the sun went down the wind picked up and we started to notice the fire was burning again - and it started spreading fast. It was pretty spectacular to watch, its hard not to be somewhat mesmerized by it. Although when we woke up there was a thin layer of ash that had blown in under our door and settled in the bathroom, and our guide and innkeeper had been out during the night to help the local farmers fight the fire. It had really spread.

We had a hike scheduled on Day 9 to the top of the mountains behind the inn and we started trudging through the scorched grass to some original bushman cave paintings. There was ash and dust blowing everywhere. The cave paintings were amazing to see in their natural habitat, not inside a museum, not covered by glass. The paintings are 2,000-3,000 years old and depict bushman life, including hunting, and encountering the Zulus, who ultimately exterminated most of them.

After this, we continued up the trail and up the mountain, almost at a climb. As we neared the top we had to climb the rock face at the top of the mountain in order to reach the flat peak. And once on top we encountered the full force of the wind, although it wasn't dusty and ash-filled like it was down below. Once on the top we rested and Pietre took us 2 at a time to the edge of the cliff where we got a chance to view a vulture colony tucked up into the rocky cliffs of the mountain. It was really impressive.

Once on top we were going to walk along the top of the mountain and around the valley but because the top isn't very wide we were in danger of being blown off so we climbed back down the mountain the way we came and after choosing an alternate route for a lower hike, we backed out because the wind and dust had reached a point where you had to stop and shield your eyes from the bits of dirt and ash that were stinging your face. Once back at camp we saw just how black, ashy, and covered in soot we all were. We actually had black ash in our ears and up our noses for about 3 days after. We watched the wind also flare up hotspots on the mountainside above our trail and take out some more trees and grass.

The wind continued to howl for the rest of our day and throughout the night as we slept - we could only imagine what the fire was doing.