Central Drakensberg, Winterton

A Great Backpackers In Central Drakensberg

We made our way from the northern to the central part of the Drakensberg mountain range. Here we stayed at a backpackers called Inkosana Lodge. It is near the town of Winterton. It is definitely one of the nicest backpackers we have stayed at. We paid a higher rate of 250 Rand ($50 Canadian) for a private double rondavel, it was well worth it.

The rondavels at this backpackers have unique outside showers, they are partially enclosed for privacy and have an overhead rain shower. They have the best view we have ever seen in a shower. As you lather up you can gaze at the mountain peaks in the distance.

This place was the only backpackers we had stayed at where they came in each day and made up your room. This came as a great surprise to us. We went out for the day and left things lying all over our room and bed. Some of the things were of value, including paper money and coins. When we got back the housekeeping person had made the bed and cleaned up the room.  All of our items including the money were neatly piled on the ledge to the side.

We had a little visitor in our room, a praying mantis. They are very strange looking.  I wasn’t too keen on it sharing the room with us. Can you imagine waking up with that crawling on you in the night? I had Jack gently place him outside.

Another great bonus this place has is the kitchen. It is very bright and spacious and spotlessly clean. You are not even allowed to do your dishes after you finish cooking your meals.  They want to make sure they are washed properly. You just stack them neatly to the side of the sink and the staff takes care of them. How great is that!

This backpackers was extremely relaxing with great areas to just kick back in and enjoy the views. We really enjoyed our stay here and would highly recommend it.

Central Drakensburg Information

KwaZulu Weavers Rug Factory

Near the town of Winterton there is a place called KwaZulu Weavers that sells rugs that are woven right on site.  There were hundreds of rugs in all kinds of patterns, colours and sizes. Each one of them woven by hand. We went into the back of the factory where we got to see many rugs being worked on.

Thokozisa Center

Thokoziza Center is located on R600 near the town of Winterton. It is a little shopping complex with a restaurant and several unique shops. Around the grounds of the center there were trees with hundreds of bird nests. I believe they were some type of weaver. Some of the birds were in the process of building their nests. They were flying back and forth with new material that they used to intricately weave with. It was amazing how fast they worked.

Champagne Castle Resort

We drove to a posh resort in the area called the Champagne Castle Resort. It sat looking at an even more stunning view of the Drakensberg. It was an impressive place with beautiful grounds.

Hiking Monk’s Cowl

On our second day here we woke up at 5:30am and after eating some breakfast we headed out to do a hike to a place called Monk’s Cowl.  it is located in Ukhahlamba Drakensberg Park. You can drive there in about 10 minutes, or walk to it in about 1 hour. The owner of the backpackers will sometimes drop you off if you don’t have a car. We checked in with the nature reserve office. Here we chose which hiking trail we would do. You let them know how many in your party and which trail you are taking, in case you get lost or hurt.

The scenery along the way was incredible. This area has what is called the Western Cape Otter. It is clawless. We spotted their droppings a few times, but no otters themselves. We did see some Baboons along the way. They just sat on some rocks and stared at us.

We saw Cathkin peak several times as the trail wound along. It was clear at the beginning, but the peak was soon covered in mist. By 9am the heat was already getting to be intolerable. We had to lather up in sunscreen and put our hats on. We finished the hike at about 11am. The last bit was getting pretty strenuous with the sun pounding down on us. We headed back to the backpackers for some lunch, relaxation and a nap!