Drakensberg Mountains and The Cavern

While Mark's parents were visiting we took a 4 day vacation to the Drakensberg Mountains to stay at The Cavern, a mountain resort.  After a four hour drive south east of Pretoria and having to travel on some dirt roads due to construction we finally arrived in time for lunch.

The view on the way to the resort was beautiful as we wound our way up and down the mountains.  The Cavern is a resort which I felt catered to families with different set ups for rooms, some single family cottages and others were more like hotel rooms.  We rented a family room which was two bedrooms with an inter-leading hallway that happened to be right next door to Gary and Gail's room.  We did not have much of a view from our room and it was quite a hike up to it from the main lodge each day but when you stay in the mountains I guess that is to be considered.


All of the meals had a great set up where we could take Adalyn and Grant to the kid's area for them to eat and play while the adults ate in the next room.  I was unsure if Adalyn or Grant would be willing to be without us, but once they spent one meal time playing with other kids they were sold.








After lunch the first day we headed out on our first hike.  Gary and Gail were willing to go along with anything thankfully though Mark and I were not sure what we were getting ourselves into.  We set out on an unguided hike after getting a map and directions from the resort staff and writing down our clothes descriptions in case we got lost.  One hour into our hike I am not sure any of us could read the map or figure out where we were going so we ended up lost in the mountains.





 We attempted to follow signs and I tried to get Mark to gauge the route by looking at the sun and direction we were going but evidentially his boy scout skills are rusty.  Thankfully we found our way out after a half an hour and everyone arrived back at the resort in one piece.  Grant enjoyed the hike from a backpack Mark carried, though towards the end he wanted out and to walk, which made for an interesting time keeping him safe while foraging ahead.

The resort had a pool with 2 water slides, a spray area, tennis courts, trampolines, two playgrounds, a croquet field and tons of trails to explore.  We spent the remainder of the afternoon playing and swimming before dinner that evening.



















The next day 5 of us set out on an guided walk (thankfully, a guide!) but left Grant behind with a babysitter as I did not feel he would be interested in riding on Mark's back again and we didn't want to slow down the rest of the group who went on the hike with us.  We stopped half way on the hike for a snack and to take in the views.























Next up Mark and I went on the beginners horseback ride.  There were only 4 of us, the guide never said anything, just pointed for us to hop on the horse he chose and we took off.  I figured we were just going to lazily walk our horses around the base of the mountain but about 2 minutes into the ride I could tell it was going to be quite a bit more adventurous.  My horse decided to take the rear position and that at least allowed me to watch what the others were doing so I could feel a bit confident.  I also knew this horse probably took this same route daily so all I needed to do was hold on.



Well up the rugged mountain we went, my horse feeling the need to trot along the way which scared me to death as he would randomly do this.  My horse also loved to tread very close to the the side of the path which dropped off the side of the mountain so I had it all planned out in my head how I was going to jump off my horse just in-case, ha!  About 30 minutes in our guide said we were going to trot now, I gave out a laugh and said I actually had no idea how to ride a horse, it's only my second time on one, but he gave a 1 minute instruction and we were off.  Well, I will never do that again, as I kept fearing I would pull too hard on the reigns and my horse would buck me off and down the mountain I would tumble.  So much for a beginners ride, Mark and I got some good laughs out of it, but my horse riding days are over.

After our hour long horseback ride, we met back up with Gary and Gail and the kids for lunch followed by a game of croquet.  Not sure what we expected but a 4 year old and 1 year old are not much for croquet and after Adalyn completed the course once, our game turned into a running race.  It was a nice afternoon just having fun together and taking in one more trip to the waterfall for some exploring.






Another nice dinner that evening followed by a trip to the spa the next morning so I could get a massage for my bruised up horseback riding body and then we took off for home.  The Cavern was a very nice resort, offering much more than I expected, the food was fantastic, service was excellent and the activities too numerous to even attempt.  I would love to go back as our kids enjoyed the hikes much more than I expected and the scenery was beautiful and relaxing.  Glad we took the time to see the South African mountains.