Day 6 – Karoo to Drakensberg

Posted August 25, 2010 By Pheather
Woke up to a beautiful clear Karoo morning. We decided to get an early start to see if any early grazers were up for breakfast.  Today we planned to do one of the three 4×4 routes – hopefully see more game on these less-used routes. Turns out that it was an AWESOME 4×4 experience but not much game to be seen – we saw some of the animals we saw yesterday and the only new ones included the ground squirrels and a red mongoose with a white tipped tail.  Not sure if the mongoose was allowed in the park ’cause he wasn’t on the brochure, so maybe he snuck in under the electrified fence and started squatting.
We enjoyed some challenging rocky ascents and dry riverbeds on the Umgeni Circle, with Erica blissfully rocked to sleep. That done it was almost midday and it was time to hit the road again and head for Elliot where we would be staying at a three star hotel 20km from the city centre. We had no idea what we were in for as that was the only hotel we could find in Elliot. We skipped lunch in Cradock in favour of stopping at a 1 stop, except as we soon discovered there were no 1 stops along this part of the Eastern Cape which we believe runs through on of the formeer homelands. The roads were in an impressive conditions, comparable to other semi major routes such as the R27 between Cape Town and Langebaan and the road to Hermanus. Lots of thatch roofed rondawels zink roofed rondawels, little rondawels, big rondawels, pink and blue ones made it feel like we were driving through a gigantic box of smarties. The homesteads consisted of small lots with enough space for a small hut and a little bit of subsistance farming. Cows goats sheep and even the odd donkey or horse roamed everywhere including across the road seemingly oblivious to the high speed death rushing towards them from all sides. Having vowed last year never to ride through homelands again here we were on the other side of the Eastern Cape doing just that. Thanks to good roads and a full tank of gas we got to Elliot fairly quickly and then began the 22km trip towards the Hotel. Along this route we soon became aware that the elevation was increasing rapidly and we soon realised that the road was taking us up into the south most part of the Drakensberg, impressive cliff faces and lush vegetation made this one of the most beautiful drives on our trip so far.
The Mountain Shadows was nestled deep and high up in the heart of the southern Drakensberg at 2050 meters above sea level. First impressions of this three star hotel felt more like arriving at a 5 star hotel. The welcome we got from Kobus was hearty and genuine and within a few minutes a very warn out trio were ensconsed in the comfort of a detached hotel room – this hotel chooses to have the rooms detached from the reception, bar and dining area which is great for privacy and comfort. Tired as she was little Erica achieved another one of her first milestones by standing up and taking one step before falling down on her little bum. Looks like she’ll be running about very soon. Erica was unsettled from the long drive and probaly a little dazzled by all the colourful huts so as hungry as we all were we had to take turns eating. Heather went to the fine dining room to enjoy a meal comparable to a sunday roast and I stayed at the room to feed Erica her bottle of milk. Fortunately Erica went to sleep quickly and Heather wolfed down her food attracting a few surprised looks to that I could have a chance to go to the dining room, I unceremoniously wolfed down the gormet dinner.
AT R940 for dinner bed and breakfast for two adults we thought it was a little steep but after enjoying the bean soup, roast beef and veal pie with a delicious vegetable spread followed by tasty cheese cake we both agree it was worth every cent.

Woke up to a beautiful clear Karoo morning. We decided to get an early start to see if any early grazers were up for breakfast.  Today we planned to do one of the three 4×4 routes – hopefully see more game on these less-used routes. Turns out that it was an AWESOME 4×4 experience but not much game to be seen – we saw some of the animals we saw yesterday and the only new ones included the ground squirrels and a red mongoose with a white tipped tail.  Not sure if the mongoose was allowed in the park ’cause he wasn’t on the brochure, so maybe he snuck in under the electrified fence and started squatting.
We enjoyed some challenging rocky ascents and dry riverbeds on the Umgeni Circle, with Erica blissfully rocked to sleep. That done it was almost midday and it was time to hit the road again and head for Elliot where we would be staying at a three star hotel 20km from the city centre. We had no idea what we were in for as that was the only hotel we could find in Elliot. We skipped lunch in Cradock in favour of stopping at a 1 stop, except as we soon discovered there were no 1 stops along this part of the Eastern Cape which we believe runs through on of the formeer homelands. The roads were in an impressive conditions, comparable to other semi major routes such as the R27 between Cape Town and Langebaan and the road to Hermanus. Lots of thatch roofed rondawels zink roofed rondawels, little rondawels, big rondawels, pink and blue ones made it feel like we were driving through a gigantic box of smarties. The homesteads consisted of small lots with enough space for a small hut and a little bit of subsistance farming. Cows goats sheep and even the odd donkey or horse roamed everywhere including across the road seemingly oblivious to the high speed death rushing towards them from all sides. Having vowed last year never to ride through homelands again here we were on the other side of the Eastern Cape doing just that. Thanks to good roads and a full tank of gas we got to Elliot fairly quickly and then began the 22km trip towards the Hotel. Along this route we soon became aware that the elevation was increasing rapidly and we soon realised that the road was taking us up into the south most part of the Drakensberg, impressive cliff faces and lush vegetation made this one of the most beautiful drives on our trip so far.
The Mountain Shadows was nestled deep and high up in the heart of the southern Drakensberg at 2050 meters above sea level. First impressions of this three star hotel felt more like arriving at a 5 star hotel. The welcome we got from Kobus was hearty and genuine and within a few minutes a very warn out trio were ensconsed in the comfort of a detached hotel room – this hotel chooses to have the rooms detached from the reception, bar and dining area which is great for privacy and comfort. Tired as she was little Erica achieved another one of her first milestones by standing up and taking one step before falling down on her little bum. Looks like she’ll be running about very soon. Erica was unsettled from the long drive and probaly a little dazzled by all the colourful huts so as hungry as we all were we had to take turns eating. Heather went to the fine dining room to enjoy a meal comparable to a sunday roast and I stayed at the room to feed Erica her bottle of milk. Fortunately Erica went to sleep quickly and Heather wolfed down her food attracting a few surprised looks to that I could have a chance to go to the dining room, I unceremoniously wolfed down the gormet dinner.
AT R940 for dinner bed and breakfast for two adults we thought it was a little steep but after enjoying the bean soup, roast beef and veal pie with a delicious vegetable spread followed by tasty cheese cake we both agree it was worth every cent.

Categories: Road trip to Kruger National Park