Driving Through the Drakensbergs

The Drakensberg ("dragon mountains" in Afrikaans) Mountains form borders between several provinces and between the countries of Lesotho and Swaziland and South Africa.  They are geologically very old, worn down to the craggy inner cores of the volcanic peaks, with row after row of sharp-edged escarpments that reveal layers of former ocean beds.

The mountain in the above picture doesn't look particularly high until you take into account that the road is nearly 6000 ft. In elevation.  (We landed at Johannesburg airport at over 5000 ft and haven't been below 4000 ft yet - very high plateau amid the mountains.)

To get a sense of the age of the mountain range, an area in the mountains just south of Kruger National Park near the town of Barberton has the oldest rocks found on earth - Barberton Greenstone (one of the Rotary Club members gave us a sample as a souvenir).  The oldest form of life - a micro bacterium - was also found in the same place, as well as many fossils.

Our drive from Rorke's Drift to the small town of Himeville, located on the east end of Sani Pass which separates South Africa from Lesotho, was another adventure on unpaved, unmarked roads - far from the tourist routes.  Our GPS gave it the old college try, but we didn't have complete confidence in its directions.  Our primary clue that we'd taken a wrong turn was when the estimated time of arrival would suddenly increase dramatically.

But we did get there (a couple hours later than expected), and the scenery was spectacular.

This is a picture that John took last year along the same route -

We spent two nights at a farm B&B in Himeville - a beautiful place in a stunning setting at the base of the mountains. 

More giraffes in their garden - these are pretty stationary, though - makes them easier to photograph.

We checked on taking a four-wheel drive tour of Sani Pass (cars like ours aren't permitted on the VERY rough pass), but the options didn't sound appealing, so we spent the day sightseeing in the area, instead.

And posing for picture on the grounds of the B&B.

We ended the day with dinner at a nice little cafe, followed by a spectacular thunderstorm that lasted for hours.