What a thrill it must have been, to explore these dragon mountains? To trod on land that no man had ever set foot on! To set eyes on landscapes that had never before been revealed! To summit a peak and gaze out over the edge; knowing that only then, had the path been set for future climbers. But, these rewards would not have come without strife and effort. Teams of men, lugging huge loads over treacherous terrain with the risk of fatal falls ever-present! Temperamental weather, that would in one moment drench all in sunlight and then soak with a thunderstorm the next! And the uncertainty of the road ahead! For every potential path to the top was a game of chance. A gamble on whether the road led to success or whether it was abruptly interrupted by the terrain! Yet these pioneers of the Drakensberg Mountains, whose legacies are honoured through the names of many landmarks, must have had a thrilling adventure.
These days, very little, if anything; of this majestic mountain range is left to be explored. Every peak has been conquered, every river traversed and every pass negotiated. The Bergs have been carefully mapped out. The safest and most accessible passes have been marked. The paths have been beaten flat by decades of explorers following in the footsteps of those that went before them. Bannerman, Leslie, Grey and many others alike are to thank for this. Yet, some parts of the Bergs, have for the most part, been left alone and to their own devices. There, the modern hiker can, even just for a brief period, be called an explorer. The choice of the way up, is up to the hiker. For a short while, you can feel as if you are paving the way for those to come. That was our journey up to Mafadi.
Rootsquire by Shaldon Naicker 