Tugela falls is located in the Drakensberg Mountains in the Royal Natal National Park. It is the second tallest waterfall in the world, 948m and the tallest in Africa. The tallest waterfall is Angel Falls located in Venezuela, 979m.
We drove from Lesotho and through Clarens to get some supplies. We bought two long sleeve shirts. Senqu only had men's shirts. If you see my photo's it is self explanatory. I also got a buff (best investment for my first hiking trip) and a pair of sketchers. I know, not considered a hiking boot but it was comfortable and much better than the conventional tekkie. It had some flex to it.
The night before we stayed at Witsieshoek Mountain Resort which is located 7km from the Sentinel Peak car park. We had lunch packs made up by the resort which including a sandwich, fruit, packet of crisps, chocolate, packet of peanuts ... not to bad for the money we paid. Before you start your hike there is an office where you pay levies and park fees. Make sure you visit the office again on your descend.
We started the hike. One small step for (wo)man, one giant leap for Anel.
You are surround by green valleys and reddish-brown rock faces. The landscaping and views are absolutely breath taking. The only thing that is really not good for your spirit is that you can still see the car park almost all the way up the mountain. It looks and feels like you make absolutely no progress.
We had to stop a lot. I could feel my heart pound away in my neck. Weird feeling. As I said, coach potato. Moving on and don't judge! But after a while I started feeling better and the hiking went better. We could go further with fewer stops in between. Make sure you take an ample supply of water. We did and I was thankful. We kept ourselves hydrated. Other than my please-stop-I-have-to-sit-down-NOW-breaks we made time to eat and chat. It was a good time to bond with my husband. You have to place your trust in your partner. You have to help each other and motivate each other.
The first part of the hike is the worst. There is an incline of note and it's impossible not to get jelly legs. I wanted to give up before we even started. Although at point we almost had to. We had to cross an angled rock face. Not to big but big enough. I didn't want to walk across as I knew my lack of balance would be the reason I plummet to certain death. I would rather slide on my bum across the rock face. I don't know how it happened but my one shoe fell of my foot and it started rolling down this rock face. Much to our amazement it was grinded to a sudden halt by some grass. My prince went to get my slipper and on we went!
We reached the first ladder and it was a whopping 40m long or should I say high as you have a face to face climb against the rock face. Nonetheless, it was scary as hell. My husband went first and I followed. My knuckles turned white against the rusty ladder and I focused on the crack in the rock face. I was not going to look down or even left or right. I took deep breaths. First step done. One million-thousand to go, or so it seemed. But It wasn't as bad as I told myself it was going to be, it went fairly quick. After the 40m ladder there is another 20m ladder and ta dah you are on the Plato overlooking the magnificent Tugela Falls. It was beautiful and of course it was worth the climb.
Our plan was to stay the night hence the orange bag my hubby had on his back. We pitched our tent as it started to rain. I got into warmer clothes but was still cold. After resting for 30 minutes we made a call to rather descend. We didn't have proper gear and it was not worth risking our lives or health.
The descend took us 2 hours as opposed to the climb that took 5 hours - embarrassing I know. And I guess my unfit self is to blame for that.
Lucky for us the sun had no intention of crisping us up but upon our descend it started to rain and there was thunder and a bit of lightning. It was scary. We take our homes for granted. Being on top of a mountain in the rain while having to hear a thunderstorm approaching was not my favourite place to be although I was with my favourite person.
Our instinct saved our lives. It was 10°C when we reached the car park again and I have never been so happy to see the Range Rover. I can only imagine what the temperature was at that night. Next time we will be better prepared.
Would I do it again? Of course I would!
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