Drakensberg Mountains: Mnweni Circuit
We landed in JNB from Madagascar and spent the night in the intercontinental. Frankly it’s a bit of a dated rip off with a dreadful attempt at an elaborate breakfast, but it is seriously convenient and the staff were nice. If connecting through JNB again would probably stay elsewhere depending on arrival time/convenience.
The next morning we picked up a rental car (Toyota Fortura, which we ended up being grateful for) and headed to the Drakensberg mountains. These dragon mountains are a thoroughly underrated hiking destination, it probably should also be marketed a bit more and the access logistics could be improved. We had chosen the Mnweni circuit, apparently a heavy hitter in terms of scenery. It is a traditional territory of the local Zulu people as opposed to part of the national park.
We took a wrong turn (don’t go through Dukuza despite what google says) on some sketchy roads but managed to arrive at the cultural centre. It was somewhat of a gruff welcome, with had us both quite nervous for what we had signed up for. However the folks became more friendly, we watched the above sunset, had a BBQ meal and packed our backpacks for our trek.
We went up the Rockeries pass, spending the first night halfway up, then atop the pass in the Lesotho highlands. Finally coming most of the way down Ntonjelana pass, spending a brief night in the valley and doing the short hike out on the 4th night. These ‘dragon’ mountains are quite unique and stunningly beautiful. The lush greens that the basalt spires jut out of looks like you’ve turned the saturation way up on your camera, but in the right seasons this is indeed what they look like. On the way up and on the second night we had beautiful views of the rockeries region, as well as a glimpse of the 12 apostles. On the way down Ntonjelana pass the cathedral peak is in clear view. In the afternoons it would reliably thunder, as well at night the tent was lit up with thunder until we drifted off into sleep. The route definitely was the right choice. It is quite solitary, no other hikers, a few Lesotho sheppards bringing goats down into the village to sell and some baboons barking in the distance. A few vultures circle overhead. We were less pleased with our guiding company, including concerns about hand sanitation and meal prep of the guide, wishing that we had handled this ourselves in retrospect, which always leaves a damper on a vacation. After finishing up we drove onwards to Durban and the rest of our South African holiday.
view from Mnweni cultural centre
Stats:
There’s not alot of great info on this circuit online, a couple videos and descriptions from South African blogs describing it as hard, or tougher than table mountain — not very helpful: Here’s the stats on the route we took:
Total Distance: 41km
Total Elevation/descent: 2515m
Your campsite will likley vary, but we essentially did half the pass elevation gain on day 1, shorter day 2, big decent day 3, and easy/short day 4. No one recommends driving at night in South Africa. So a 4 day hike is really 3.5 days as you have to leave time to drive to next destination on the last day. This also limits you a bit relocating between day hikes part of the reason we opted for backpacking.
The rock seems to be mostly basalt, there are a few routes that sound interesting in more solid patches but not high on my return to go climbing list.
