Category: Drakensberg

The Natal Midlands The Natal Midlands is absolutley gorgeous. If you have never visited the area, be sure to make a plan soon. The area is shrouded in mystery and history with plenty of activities from hiking advenures in the Drakensberg, fishing, biking and running. How did the Natal Midlands get its name? The Midlands is situated between two extremes-the warm coastal forest and the gaunt, snow covered heights of the Drakensberg mountains. It stretches for 200km. Through this undulating landscape of hills, the ground rises from sea level to 1200m at the foot of the Southern Drakensberg. The lower regions are always green with the higher regions changing to a reddish-brown during the frosty winter months when the sleeping grass is long and dry. And so the Natal Midlands got its name. A name that could easily be synonymous with the likes of Middle Earth in the Lord of the Rings Trilogy. And as equally magnificent. Hills and deep river valleys The Natal Midlands is all about countless hills and deep river valleys. Most of the rivers in Natal start their humble beginnings in the mighty Drakensberg mountains. They lose considerable altitude within a short distance creating waterfalls, rapids and deep gorges. One of the principle rivers is the Tugela which crashes 940m over the edge of the escarpment in the Amphitheatre region of the Northern Drakensberg. Other key rivers include the Mkomazi, Mgeni and Mzimkulu which together, with their tributaries, create some incredibly scenery, great fishing, water rafting and vast economical potential for agriculture. The wildlife of the Midlands In years gone past, great herds of wildlife migrated each winter from the highveld known as Transvaal and the Orange Free State and grazed on the sweet grass of the Natal Midlands. Eland, springbok, hartebeest and zebra wandered through