Hiking the Drakensberg, South Africa’s Highest Mountain Range
The New York Times • • world
Key Points:
- The Drakensberg is South Africa’s highest mountain range, rising over 11,400 feet and located about 200 miles south of Johannesburg, accessible via a three-and-a-half-hour drive.
- It forms part of the Great Escarpment, a 3,000-mile continental rim extending from Angola to Zambia, featuring dramatic basalt ridges and sandstone valleys.
- Royal Natal National Park within the Drakensberg offers striking geology, including craggy gorges, towering peaks, and the Amphitheater, a massive cliff formation rising 4,000 feet.
- Known as uKhahlamba ("barrier of spears") by the Zulu and Drakensberg ("Dragon Mountains") by Dutch settlers
