Eland Peak - 11/19/2012

The Drakensbergs from Eland Peak

BEN - We woke up and crushed through our morning chores.  Gabby's eye looked almost normal; so much so that she was able to put her contacts back in, and we decided to hike.  At around 11:30 we made a bunch of sandwiches and geared up for a hike to Eland Peak, the highest point on the farm.  We walked out the back door and through a few barbed wire fences, and we were off.  The day was bright and hot, but it felt amazing to be out of the confines of the backpackers and exploring the beautiful countryside.  There are no trails on the farm (some horse paths) so we just had a general idea of what direction we needed to go.   We hopped a stream and headed up a large valley, our only landmark being the river.  We ended up spooking a large herd of grazing cattle, but continued to follow the river bed, occasionally spotting little geckos or giant colorful grasshoppers.  We eventually got up high enough for our first view of the Drakensberg Mountains.  At this high point we also spotted our destination, Eland Peak.  Rather than follow the circuitous horse path up the top, we decided to just go for up and push straight uphill.  Both Gabby and I were absolutely covered in sweat, and were relieved to reach the cool breeze of the summit 15 tough minutes later.  We sat down and devoured our sandwiches while taking in the spectacular 360 degree view.  After some pictures we headed down the mountain and valley, and retreated to the backpackers.  We had a bunch of newcomers arriving so we made sure everything/everyone was prepared.  The first arrival was a nice German couple who we got

Mountain Babe

along very well with.  The man had burned his feet quite badly during the day.  They were driving through a small town with traffic and a boy had opened their back door and grabbed his bag which contained camera, passport, wallet, etc.  Without thinking (and without shoes)  the man chased after the kid, grabbed him, broke his sunglasses, and got his bag back.  Pretty good work for an unassuming, kind German guy.  They were tired from their ordeal, so they went to their room to rest for awhile.  The next party that came were four 20-22 year old students from University of Cape Town (2 guys, 2 girls).  At first they were a bit stand-offish, but they eventually loosened up and hung out with us a bit.  They were a bit strange, and Gabby and I still cannot figure out their group dynamic.  It didn't make sense.  Anyway, a friend of Steve and Lulu's named Lee also came.  He is the South African representative of an organization called World Challenge, which sounds pretty cool.  We ended up having a pretty full house which means one thing in South Africa, time to braai.  With Lulu's help I manned the braai and cooked up some steak and borvost.  We all sat down and had a big family dinner, laughing at Steve's antics and stories.  This backpackers certainly has a warmer, more welcoming feel than others we've been to.