One of those outdoor-crazy people is David, a former ODI from England who has decided to stay in South Africa. On a normal weekend, David will participate in a trail run, ride a bike race or climb up a 2500m high mountain in less than three hours – he’s clearly mad! But his passion for nature is contagious and when he told me he was organising a trip to the Drakensberg, South Africa’s highest mountain range, I was all in and excited to see what the fuzz was all about!
The Berg trip was planned for the same weekend that Chris would be out here to visit me and I thought it would be a nice opportunity for us to explore a new part of South Africa together and for him to get to know my friends better. Chris arrived in South Africa on Friday morning and really didn’t get much chance to recover from the long flight, as we headed to the Berg in the early afternoon. We arrived at our guesthouse five hours and a rather steep rocky dirt road later and I immediately fell in love with our little cottage with its own fire place and a spectacular view over the Drakensberg!
On Saturday we set off early for the hike and I have to admit that I was a bit worried. I am certainly not known for being a great fan of hiking and have never really done any! Combine this with David’s sense of adventure and I could already see myself struggle and admit defeat to the Berg! But fortunately it turned out to be a really pleasant easy hike through some stunning scenery! We followed a dried-out river, walked past some spectacular rock formations, adored beautiful red trees in a desert of stones and explored little hidden caves. 
Some spots just seemed to be made for photo shoots and Nicolene and I could not resist and copied David’s standard hiking pose! Breathing in the fresh mountain air, with no sign of civilization and an atmosphere of complete peace and freedom – I started to understand why people were so fascinated with the outdoors…
After climbing up a rather dodgy rope ladder and somehow clambering up a seemingly impossible path of big rocks and steep drops, we found a perfect place for a pick nick on a massive rock formation next to some natural pools. While the girls enjoyed the sunshine and peace of the mountains, the boys went to jump off cliffs. Luckily the water turned out to be deep enough, but unfortunately it wasn’t warm enough and the boys got out even quicker than they got it!
20 kilometers of walking through the beautiful Berg later, we got back to our cottages and I assure you that nothing beats a cold beer or glass of wine after spending all day trying to conquer a mountain! We enjoyed a beautiful sunset in the mountains sipping pink champagne while the boys prepared the biggest Braai that the Berg has ever seen! We only cooked half the meat, but there was still so much left over that we could have easily fed the entire population of the Free State! In the evening we sat around a camp fire and played silly games, which involved stuffing your mouth with Marshmallows and saying Chubby Bunny! I really had such a good time and it’s great to get out of the city and into the nature - I am already looking forward to my next trip!
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