23 January 2011: Underberg - KwaZulu-Natal

I pause to catch my breath, the koppie (hill) didn’t appear steep from the road but these things can be deceptive.  I take a few pictures of the sand road receding into the distance but it’s just an excuse to rest I sound like a bellows.  

I am close to Underberg in the lower Drakensberg of Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa, it is 22 January, 5.10am, pre-dawn, spread out below me is XL farm, the converted stables where we bunked overnight clearly visible.   I take a few more pictures before heading towards the top, I really need to lighten my camera bag and the tripod weighs a ton, but I wouldn’t be without it.  

Self Portrait - Lesotho in the background

 Sandstone boulders litter the crest of the koppie and I am careful where I walk, we were warned by Penny the farms owner to look out for snakes at this time of year and the last thing I need is a cobra or adder bite, still it is early and the reptiles are usually sluggish early in the morning.   The view from the top is spectacular.  The area is the greenest I have ever seen it, the result of an incredible amount of rain over the past couple of months.  In the distance a large dam reflects the early morning light and beyond that the true Drakensberg rise high in the purple air, somewhere there is the Lesotho border.  

A little bit of colour on the koppie

Herd waiting to be milked

 Sounds from the farm below carry to my perch, Colonel Strauss the huge rooster who wanted to include me in his harem the day before is in full cry as are the Egyptian geese and Hadeda Ibis who inhabit the massive blue gums behind the stables.  The sound of water carries clearly from a stream alongside the road and nearby, chats call to each other.  On the hillside to my left the Nguni cattle masticate cud contentedly and I can see a couple of the horses in their paddock.  

Colonel Strauss - of the large harem and scary eyes

Our room in the stables, basic but functional

View of the Berg in the early morning

The grass is wet and my jeans and takkies (sneakers) are soaked. 

I take some more photographs as the sun comes up, trying to use some of the boulders and plants as points of interest, I am still using the 35mm and without a foreground subject and lines of interest to indicate depth the landscapes are lost.  I sit for a while and drink in the landscape before taking a self portrait for posterity and head back to the car down below.