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My favourite
resort in the Drakensberg
 It
is a most therapeutic drive - the final third of the
three-and-a half hour journey from Johannesburg to
The Cavern in the northern Drakensberg. One leaves
the main Johannesburg-Durban trunk road at Harrismith
to take the R74, which sweeps down the gentle Sterkfontein
valley.
This was where my children would suddenly stop asking:
"How much further is it, Dad?" They knew
awesome scenery when they saw it.
One automatically slows down to drink it in - the
smooth rolling grassveld, the wetlands in which you
might see crowned cranes or blue cranes - South Africa's
national emblem. I've seen thousands of eastern red-footed
falcons fresh from Russia floating in that heroic
skyscape.
This Cavern experience begins on that road.
Then comes the Oliviershoek pass with its gradually
unfolding view of the vast upper Thukela (Tugela)
valley. At the bottom there are cattle on the roadside
and one passes small Zulu villages.
Then over a low level bridge to cross the stony
upper Thukela. The western sky is now blocked by the
towering basalt wall of the Amphitheatre, shoring
up the mountain kingdom of Lesotho.
A peaceful, narrow, undulating tarred road now takes
one along a golden valley cut by a brook of the babbling
kind - the Putterill Spruit. The Little Berg's glowing
sandstone ramparts, rich in San rock art, rise on
either side with deep pockets of indigenous woodland.
The narrow tarred road ends abruptly at the base
of a forested amphitheatre. This is the Cavern Resort
whose terraced gardens rise to blend with a fern forest
and the mountainside.
Recently the Carte family celebrated the silver jubilee
of the time the late Bill and Ruth Carte opened their
farmhouse to guests. Today, that stone-and-thatch
farmhouse is the dining room, and Bill and Ruth's
offspring now own much of the valley and the great
arc of unspoiled Kleinberg stretching from the Camel's
Hump around almost 300 degrees to Sungubala.
The Cavern Resort evolved - it was never planned.
To preserve its human scale it has restricted accommodation
to only 132 guests. Labyrinthine paths pass among
a nest of stone and thatched buildings. Some look
down on to the two bowling greens or the tennis courts
and the stables deep in a valley. Others overlook
forest, mountainside or river. Halfway down the terraces
is a secluded swimming pool and below that one of
the area's many trout lakes with a couple of canoes.
The Cavern is one of the big three resorts of the
northern/central Drakensberg - Cathedral Peak and
Champagne Castle being the other two. I have stayed
at them all, but it is to The Cavern that I habitually
return - in fact two thirds of guests are regulars.
There are easy walks, and challenging ones. The Big
Five, for instance, is an all day peak-to-peak hike
whose participants, as they circle back down from
the hills in time for dinner, are greeted by drums
and much fuss, and they qualify for a souvenir T-shirt
modestly proclaiming "I CRACKED THE BIG FIVE!"
Apart from trout fishing (you can hire tackle) high
in the hills or in the glen below there's some great
riding and birding in the area with the promise of
some very rare endemic larks.
The tariff for full board is R380 a day (pp) in season
but at many times in the year you can get specials
which are a third less. There is no season really
- the 'Berg is great summer or winter.
One of the great attractions of The Cavern (at least
for me) is the variety and quality of the menu, whether
breakfast, lunch or dinner, and the low wine prices.
A recent addition is the Emaweni wine and malt bar,
a grotto decorated with replicas of local San paintings.
The Cartes and their partners now offer a wide spectrum
of other kinds of accommodation and recreation (and
tariffs) in three other secluded resorts along the
valley.
At the start of the valley is the lower-priced Hlalanathi
Drakensberg Resort which is perched high above a bend
on the Thukela. Its nine-hole golf course is available
to all who stay in the valley.
Halfway along the valley is the new Montusi Mountain
Lodge with a breathtaking all-round view of great
piece of Africa and a view of the Amphitheatre and
along the highest mountain range from there to Kilimajaro.
This resort caters for the upper end of the market.
Even higher up in the Little Berg and not far from
The Cavern is the low tariff Sungubala, a small, very
secluded wilderness bush camp for backpackers and
hikers seeking an outdoor mountain experience.
All these destinations offer opportunities to hike
in the nearby Ukhahlamba Drakensberg park, a recently
proclaimed World Heritage Site.
FOOTNOTE: The Cavern, Tel 036 438 6270; fax 036
438 6334. E-mail: cavern@iafrica.com.
Website: www.cavernberg.co.za
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