A two hour drive, depending on how fast you go, and you can find yourself in the heart of the Natal Midlands.
This area is one of my personal favourite spots in South Africa. It has some of the most beautiful scenery; thick forests and towering mountains.
When it is hot in summer, you can go swimming in river or hiking mountains. And in the winter, the snow-capped mountains and freezing cold temperatures force you to explore all the secret coffee roasteries and pubs in the area.
Mountain Biking
This particular warm weekend, we decided to take full advantage of our surroundings and go biking in the Karkloof Nature Reserve. This area is a massive forestry, so on your bike you find yourself darting through neatly laid out trees with the powering aroma of pine trees filling your head.
The bike ride itself isn’t strenuous at all and there are many different routes to take; but you will definitely find yourself riding under bridges, in storm-water drains to climbing steep hills with views of the entire plantation, with no building or car in sight.
Check out Karkloof Mountain Bike Club for more details.
Fishing
The only thing I ended up catching was a tan.
In the afternoon, we decided to go fishing at Albert Falls Dam. Albeit the dam has never fully recovered from serious droughts after the last few years, it is still a beautiful place to visit.
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Believe me, there were many fish in the dam, biting on everyone else’s lines except mine.
So after three hours of standing in the sun, testing out different baits and eventually settling on one because the packaging said “Bass can’t resist!” I knew my chances of catching some fish were high… Alas, I went hungry that night.
Accommodation
I completely swear by the AirBnb app. It offers some of the cheapest, most convenient and safest ways to find accommodation anywhere in the world.
Searching for accommodation in the area, I came across a six sleeper cabin situated right on the edge of the dam.
Most of the walls were made up of canvas, which means you can literally roll up the walls and bring the outside world in. There was a fully decked outdoor bathroom which makes those showers even more enjoyable.
Staying in places like this truly elevate your weekend to a whole new level and, for me, creates memories that no hotel ever could…
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Email: Reveshni Douglas (Editor) at reveshni@caxton.co.za
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