Do you think one can do a roadtrip through KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape provinces without planning your accommodation for more than a day ahead? Well, we have tried and it worked out just fine! Anette is a Genius member of Booking.com and she just used them to do all our bookings from right in the car – one day ahead, in some cases maybe two days.

We leave Didima about 10:00 in the morning after we made hurried changes to our existing booking at Didima via the reception desk. As told in the previous article, we really enjoyed our stay at Didima but realised that we will not be back in this part of South Africa soon and we really wanted to see Giant’s Castle as well. The latter is also managed by Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife, as is Didima, so it was easy to apply our second night at Didima towards a night at Giant’s Castle. It wasn’t going to be a major change to our roadtrip because Giant’s Castle is distance-wise not far from Didima – but could take 1.5 to 2 hours to drive because of poor or rural roads.

We drive through Winterton again, this time not stopping. We head for the N3. The N3 is quite a contrast to the roads we have been driving up to now in KZN – it is very well maintained and very busy, especially with heavy trucks driving at high speed between Durban and Gauteng. We drive a short distance until we reach Estcourt to the left and then turn right opposite it towards Giant’s Castle. Again, once we have left the poorer suburbs of Estcort behind, the beauty of the Drakensberg foothills mesmerises us. One has to drive carefully but by now we are used to it and we are not stressed. Just be cool and take it slowly.

We reach the Giant’s Castle resort at about noon. The outlay is totally different from Didima. We are much closer to the Drakensberg peaks than at Didima, so the view is not as stunning as it was at Didima. But it’s still quite awesome, I might add. The cottages are on uneven terrain and some, including ours, have an unobstructed view of the peaks. I think during winter it will be quite difficult to drive or move around there, given it will snow a lot. The gardens are well-kept and there are walking trails to interesting sites. The  cottage is well equipped, everything in working order and we take serious note of the warning that you must keep the sliding door closed at all times if you do not  want a baboon troop to raid your place. It didn’t take the baboons long to discover us but we were not intimidated by them.

After unpacking, we go down to the reception where the shop and restaurant are also located. It is a very small shop with just the bare essentials. The restaurant is on the side of the hill with an excellent view of the peaks – especially if you go out on the deck outside. We make a booking for the evening. 

Back in the cottage we make coffee and sit outside on our small deck with the great view. We watch the sun sets and also have some sundowners. We then dress up for dinner and set off for the restaurant. Were we pleasantly surprised! The wine was good, the food (fresh trout directly from the stream down below) was delicious and, above all, the service was super friendly and professional. And it was very affordable as well. Highly recommended.

We sleep like babies and the next morning we have our complimentary breakfast in the same restaurant. Here we meet another SANParks Honarary Ranger who is also visiting the resort (keep in mind that KZN parks are not managed by SANParks and, therefore, the SANParks Honorary Rangers do not do duties in KZN parks). We part after sharing our glowing appreciation for the location and service.

We drive all the way back to the N3, joining it and its traffic towards Mooirivier and then down to Howick. From our past we remember the Howick Falls and want to see that again. We drive through town and reach a road in mid-town that is supposed to lead to the falls but it is blocked. After some friendly conversation with a local sitting on the pavement, he removes the blockade for us and we can pick and choose where to park! The falls, although quite high, do not really impress us. The area looks neglected and right at the top of the cliff you can see women doing their washing in the river while their children are playing on the edge of the waterfall.

We do not spend much time here and drive along a quite difficult dirt road to a coffee shop right across the falls where we enjoy their cake and coffee. They have nice gardens but I think the view towards the falls were more breath-taking years ago.

We take the R617 towards Underberg and then on to Swartberg. For the most part the road gives the impression that it is in good condition and you can do the speed limit of up to 100 km/h but just as you relax after a couple of kilometers, a big pothole appears from nowhere in the shadows of the trees – not something you will want to drive through at that speed! So you concentrate hard and cannot enjoy the scenery. The road nevertheless follows the Drakensberg range and the famous Sani Pass up the mountain to Lesotho also joins this road.

Just beyond Swartberg we turn left and have to drive a couple of kilometers on a good farm road to reach Flitwick Ranch. What a joy to visit! The accommodation is extensive ranging from big, standalone guest houses on the edge of the dam to smaller en-suite rooms in the old cheese factory or rooms in the old stables. Everything is very stylish. They also have a small shop or two on the terrain and you can even have your meals there. The chef is a friendly guy who came originally from Jo’berg and he treats us on a hearty meal. You can take strolls across the working farm and there are also hiking trails. The scenery is beautiful and the autumn leaves of all the many trees make it worth visiting. The service is excellent and very friendly and the place is highly recommended.

Tomorrow we will attempt the infamous Eastern Cape roads…