Dramatic Drakensberg
Sandwiched between the two popular hiking areas of Royal Natal Park (RNP) and Cathedral Peak is the wildest, most dramatic part of the Drakensberg - Mnweni.
The real reason few hikers linger in the lower valleys is that this is the only part of the Berg that does not fall into the uKhahlamba-Drakensberg Park (U-D Park). It was previously known as a 'Bantu location' and remains tribal land (probably because the land was too rugged to be claimed by white settler farmers).
Although stunningly pretty in their own right, these valleys are choc-a-bloc now with kraals and fields. Until you get into the real foothills, you're likely to walk to the resounding call of 'sweets, sweets' and the pitter-patter of little children's feet. The people who live here are Amangwane and Amazizi, ancestors of once proud clans that fell victim to various pre-Zulu and Zulu impis and were left as scattered remnants in the high foothills.
This route is not really part of the official Contour Path, which actually only starts on the southern slopes of Cathedral Peak above Sherma...
Starting at the visitors’ centre, up the Mnweni, then the Bhudlu and the Ifidi rivers to the top of the Ifidi Pass. It's a whole lot easie...
This is one of the longer, tougher passes to hike in the Berg, but amazingly it is fairly popular. One reason is the pure grandeur of the pl...
The circular path less taken, is up the Mnweni River Valley to one of the caves near the base of Mnweni Pass, day one. Climb Mnweni Pass and...
From the visitors' centre keep well left to head due south up the right-hand bank of the Ntonjelana River. The name of the river means 'oozi...