INTRODUCTION TO ROYAL NATAL HIKES
Royal Natal is the most well-known region of the Drakensberg, and largely as a result of its most prominent feature the Amphitheatre. The Amphitheatre is a rugged Basalt section of some five kilometres in length. Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife has a well-fitted camping site at Mafadi and a magnificent self-catering venue, Thendele.
TUGELA GORGE HIKE
This hike is a moderate hike of some 14 km. The duration is some 5 hours. Start the hike at the Gorge parking site, which is just below the Thendele Campsite.
Follow the well-worn path until you reach the mouth of the gorge. Here you will need to do a bit of boulder hopping and the odd swim through a pool or two until you reach the end of the gorge.
When you return turn up the little valley leading towards Devil’s tooth for about three hundred metres. There is a path that takes you up to a spectacular rock overhang and viewing site of the Amphitheatre and the Thukela Falls.