Part One
My holiday starts with the planning. We like to camp so it takes a bit of preparation to make sure we don’t forget anything. This includes vehicle preparation which means checking all equipment, electrics, shocks and the basic mechanics. Our current 4WD vehicle is a Land Cruiser GX 80 series with a Metalian off road trailer. We have a Front Runner set up on both the vehicle and trailer that includes roof top tents, a drawer system, roof racks (with accessories), sparewheel braai grid and steps and dual battery system. We’ll do detailed reviews on the different equipment we use on our trips in future articles.
We headed south from Durban on the east coast of KwaZulu Natal towards the northern part of the Eastern Cape, a province of South Africa that is seriously under rated – being born there and having done an annual holiday there has made it easy to compare this amazing destination with others.
Our route took us into the most southern reaches of the Drakensberg Mountains known as the Malutis, bordering Lesotho. We headed for a campsite near Barkley East, a quaint town with wide streets, friendly people and beautiful buildings.
Our destination for the night is called Wildside, set in the heart of the Malutis next to a river and beautiful sandstone cliffs. The scenery along the way is spectacular and at times it felt like we were on another continent. Deep valleys with sandstone cliffs and crystal clear streams had us stop regularly to take in the views and try capture it on camera.
We only booked one night here as it was planned just as a stop-over on our way to the coast. Next time we’ll make it a minimum 2 night stay as Wildside is the ideal base to experience the mountains and scenery. And it’s perfect for families, with loads of exploration for the kids!
Next up is the coastal region with tidal rivers, boating, fishing, sun and sea.