The silent majesty of Giants Castle

(For those of you who don’t know about Giants Castle, it is a section in the Drakensberg mountain range in KwaZulu Natal, South Africa. It gets its name from the mountain’s silhouette, which resembles the profile of a sleeping giant. It’s well known for is breath-taking scenery, numerous hiking trails and for being home to both the Eland antelope and the bearded vulture)

Very early one chilly morning in mid-April, I found myself riding shotgun in a car winding along the midlands meander. A few straggling roadside Cosmos just becoming visible through the slowly lifting mist.
Behind the wheel sat a stranger. Not a total stranger, but a person never met before, despite months of social media interaction. Little did I know what a like minded and valued friend Doug would become.

Our destination was the majestic Giants Castle, which was just a faint outline through the mist as we were approaching.
I had never been there before and, knowing this, Doug had very kindly offered to show me one of his favorite haunts.

After a good chat, a superb farmhouse breakfast and much needed cup of coffee at the resort restaurant, we set off to see what the morning and the mountain had in store for us.

We took the mountain trail from the car park and after about 10 minutes of hiking, we rounded the top of a hill. Wow! Just Wow…there in front of us, was the one of the most beautiful sights I’ve ever seen. The mist, which had clouded our earlier view, had lifted, and the mountain revealed itself in massive raw beauty.

The beautiful mountain. Before the clouds started setting in.

I sat myself down on a bench and stared in wonder at the magnificence in front of me.
The mist lifting, cloud falling and the ever changing light. I was mesmerized.
I don’t easily sit still for long, but I do believe I could have sat there all day, blissfully entranced.
Surrounded by beauty, the stillness and silence of the reserve permeates into your being and the buzz of ‘big city life’ just melts away.
And it’s just incredibly quiet and incredibly beautiful.

With great reluctance I left the bench, and we set off towards the Bushman’s caves. It’s a lovely meandering trail, with lots of interesting flora bordering it, a few LBJ’s in the grass, and the odd butterfly drifting past. Luckily there was no other hiking traffic, as two photographers butterfly ‘hunting’ can look rather ridiculous.  We crossed the Bushman’s river via a small bridge and followed the trail through the thick, lush ravine foliage.

Up ahead of us were the Bushman’s caves, with their alluring offer of well-preserved San rock art. We reluctantly realized that it would be too much of a rush to do the caves justice, in the time we had left. The caves would be another reason for returning.

The path to the Bushman’s cave’s (caves seen top right)

We made our way back down towards the resort and took the deviation to the famous rock 75. Doug explained the history of the inscription of ‘75’ on the rock and the sad story of the Langalibalele rebellion of 1874.

The stark reality of standing on the actual soil where it happened, visualizing the drama, brought past and present colliding into each other.

[Anyone with a thirst for historic knowledge on the area should search for the following books:
The Bent Pine – Norman Herd
Langalibalele and the Natal Carbineers: the story of the Langalibalele Rebellion, 1873 –
Reg O. Pearse. Ladysmith Historical Society. Editorial Committee
(Thanks to Doug for the recommendations)

We left with an empty lingering sensation and started back down following the Bushman’s river to the resort.

Bushman’s River

Just before the resort – our last view of the valley below Giants Castle.

On our way out of the reserve, we spotted the legendary vultures circling above.  These huge birds are fed at the Lammergeier hide, a venue which provides exceptional photo opportunities. Even though they are rather ungainly on the ground, to see their effortless soaring evokes a sense of awe for this large scavenger.

The Cape Griffon or Cape Vulture (Gyps coprotheres) effortlessly soaring overhead.

The Lammergeier hide. Where a huge amount of classic vulture pictures are taken.

Such an intake of majesty, history and unspoiled scenery, left me feeling very humble and very privileged to have spent a simple morning  at Giant’s Castle.

As we were leaving, the beautiful mountain now behind us, I had the lovely, yet melancholy Scottish lilted words by the great poet Robert Burns, filtering through my head:

Farewell to the mountains high covered with snow;
Farewell to the straths and green valleys below;
Farewell to the forests and wild-hanging woods;
Farewell to the torrents and loud-pouring floods.
My heart’s in the Highlands, my heart is not here;
My heart’s in the Highlands a-chasing the deer;
A-chasing the wild-deer, and following the roe,
My heart’s in the Highlands wherever I go.

(I won’t be chasing the wild deer, but the rest of his sentiment holds true)

Sometimes it is very difficult to put words to your emotions, and I find when describing Giants Castle I am at a loss to aptly describe my feelings. To say that it had a profound impact on me does not portray the magnitude of the place nor my feelings for it.

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Subsequent to our trip there Doug has started doing Digital Photography Workshops at Giants Castle.

I can highly recommend these, Doug is really good at sharing his abundant knowledge, practical, technical and historical. Plus he’s also one of the few people I’ve met with eye’s that really see.

Check out the link : http://on.fb.me/132mQIl