Thendele Camp

We had booked two nights in a 2 sleeper self catering chalet at the Thendele upper camp and wow were we surprised. Our chalet was a detached traditional style thatched cottage that was fully equipped with an open plan bedroom and living area, separate kitchen and bathroom, a log burner and a stunning view of the amphitheatre all for around £40 a night. We arrived quite late so only had time to grab something to eat, avoid being robbed by the monkeys throughout the camp and try to make sure we didn't trap any gineafowl inside. We also enjoyed birds in the bushes a rainbow show in front of the mountain and later the total dark sky and stunning show of stars that sadly my photos couldn't ever do justice.

After breakfast we set off to find the Tugela river, so followed the path down to the Devil`s Hoek River then followed the signs for "Gorge" where it met the Tugela. The path then roughly followed the river upstream and went out through broken woodland slowly rising for a while until it passed under a large rock formation known as the Policeman`s Helmet. The traditional path would take you through the valley close to the river, but we chose a detour path that took us right up to the Policeman's helmet rock formation and the rocks along the ridge line, for a closer look and some stunning views from the elevated position.

From the Policeman's Helmet we followed the path back down into the valley and finally we met up with where the river should be again. We continued what would be upstream until we reached the head of the gorge. As it was August the level of water in the river was low and in places seemed completely dry so we continued following the river bed through the gully navigating shallow rock pools and large boulder areas until the area where the gorge meets up with the Devils Tooth Gully. This area is littered with large boulders and you will also find two ladders, a short wooden one and a chain ladder giving access to rock climbs.

We climbed the chain ladder and then continued up the gorge for a while. We had to navigate through some tight and water worn sections with a few steep boulder climbs and scrambles where you were assisted in places by steel ropes and steel pegs that were fixed into the rock. We got to the top of the gorge with the incredible views of the amphitheatre, it was just a real shame that it was so dry and the Tugela falls, which are the second highest falls in the world were not flowing over the top of the amphitheatre. After taking a short break we retraced our steps back through the gorge, taking our time back down the chain ladder and over the boulders, but on the way back we followed the conventional path back down along the river bed and down to the path where we started, that path took us back up to the Thendele Upper Camp.

That evening we treated ourselves to a couple of steaks on the outside Braai, probably the most impressive view we have ever had whilst barbecuing. The camp was still full of guineafowl, birds in the trees and monkeys playing on the car windscreens like slides! The following morning we moved on to the Glen Reenen Rest Camp to explore the Golden Gate Highlands national Park and the Infamous Drakensberg chain ladder route.