6 November 2004    to      7 November 2004

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Ithaba was nice and close for us being only about 160km North East of Johannesburg so we could take a leasurely drive after work on Friday and get there with plenty of daylight left. Although it was only Rob, Silvia and myself we had the whole place to ourselves. It rained a bit in the evening but that did not stop us having our usual braai!

The base camp is actually a type of youth hostel, but after breakfast we set off. We were told that we would have the whole Saturday night Berg camp for ourselves!

Unfortunately this trail does not seem so be used much so a lot of it was overgrown, but the markings were good so one never really got lost for too long. The only problem was that I nearly stepped on a snake that we later identified as a " Jalla's Sand Snake". Fortunately not venomous!

After a steep climb in places to the plateau above during which time Silvia had the misfortune of disturbing a nest of Hornets, she got zapped by two very large ones. But thats part of hiking!

Most of the first day takes one amongst sandstone rocks.

Some had been withered away into interesting shapes.

Eventually one reaches a large flat stretch with larger but more sparsly populated trees.

At this point it was getting extremely hot and we decided to have a break.

After a bit more walking one reaches the far end of the plateau and can then see some quite spectacular views into the valleys below.

We reached the overnight hut just after midday. Probably one of the earliest times ever. After getting the "donkey" going we all had a nice shower. Rob decided to catch up on some reading and after a good strong whiskey and coffee I went for a snooze.

Some of the local flora.

Some more intersting rocks in the vicinity.

The heat was quite stiffling, and later on in the afternoon we had a thunder shower which resulted in quite a nice sunset. The evening was spent chatting around a campfire. We decided to sleep outside as the rooms at the camp were quite dark and dingy and the fresh breeze felt great during the night.

Next morning again took us to the edge of the plateau.

Silvia enjoying the view.

Most of the rest of the route was again climbing over rocks.

The heat was starting to build up again.

The recent rains had rejuvinated the bush with a lot of greenery out. We got back to basecamp fairly early as the route was not too long and difficult this time.