J o e   B l o g

The Thendele chalets are inside the Royal Natal National Park, the Northern Drakensberg heritage site. The sources of the Tugela, Vaal and Orange rivers were all traced to the highest point on top of the Amphitheatre, which is why the region is generally called Mont-Aux-Sources.

A couple of years back I went through a military history phase and visited Rorke's Drift. Chatting to some British tourists staying at the same game lodge, I asked them if they'd seen the 1964 movie Zulu, generally remembered now as Michael Caine's big break. They knew the movie well because it is a TV perennial, but they had no idea it was the film of the place they were visiting.

I asked the Rorke's Drift curio shop manageress why she didn't do some cross marketing, or at least sell the video.

"We regard that film as such a joke. It has the Amphitheatre in the background, it was not filmed anywhere near Rorke's Drift," she told me.

Bluntly, the Royal Natal National Park's Amphitheatre is way more Hollywood than Rorke's Drift, and it is easy to see why Zulu's director Cy Endfield decided to move the battle from its boring historical location to one of the most dramatic and biggest cliff faces in the world.

There is a nice spectrum of accommodation and hikes to meet the range from rugged mountaineers to city couples wanting a romantic weekend with a gentle walk. I went for the middle ground between the Mahai Camp Site and the Orion Mont-aux Source Hotel neighbouring the park, opting for the park's self catering chalets, Thendele.

Some landmarks have been named, like the Policeman's Helmet which is one of many wind sculptures visible from Thendele. We had most fun putting aside the hiking guide and boulder hopping down the stream at the base of the camp until we found a nice spot for a swim.

A classic piece of pommy whinging appeared in the London Telegraph over the demise of the park's old hotel: "Weeds and wild grasses are now two feet tall in the once elegant dining room of the abandoned Drakensberg hotel where the Queen, as Princess Elizabeth, celebrated her 21st birthday."

Personally, I find the Thendele chalets fanned out so each one has a breathtaking view of the Amphitheatre a huge improvement.

A word of warning for gastronomes is that if you want a fancy dinner, you had better bring the ingredients. Thendele's curio shop has a limited selection of frozen meat and fish with a few tins of vegetables and some wine. We enjoyed a delicious trout braai with just stuff bought from the shop, but it does not stock perishables like milk and bread, so you need to stop and buy these along the way.

Thendele chalets are R360 per person per night. The self catering chalets are pretty luxurious, including DStv (a minus for a telly hater like me).

There are two routes from Johannesburg: either the N3 toll roads to Harrismith where you take the R721 turnoff to Phutaditjaba and then the Drakensberg North Heritage Site turnoff to the Royal Natal National Park.

An alternative route, which we took back, is the R57 which cuts through Free State millie land only punctuated by grain silos and church steeples.

The N3 is well populated with cracker box service stations with attached fast food outlets. The R57, on the other hand, is pristinely untouched by capitalism, clearly run by a clique of boertjies opposed to entrepreneurship in any form.

My traveling companion, who spent a couple of years in the US where country roads are well stocked with farm stalls and other tourist services, took this as a personal insult and wants to start a biker titty bar on the dead stretch between Heilbron and Reitz. Her idea is to finance this with secret cameras blackmailing the local aldermen, but I think a simple 1 Stop may be a more viable venture.